The West Virginia K-12 RuralNet Project was an NSF funded program to train inservice teachers on integrating the Internet into science and mathematics curriculum. The program involved training inservice teachers through an intensive summer workshop and supplemental online courses. This study examines the effects of the project on the long-term…

This paper traces the professional growth of science teachers in Trinidad and Tobago through their involvement in the production of context-based resource materials relevant to the lives of their students during workshop sessions. Grounded theory methods were used to analyse pre- and post-workshop questionnaire responses, tape-recorded group…

The purpose of this study was to assess structural knowledge change across a two-week workshop designed to provide high-school teachers with training in Java and Object Oriented Programming. Both before and after the workshop, teachers assigned relatedness ratings to pairs of key concepts regarding Java and Object Oriented Programming. Their…

In parts of the world, including many developing countries, climate variability impacts negatively on agricultural production and natural resource management. Workshops in applied climatology were held in Australia, India, Indonesia and Zimbabwe between 1999 and 2002 to provide farmers and agricultural and meteorological staff a better…

The inspiration for this paper was a retreat in which education students and professors spent a weekend at a forest preserve, conducting biodiversity studies. Our writing describes the power of our retreat as a scientific, social and pedagogical learning experience. The three authors present our written reflections individually, prefaced by a…

The Artists' Collective for Social Change (ACSC) was established after the success of a multidisciplinary theater-dance project completed in March 2000 at a girls' residential treatment facility, Devereux Deerhaven, in Chester, New Jersey. The uncomfortable nature of this artistic adventure resulted in a model for teaching at-risk and underserved…

This article presents a reflexive look at a year-long mentoring experience between a university researcher and two third-grade teachers in a lower socioeconomic school. The challenges and rewards of mentoring the teachers in areas of their choice--writing workshop, constructivism, interactive learning methods, and management of cooperative…

Young women, who have many options today, must want to teach, and they must be prepared to do so. Higher standards for beginning teachers and fewer jobs have made teaching as a career more competitive. As any experienced teacher knows, however, there is no way one can be fully prepared for dealing with the complexities of teaching. Translating…

In this article, the author shares some of the lessons she learned after she completed a semester as a secondary English teacher-intern. She relates that her experiences during her practicum range from struggles on classroom management to failed attempts to implement a writing workshop. She also discusses how those experiences have dramatically…

Since 1994, urban-absentee landowners have dominated rural landownership in Texas. This landownership change has created potential environmental problems associated with natural resource management. Few of the new landowners have any formal training in the basics of the soil-plant-animal interface. The solution may be to develop a vehicle that…

CraftPlus[R] is an integrated learning package that consists of a K-8 spiraling, core writing curriculum based on explicit Target-Skills instruction; professional books; grade-level Curriculum Guides; sixteen workshop and classroom demonstration DVDs; and a CD with student samples and other classroom support materials. The grade-level Curriculum…

Teachers, like other professionals, need to stay informed about new knowledge and technologies. Yet many express dissatisfaction with the professional development opportunities made available to them in schools and insist that the most effective development programs they have experienced have been self-initiated. "Enhancing Professional…

In 2001, in partnership with the Waterloo, Iowa school system, the R.J. McElroy Trust, Janice Freeburg-Cannon, Tri-County Head Start, Allen Health System, the University of Northern Iowa and the Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education created a special model for early childhood education that would eventually become The Freeburg School.…

In response to the underachievement of its Latino children, one district implemented Parent Partnership for Achieving Literacy (PAL), a program to build cultural bridges between home and school. Professional development (PD) that helped mainstream teachers develop cultural competence to work effectively with Latino children and their families was…

In most elementary classrooms, students with autistic characteristics are too often dismissed from the literate community. The autistic child is frequently asked to practice memorizing sight words while classmates are introduced to literature. Although autistic children are increasingly being taught in general education classrooms, they are often…