This book by Sheryn Spencer Waterman follows the bestselling "Handbook on Differentiated Instruction for Middle and High Schools." With numerous examples and strategies, it is an all-inclusive manual on assessing student readiness, interests, learning and thinking styles. It includes examples of: (1) Pre-, Formative and Summative assessments; (2)…

"The Learning System" is a newsletter designed for superintendents and central office staff with professional learning responsibilities. This issue includes: (1) District Pulls Together in Pursuit of Excellence: Creating Collaboration Systemwide Requires Commitment (Valerie von Frank); (2) Scheduling Time for Teacher Learning Is Key for…

Successfully implementing the practice of inclusion by differentiating instruction is dependent upon both the skills and attitudes of general education teachers. New general education teachers who are entering the field are particularly vulnerable to the demands and stress of the profession, and exemplary preservice teacher education programs must…

It is imperative that to transform the national education agenda so that each and every child may succeed. Members, thought partners, and staff of CCSSO, have worked in collaboration to identify four areas of focus that will lead the systems change necessary for a true transformation of teaching and learning. Those areas are Next Generation…

The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act mandates that every student with an Individualized Education Program be considered for assistive technology (AT). As a result, future special educators need to have the knowledge and skills regarding AT. In this article, the authors report findings from a national study of special education teacher…

The modern history of the legal protections for students with learning disabilities in K-12 education focuses on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is funding legislation with detailed accompanying regulations that, respectively, are periodically revised as part of the reauthorization process. In contrast, Section 504 of…

This article describes one teacher's efforts at creating a differentiated mathematics program in her multi-age first- and second-grade classroom. The author describes challenges encountered and successes met in this process, as well as the structures she uses to meet a variety of student abilities, including open-ended problem-solving tasks,…

Increasingly, the Internet is playing an important role in consumer health and patient-provider communication. Seventy-three percent of American adults are now online, and 79% have searched for health information on the Internet. This study provides a baseline understanding of the extent to which health consumers are able to find tailored…

As Jackson and Davis noted, "the main purpose of middle grades education is to promote young adolescents' intellectual development. It is to enable every student to think creatively, to identify and solve meaningful problems, to communicate and work well with others, and to develop the base of factual knowledge and skills that is the essential…

A discussion of areas in which the authors believe that individualized instruction can be accomplished. Content level, scope of content and objectives, time requirements, materials and methods, and evaluation are the areas discussed. (HB)

Highlights several approaches to individualized instruction. (AA)

Mathematics teachers in Finland and Iceland are on different tracks. Based on a recent video study, the classroom practices of Finnish mathematics teachers seem to be rather traditional. This is in contrast to the Icelandic teachers many of whom use progressive-minded, learner-based instructional strategies. The classroom practices in Finland…

ICT as a medium for teaching is becoming more and more acknowledged. In this article we wish to share some aspects of using ICT that have proved positive and stimulating both for students and the teacher. We share our experience in using the Blackboard e-learning environment for teaching language courses in English and Swedish (different levels),…