This article describes strategies for redesigning the University of Missouri's Statewide Cooperative Ed.D. Cohort Program in educational leadership. Results had suggested a need to redesign aspects of the program in order to achieve higher levels of cognitive learning outcomes inclusive of transformational learning. To help meet this objective,…

The present study tests the assumption that the stable vs. unstable character of the structural relationship between groups influences the type of bias to which differentiation may lead, and affects the likelihood of identification with one's ingroup. Study I was conducted in Canada with university students and Study 2 in two French high schools;…

The purpose of this article is to describe a capstone course in undergraduate student geographical research in which GIS and other geospatial tools were used to teach undergraduate students basic geographical principles. The course uses the "cooperative learning" pedagogical approach to address one of a number of client-supplied research projects,…

This article details a 5-year evolution of a middle school mathematics faculty serving predominantly economically at-risk students. Faculty members worked to improve students' mathematics test scores, used a scripted curriculum, and integrated National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards-based activities. Schools nationwide are…

A social worker and a psychologist, working with troubled youth in a day treatment setting, describe unique ways to use the concepts of Positive Peer Culture (PPC) to facilitate groups from the elementary to high school levels. The authors have adapted the well-known PPC concepts and incorporated them into their strength-based program, SPLASH, to…

In changing economies, local leaders need guidance in collaborative, multicommunity approaches to problem solving. This book is comprised of three sections organized around the steps necessary to develop and manage a comprehensive leadership program. The first section describes the mechanics of organization. A series of questions is presented to…

Based on techniques of experiential learning, outdoor education, and group counseling, adventure-based counseling aims to improve the self-concept of participants by enhancing trust in others and confidence in self. Groups move through a sequence of carefully orchestrated activities, including trust exercises, games, problem-solving exercises,…

The goal of this study is to show how some concepts and techniques from disciplines outside Instructional Systems Development (ISD) have the potential to extend and enhance the traditional view of ISD practice when they are employed very early in the ISD process. The concepts and techniques employed were user-centered in design and usability, and…

This research reports on an ethnographic study of Marquesas Islanders and their concepts of violent and aggressive behavior. The study interviewed six mothers about their children's behavior at three stages of early life: (1) infants and toddlers; (2) school-aged children; and (3) adolescents. Analysis of the research suggests that violence is…

Two questions serve as the focus in this study on factors affecting perception of femininity among pre-adolescent girls: (1) What are the meanings that girls themselves invested in gender and feminity? and (2) Through what social processes do girls negotiate meanings of gender and femininity? Researchers used a participant-observation study in…

This study compared achievement of students in two types of deliberate learning communities at William Rainey Harper College (Illinois) with achievement of students in two comparative groups. In the "linked classes" format, the same students enrolled in the same two course sections and two faculty members taught in a team format. In the…

A study examined communication skills essential for small work groups and whether the quality of small group teaching and research is in decline. The study reviewed small group research done previously by others and the problem of existing pedagogy and research in small group communication which does not provide practical solutions to real life…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined leadership among staff members in a suburban Cincinnati (Ohio) junior/senior high school that was undergoing school restructuring. The research examined principal-staff communication, with a focus on the staff decision-making role. The school was participating in both the Goodlad Institute of…

An ethnographic and linguistic study conducted at a high-technology corporation examined decision-making in managerial meetings, focusing on the effects of silences following a proposal on the maker of the proposal. An opinion is that such silences signify a negative evaluation of the proposal, inviting the proposal maker to alter his position.…

This book offers a step-by-step, systematic process for designing high-performance learning organizations. The process helps administrators develop proposals for redesigning school districts that are tailored to the district's environment, work system, and social system. Chapter 1 describes the characteristics of high-performing organizations, and…