Intended to foster communication among parents, teachers and school administrators, this brochure presents lists of questions parents may ask concerning school programs and policies, particularly at the beginning of the school year. Questions are organized by different levels of schooling from pre-kindergarten to high school. Pre-kindergarten…

Strategic planning is not only concerned with achieving specific goals for the long-term future, but also breaks these goals into short-term intervals and continually assesses the results. Strategic planning can have an impact on how librarians, especially public service librarians, operate in academic settings. If strategic goals and programs are…

Noting that children's perceptions of literacy and of themselves as learners differ from those of adults, this book documents how Sarah, from the ages of 2 to 5 years, understood literacy and invented reading and writing for herself. Numerous reading and writing samples in the book, organized around broad research questions, present Sarah as an…

This study examined elementary teacher candidates' understanding of how history is "made" by historians and how texts are analyzed in the process of historical inquiry. Interviews with three elementary student teachers enrolled at a large southwestern state university indicated that they all had a markedly limited background in academic history.…

This research paper seeks to address new theories of learning and instructional practices that will be needed to meet the demands of 21st century education. A brief review of the literature on the topics of constructivism, reflective inquiry, and multicultural education, which form the major elements of a computer-based system called HyperCAP, are…

This paper explores how various perspectives influence inquiry in education. Normative perspectives function as implicit theories of inquiry as a researcher undertakes formal inquiry, and such theories should be acknowledged. Epistemological as well as methodological issues raised by conceiving of such theories as normative rather than merely…

This paper presents four philosophies of science teaching for teachers to use that encourage optimal learner achievement. Information is provided on an experimentalist or problem solving approach, an idealistic or subject-centered science curricula, a decision-making approach, and criterion-referenced procedures for learning. Two psychologies of…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of two laboratory environments for introductory chemistry on undergraduate students' inquiry skills. The two laboratory environments are embedded in the same lecture course. The standard laboratory curriculum and instruction are distinct from the curriculum explored in this study, the MORE…

This monograph describes the Curriculum Inquiry Cycle (CIC), a professional development process that supports educators in making curriculum and instruction decisions responsive to state standards, local needs, and student characteristics. It is designed to improve learning and teaching, with the classroom as the central focus. The CIC has four…

This action research study developed a framework for moving teachers toward an inquiry-based approach to teaching science, emphasizing elements, strategies, and supports necessary to encourage and sustain teachers' use of inquiry-based science instruction. The study involved a literature review, participant observation, focus group discussions,…

This investigation paired four university secondary education student teachers with four experienced English teachers. As the students did their practice teaching, they conducted joint classroom research with their cooperating teachers. Their relationships over the course of the semester were documented and analyzed using a qualitative case-study…

This book provides the vision and rationale for "centers of pedagogy" that can bring schools and universities together in a close, renewing relationship. It proposes a redesign of education that is grounded in a mission of enculturating students in a social and political democracy. The first four chapters address questions related to the nature…

This study was designed to demonstrate whether students attain a higher level of learning when they are required to synthesize information through a process of inquiry and believe they will be evaluated with essay questions. The control section of an introductory educational psychology class was taught about accommodating student differences,…

Numerous scientific concepts and principles underlie the operation of all manufactured products. Increasingly, teachers and science educators are coming to realize that students need more investigative "hands-on" activities and they need to see some rather immediate relevancy of what they are studying if they are to study science with enthusiasm.…

With the importance of imagery in our culture and the increasing access to both digital images and the tools used to manipulate them, it is important that social studies teacher educators prepare preservice teachers to provide their students with opportunities to develop a critical lens through which to view images. As we strive to encourage the…