A 2-year study of small Chicago schools found that small schools, especially small high schools, help students succeed. The study focused on about 150 small schools founded in Chicago during 1990-97 and their progress through 1999. Elementary schools had fewer than 350 students; high schools fewer than 400 students. Quantitative analyses covered…

Concerned with the intrusion of corporate interests into American classrooms, this book presents a case against the business model of educational administration. In each of its seven chapters the book explores how and why the school-business model does not and cannot work. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the expectations currently placed on…

The Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI) was developed in 1995 in response to increased incidents of student behavior problems. The intent of MBI is to improve educational environments to meet the needs of all students, including those with behavioral challenges. Each participating school conducts needs assessments and develops site-specific goals…

This study explored the possibility of linking the Luna (1999) student flow matrix model with institutional planning at a comprehensive state institution, investigating how student flow environments were associated with student characteristics such as race, gender, citizenship, class level, entry type, and cumulative grade point average. The study…

This document, which is based on 3 years of research on 14 school-to-work programs across the United States, outlines pedagogical strategies for work-based learning. Pedagogy is defined as the organization of the social activities, organizational structures, and cultural practices by which newcomers, such as student interns, come to acquire and…

This self-study training manual for teachers of young children with autism contains nine modules on behavior modification techniques. The modules address: (1) the ABC's of behavior, which discusses discriminating among words that describe feelings and words that describe behaviors, identification of examples of learned behavior, and defining and…

This paper examines some theories and approaches for better integrating minority students into college environments for creating a good "fit" for an increasingly diverse student body, and thereby increasing student retention. Several factors are found to affect diversity: an increased proportion of minorities; an increase in the average age of…

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are learning management software systems that synthesize the functionality of computer-mediated communications software and online methods of delivering course materials. This report focuses on how to evaluate the properties, capabilities and orientation of different systems from an educational perspective, and…

The goals of this study were to investigate problem-solving in a context that requires a rich interaction among social, motivational, and cognitive processes and to compare the effects of the mediated and discovery models of learning on students' problem-solving processes in the complex technology-based learning environment. Subjects were 88…

Intended for readers in the business world and in nonprofit and higher education settings, this guide offers a framework for informed mentoring practice. It combines discussion and exercises. Chapter 1 grounds the mentor's work in a learner-centered approach to mentoring and presents a mentoring paradigm consistent with andragogical principles and…

This monograph, the first in a series of three, on campus diversity issues is the result of a collaboration of scholars and evaluators who consulted on five campus diversity initiatives. It uses research findings that chart college and university efforts to move from the rhetoric of inclusion to the practice of equity, arguing that the current…

This curriculum guide presents a comprehensive approach to using technology with children. Chapter 1 presents the curriculum's philosophy and identifies benefits and applications of technology for young children. Chapter 2 looks at the learning environment (including preschool environments, birth to three environments, and environments for…

This practicum was developed to increase the quality of child care offered by family daycare providers on a military base in the western United States. Providers were to improve their developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) by following a daily activity schedule, setting up enriched home environments, writing and implementing curricula, and…

The Western Policy Exchange Project is designed to help states assess the implications of environmental changes on their own higher education system. In roundtables and policy workshops, six Western states--Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, Arizona, and Washington--looked for evidence of systemic change and proposed the following five…

This report details findings from visits to 15 small schools associated with Human Scale Education. These schools are all different, reflecting the priorities of their founders. But there are features common to all of them--parental involvement, democratic processes, environmentally sustainable values, spiritual values, links with the local…