Design of student-centered instruction for telecourses must take into consideration the variables that contribute to meaningful and motivated student learning: clarity; connections; teacher immediacy behaviors; and active learning. Unlike much conventional instruction, telecourse teaching isn an intensive and demanding team process requiring…

Provides guidelines for fairly and validly assessing students in small, cooperative groups. Discusses the purposes of assessment; how processes occurring during group collaboration may work for or against the purpose of assessment; how to design assessments with clear, consistent goals; issues involved in assigning students to groups; and…

This study examined the effect that instruction about and participation in groupwork/cooperative learning had on preservice teachers' attitudes toward cooperative learning, especially their knowledge of related academic and social benefits, and their pedagogical competence to organize classrooms for group work/cooperative learning. Surveys…

Explored a teacher's perspective of the implementation of cooperative learning in elementary physical education and students' responses to the implementation into their physical education classes. Data from interviews, observations, field notes, and a teacher journal indicated that the teacher and students held similar perceptions of cooperative…

This article discusses the observations and experiences of a multidisciplinary team at the Blind Childrens Center in Los Angeles, which works specifically with children from birth to 5 years of age who have been diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia and may have septo-optic displasia. Strategies for educational interventions are explained.…

This article provides information about the roles and responsibilities of physical therapists, occupational therapists, therapeutic recreation specialists, and adapted physical educators working with students with disabilities. Examples are provided of individualized education programs that combine the expertise of these professionals. Examples of…

This article discusses how practitioners can link assessment to action when planning communication interventions for young children with disabilities. It reviews communication components and discusses strategies for collecting information that may be especially useful in the domain of communication. Strategies for turning assessment information…

This article begins by reviewing seven individual texts for forming effective partnerships with families in special education. It identifies key criteria for selecting a text, including: ethical information, legal information, research information on disability impact, and information on communication strategies. A comparative overview of reviewed…

This article identifies potential challenges facing professionals who work and who plan to work with speech-language pathology assistants, including job security, professional confidence, work efficiency, supervisory training, preservice training, the effect of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's policies, professional autonomy, and…

Data are presented from a study of cooperative learning as a teaching strategy in teacher education courses. Two university methods courses were restructured to incorporate learning teams and interactive practice activities. Results indicated that students who had difficulty mastering specific content performed better with cooperative learning…

A project at Loyola University of Chicago and Northwestern University has three teams of two students each write papers and present them at a joint meeting. One team from a university writes in support of a particular side, while its counterpart at the other university takes the opposite view. (MLW)

When Richmond County, Georgia, teachers formed study groups to become proficient in new teaching strategies, their students' achievement and behavior improved markedly. The teachers adopted an organic approach to school renewal, restructuring the workplace and using training to bring research-based teaching models into teachers' regular workday.…

Leadership for school improvement should start with school boards. Suggestions for board members include the following: (1) know what is happening in the schools; (2) set both short-range and long-range goals for schools; (3) build good communications; (4) conduct an ongoing curriculum evaluation; (5) inspire teamwork and leadership; and (6) take…

Presented are the rationale and varied possibilities for collaboration between medical personnel and educators. A model for such collaboration is the Child Development Project at Boston City Hospital (Massachusetts), a project which provides intervention services for children, from birth to 5 years, with developmental delays and disturbances.…

Describes a project in which 15 public libraries in the Bay Area Library and Information System undertook simultaneous local planning using the Public Library Development Program planning and role setting process. Areas discussed include planning team workshops and meetings, implementation of the planning process, writing the planning document,…