On their visit to the National Archives Experience in Washington, D.C., students in Jenni Ashley and Gay Brock's U.S. history classes at the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, participated in a pilot program called "The Constitution by Cell." Armed with their cell phones, a basic understanding of the Constitution, and a willingness to…

This article examines student teamwork in the academic field from a structural perspective. Student teams are often prearranged and then left to organize themselves and get on with their work, without any further structural support; this, however, can become a negative experience on teamwork. A varied contribution among team members often occurs…

The idea of teachers working together to improve teaching and learning seems so sensible that few would argue against it. However, some schools do not provide regular and ample opportunities for teachers to collaborate on their practice mainly because they do not know how to find new ways of using existing resources, such as time and personnel. In…

Guns in the home are associated with a five-fold increase in suicide. All patients at risk for suicide must be asked if guns are available at home or easily accessible elsewhere, or if they have intent to buy or purchase a gun. Gun safety management requires a collaborative team approach including the clinician, patient, and designated person…

This article explores the practitioner's relationships with colleagues, on teams and with professionals from other disciplines and systems. While there has been much analysis and discussion about relationships between practitioners and clients, there has been relatively little attention paid to the professional relationships that are at the center…

A delegation from the Ministry of Education, Special Education (GSE) went to Tokelau in 2007 in response to a request from the Tokelauan government to help establish services for children with special education needs. The team was led by Ezra Schuster and made up of a special education advisor, a speech-language therapist, an advisor on deaf…

Effective educational reform involves changes in the overall operations of schools. Teachers who collaborate, analyze the functions of their schools, and adjust their practices become leaders and participants in whole-school change. This study documents the impact of teacher leadership teams from three schools in their efforts to increase access…

The authors report an empirical pilot study of current models of elementary science instruction that utilize science specialists, and make a call for the participation of schools and districts that use a specialist model to assist in collecting the descriptive data needed to create the foundation for future research on the use and impact of…

Team-based learning (TBL) has been shown to improve student learning in a variety of settings. In a majority of cases, TBL has been implemented in face-to-face formats and occasionally in blended learning formats, which are partially online partially and face-to-face in a classroom. The Sloan Consortium surveys report a steady increase in the…

Fourteen students in "Comparative Linguistics: American Sign Language & English" (ASL 220) embarked on a class project focused on linguistic variation during the spring 2007 semester at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (JSRCC). This class project required students to apply various skills learned in the course, including…

Many school library media specialists, especially in elementary schools, establish library clubs and library monitor programs. In most cases, these clubs and programs are limited to students assisting with clerical duties in the library such as shelving books and manning the circulation desk under supervision. The library media specialist assigns…

Learning about social justice is far different from engaging in the emotion-laden work of learning social justice. Frequently, instructors of aspiring educational leaders find that when social justice content is introduced, the adult classroom becomes a messy community, filled with untidy and unexamined viewpoints, multiple stereotypes, and…

While admissions officers are well versed in SAT-score and GPA requirements for their institutions, it is now crucial that they know how to answer questions about eligibility for financial aid and merit scholarships. A new "Chronicle" survey of admissions officers found that monetary issues weigh heavily on their minds. When asked about the "most…

An emerging research tool used in recent years to better understand and improve teacher thinking has been the use of collaboration and collaborative action research. In our study, we were interested in whether teachers could enhance the learning of their subjects through the use of teaching techniques and strategies involving social interaction.…

Working in groups and teams is a common practice in today's college classroom, partly in order to meet the growing demand by employers that students entering the workforce have leadership and group experience. This practice has many inherent benefits and challenges. The experiences created must meet the needs of both students and other…