The Duke Endowment's Program for the Rural Carolinas is a 5-year effort to assist the revitalization of rural communities. Guiding principles of the program are that the rural Carolinas matter, this generation of workers matters, effective community development involves the entire community, solutions must be locally determined, healthy…

This paper discusses the 21st century urban school superintendency, noting new challenges for urban superintendents. Currently, schools are much larger, media coverage is extensive, racial minorities settle most often in the city, and cities cope with vast social problems. School boards have an enormous effect on the success or failure of…

This grant's goals for high school teachers were threefold: (1) in the core courses and elective classes to collaborate and create lessons with a central theme; (2) become proficient with computer technology and utilize Internet resources as integral components of their lessons; and (3) enrich, enliven, and update the content of their classes…

This publication provides schools and school districts in Wisconsin with guidelines for collaborative planning and ideas for a unified, rather than competing, approach to the delivery of information and technology programming. The chapters cover the following topics: (1) vision and purpose; (2) the collaborative team model, including…

A challenge in online collaborative learning teams is assuring that all members of the virtual learning team are actively engaged and contributing to the work of the team. One strategy to hold individual members of a learning team accountable for their contributions is through the use of peer and self evaluations. This paper provides a summary of…

This ethnographic case study investigated the challenges of six elementary teachers who attempted to embrace, comprehend, and apply elements of cooperative learning. The study examined solutions that teachers found effective in dealing with problems they encountered when using cooperative learning. Over the course of 1 year, researchers collected…

This study investigated the relationship between a multiple team structure and student achievement in a high minority (predominantly African American), low socioeconomic status middle school over 3 years. Part of a larger 5-year investigation of team structures in high performing restructured middle schools, the study observed the components and…

Outdoor adventure education is an experiential method of learning which takes place primarily through sensory involvement with the outdoors. Characteristics of adventure education include uncertain outcomes, risk, inescapable consequences, energetic action, and willingness to participate. Adventure education occurs in a diversity of venues,…

This manual is a guide to Project MESH (Making Effective Schools Happen), a project which blends the "effective schools" research and change process with the values of the movement to include all students with disabilities in general education programs. The manual is based on the experience of two elementary schools in Washington State.…

This study examined the collaborative planning and decision making of a grade level team of elementary teachers. The purpose of the case study was to determine the level and nature of interaction among teachers who participated in grade level team planning meetings during the school year. Eight fifth grade teachers in a mid-South suburban school…

This paper discusses caring relationships and their importance in supporting student learning, examining a study conducted at a public elementary school. The first section describes a theoretical context for care in the school community and argues for its presence in capturing the essence of school reform. It explores one component of care,…

Children learn about their environment as they move through it--about people and objects, sizes, shapes, and distances. For typically developing children the senses of sight and hearing provide the greatest motivation for exploration. These children will use their vision and hearing to gather information about their surroundings while growing in…

A Kellogg Foundation-sponsored team leadership development program at the University of Akron is described. It involves planned change, that can be effected by: involving a broad cross section of the university in discussions or problems; providing training in interpersonal relationships and group dynamics; organizing task forces; and setting up…

Institutional change, it is suggested, can be managed through task forces that focus on a broad spectrum of institutional problems and issues including internal and external communication, institutional planning, program review and evaluation, administrative development and performance review, and faculty development. (Author/MLW)

Studied whether special education placement decisions made by teams are superior to those made by individuals. The investigation was conducted in Puerto Rico to determine the benefits of the cooperative group process. Results indicated that teams generated significantly less variability (i.e., errors) than did the same specialists acting…