This article reports perceptions of a first-year teacher of students with learning disabilities. First-year challenges are described, as well as views on assessment, accountability, and inclusion. Recommendations are made for new teachers and steps that teacher educators, school administrators, and experienced teachers can take to ensure the…

A study investigated graduate and professional educational experiences that promote contextual knowing. Seventy students described these experiences as opportunities to struggle with ideas and formulate their own opinions, connect their beliefs to their own lives, use experiences in the learning process, engage in learning as equal partners with…

This study examined the effect of pre-student-teaching field experience in a multicultural setting on preservice teachers' cultural sensitivity. Preservice teachers took the Cultural Awareness Inventory before and after a field experience with minority students. Results indicated that the field experience had no impact on the subjects' in most…

Early literacy involves daily reading aloud as well as writing or dictating activities. Preschoolers learn that reading is enjoyable, pictures provide story clues, and print goes from left to right and represents words and meaning. Listening, watching, and asking questions increase vocabulary and comprehension. Sidebars include tips, a book list,…

Describes community-connected learning, an approach where community members become teachers and mentors in their local schools. Highlights include examples of projects; use of technology, including the Web; project-based curriculum; understanding the importance of community-responsive organizations and volunteerism; internships at local…

A college ethics course presents an alternative vision of ethics during the classroom component, then a 10-day wilderness backpacking trip allows students to internalize that vision and become motivated to develop themselves ethically. The field trip maximizes learning by bringing an experiential component to the usually…

Describes innovative efforts to improve Korean teacher professionalism, reduce the rising dissatisfaction among parents, and support teachers who need improved skills and abilities in order to excel in a changing society. Reform efforts include adoption of the Teacher-Oriented Field Training Program, execution of a merit-based pay system, and…

At four colleges, 135 African American women students completed measures of self-concept, gender identity, and ethnic identity, and were interviewed. Results suggest that women's self-concepts of race and gender are experienced differently depending on their school's racial and gender composition. Colleges should reexamine diversity efforts to…

Examined how social aspects of a peer collaborative context related to differences in adolescents' interpretations of task and social problems while collaborating with peers in a naturalistic classroom setting. Found that salience of social problems, gender, and friendship were important for understanding project performance. Explored the value of…

Maintains that the study of peer relations has focused heavily on children's dyadic experiences. Argues that an analysis of children's experiences at the network or group level provides an equally compelling perspective on their relations within their peer system. Shows how the dynamics of peer networks determine social experiences and influence…

Finland's Reformative In-Service Education for Teachers was a one-year program that joined experienced and novice teachers in promoting change. Research on the resulting development of teachers' cognitions and on factors crucial to that development highlighted changes in beginners' craft knowledge concerning students, learning, knowledge, and…

Examines the question of Russian teachers' attitudes toward the profession and toward the work in a specific educational institution. Finds that teachers' sense of social well-being results from the perception of their social position, whereas their sense of professional well-being is discussed in terms of self-assessment of personal and…

A teacher describes using some of the Foxfire core practices to teach a "last chance" program for students in grades 7-8 who were angry, oppositional, and defiant. After a cooperative classroom planning process in which counselors helped students articulate their ideas, the students began revealing their interests. These interests, in…

Analysis of students' mean scores on two internal medicine clerkship tests at Wright State University investigated test sensitivity and specificity for identifying students with insufficient knowledge, and compared final examination pass rates of counseled and noncounseled students. Results indicate that in-clerkship tests can identify at-risk…

Funded by the Generalist Physician Initiative, Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire), Virginia Commonwealth University, and New York Medical College adopted early community-based training models for longitudinal clinical experiences. The three programs, the methods used to evaluate an aspect of the program, lessons learned about early clinical…