Defends student councils as effective vehicles for teaching democratic literacy. Presents guidelines for effective council activities as well as suggestions for integrating a student council into an already crowded school program. (NH)

Presents young adult literature as a solution to empower students and to make reading literacy attainable for middle and senior high school students who have not become fluent readers. Discusses the importance of accessing the student's own culture and outlines the criteria books should have to mirror the world of adolescents. (SC)

This paper analyzes the case file of an adult male labeled as having mental retardation. The focus is on exploring the power dynamics that underpin services. Using Foucault's treatise on discipline as an analytic tool, the paper examines the mechanisms through which a defective identity is constructed, thereby legitimizing social control.…

Examines potential ways to view bilingual education in a more liberatory perspective. Summarizes the global, historical context of bilingual education, and outlines principles and features of six models of formal bilingual education. Discusses how language use in school can empower or disable language minority students. Views bilingualism as a…

Describes a four-week unit developed by the author to teach her at-risk high school students assertive communication as a means of empowerment, a way of taking control of situations. Describes organizing the content and implementing the curriculum, and notes students' positive and enthusiastic feedback. (SR)

Reformist and spending approaches are complementary strategies for improving teacher quality. In successful school reform, principals must become CEOs of their schools, with each school accountable for academic results. Successful schools should be rewarded, and failing schools need intervention. Discusses: certification of bad teachers; false…

The Assessment, Context, and Empowerment Model provides students with opportunities to practice communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills in relevant contexts related to the workplace. They receive developmental feedback from themselves, their peers, and their instructor. (SK)

Discusses the changing role of teacher leadership, which extends beyond the classroom, suggesting it is no longer viable for one person to act as the school-level authority and recommending a reconceptualization of teachers' professionalism which acknowledges that teachers can provide intellectual leadership in identifying and solving schoolwide…

Discusses cultural transmission and discontinuity, noting implications of culturally based assumptions and attitudes and their potential influence in schools. Interviews with seventh and eighth graders with various levels of school success or failure provided insights about student learning and adaptation strategies. Adjustments in culturally…

Beginning and veteran teachers are experiencing gross professional neglect. Teachers have been passive far too long about their own professionalism. The National Education Association is currently working with seven teacher-preparation institutions to reinvent teacher education and professional development. As Columbus, Ohio's peer-review program…

Libraries are the logical place to model gender-equitable practices, broadening the scope of technology and equipping young people with skills to succeed in a diverse and changing environment. This article discusses gender attitudes about technology and library and teaching issues related to technology and gender. Argues that separate Internet…

Investigates teacher empowerment in high schools that had school councils over varying time periods. Participants taught in a state mandating an inclusive school governance process. A School Participant Empowerment Scale measured empowerment over six subscales: decision making, autonomy, self-efficacy, professional growth, status, and impact.…

Presents brief guidelines for developing writing assignments based on the author's description (a politicized representation) of postmodern cultural studies. Discusses a composition assignment in which students critique the formal and the hidden curriculum of a class they have taken in the recent past, and in which they also become writing members…

Reports on a method of curriculum design which allows student empowerment while simultaneously promoting essential literacy skills in a developmental-education course. States that students designed their own curriculum through the use of collaborative groups and peer decision making. Finds students continued to sharpen literacy skills throughout…

The transformational leadership style, in which power is delegated to participants who then work to their capacity to complete required tasks, is appropriate for all people to combat the current tendency to consume experiences without developing responsibility or commitment. A model of personal growth through adventure is outlined. (SAS)