A survey of 518 service providers found high levels of knowledge and adherence to values of inclusion regarding the need to provide opportunities for engaging consumers with disabilities in community daily activities and rights for services. Employees had less knowledge of activities intended to provide opportunities to make choices. (Author/CR)

Western social-work interventions must be adapted to empower ethnic minority families. A case study of a Hawaiian family-centered, family-empowering, problem-solving intervention using the Gandhi Technique shows it to be compatible with Asian and Pacific-Islander values. Considerations for culturally competent social work practice with Asian and…

Recounts the author's experiences as he developed a love for reading in elementary school, discovered in high school the element of power that reading held, and endured isolation in college. Describes his work with struggling African-American adolescent readers. (SR)

A three-year longitudinal study surveyed newly hired faculty (n=259) at five higher education institutions concerning adjustment factors and research productivity. Results suggest that perceived control, the milieu of research-oriented institutions, and age (but not gender) are important predictors of faculty research productivity. (DB)

Describes a study conducted by Development Strategies that analyzes the local influence of three Catholic schools in the City of St. Louis. Outlines four reasons why these schools are important neighborhood assets: active lay leadership, active pastors, outreach programs, and autonomy afforded by the archdiocese. (JDI)

Employing multiple approaches and data sources, School Improvement Model (SIM) researchers have worked with selected districts nationwide to implement a new 360-degree feedback model favored by many companies. This article describes how 360-degree feedback (from students, peers, self-evaluation, supervisors, parents, and student achievement) can…

States that Helen Scheirbeck has been an educational advocate for American Indians in Washington D.C. and in various academic settings since the late 1960s. Reports that, in particular, she pushed for change in political and bureaucratic processes and attitudes to help American Indians exercise more sovereignty over their educational institutions.…

Discusses the tenets of critical pedagogy, describing research on the presence of those tenets within discourse patterns and pedagogical practices in urban, community-based classrooms. Discourses and pedagogies of three female, African American teachers are highlighted, examining how teachers challenge students to consider alternate life…

Summarizes an ethnographic study examining interactions perceived as empowering in four inner-city primary schools in Victoria, Australia. Teachers wanted interactions between themselves and principals to be characterized by trust, recognition, respect, support, and reliability, but were disheartened by vanishing career and professional…

This article discusses how the "Piirto Pyramid" of talent development was used with gifted elementary students and students with disabilities in an inclusionary classroom to motivate students to work harder. Students clipped and posted articles from newspapers and magazines that typified an aspect of the pyramid. (Contains three references.) (CR)

Students in a Winnipeg (Manitoba) alternative high school participated in a project designed to increase student voice in their own learning and in school direction. Studying emotional intelligence, helping plan a provincial student conference, and conducting research on student priorities developed real-world skills, increased appreciation of…

This article argues that the need for and right to communication and language is fundamental to the human condition. It contends that given the historic difficulties children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing face, a constitutional right to communication is both necessary and legally sound. Relevant case law is reviewed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Grace Llewellyn, author of "The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How To Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education," discusses how her educational experiences as both student and teacher influenced her support of teens liberating themselves from school and "rising out." Llewellyn also discusses innovative learning practices, a camp for teenage…

Qualitative methods were used to examine the dynamics underlying reported benefits and outcomes of parent education. Findings suggest that the program can lead to significant, transformative learning and enhanced personal empowerment. Group format can provide social support to isolated parents. Overall experience can result in deeper understanding…

Having ownership of a dream is a core element for school improvement and effectiveness. Believing in the effectiveness of a programme is the beginning of reviving a school's internal capacities for improvement. Any improvement and development programme needs to be inviting and non-threatening, a holistic process involving all stakeholders. In this…