As the largest and most highly publicized initiative to improve teaching in American schools, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has raised great expectations. It has created rigorous standards for teaching and a system to assess and certify teachers meeting these standards; it has promoted financial incentives to…

A traditional part of American education has been to include the families in the educational process of their children. The needs and complexities of today's families and classrooms have never been greater. Programs and activities used with families, and school interactions 10 to 15 years ago are not effective for today's complex families and…

This study critically examined the factors influencing public attitudes toward teacher education in Nigeria. It analysed a series of nationwide surveys of negative public attitude toward the teaching profession using parents and prospective university students as respondents. A questionnaire made up of 12 items was used to gather data on public…

This paper reports on a qualitative study which generated detailed case study information about the transition experiences of seven Indigenous students as they moved from Year 7 in their community school to Year 8 in their new urban high school context (Rennie, Wallace, Falk & Wignell 2004). In particular the study aimed to document the literacy…

The development of communication skills is a key component in any science program. However, students do not see the connections between writing and science. In particular, students lack the enthusiasm when the time comes to write lab reports. Students say that they do not see why they should have to write dry, boring lab reports following an…

We examined the effectiveness of the PATHS curriculum in a magnet elementary school serving a distressed urban area. Aspects of social-emotional competence were examined for second graders who had, and had not, received the PATHS intervention. The intervention groups differed, with the control group having lower social-emotional competence than…

The effectiveness of an explicit, systematic reading intervention for first-grade students whose home language was Spanish and who were at risk for reading difficulties was examined. Participants were 69 students in 20 classrooms in 7 schools from 3 districts who initially did not pass the screening in Spanish and were randomly assigned within…

The current study examined the assessment strategies school psychologists used in their everyday assessment routine in the evaluation of students referred for social/behavioral/emotional problems. A stratified, random, national sample of 1,000 members of the National Association of School Psychologists were sent surveys; 667 completed surveys were…

Teacher educators understand that a "highly qualified" teacher must have more than knowledge and skills. Having the disposition or "teacher's heart" is also important. One teachers' college in Arkansas identified dispositions that were valued by its faculty, supported by research, and already existed in its program. Then…

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…

For almost as long as teacher education programs have existed, there has been controversy about the appropriate balance between liberal arts and pedagogy, theory and practice, and university experiences and school-based experiences. The author of this article, a member of the American Educational Research Association's Panel on Teacher Education,…

When 29 percent of final grades for students at Bendle Middle School showed up as Ds and Es, teachers knew something had to give. Kenkel, Hoelscher, and West describe how the ABCI approach, based on mastery learning, shook up a community culture of low expectations for working class kids, and opened the way for more appropriate teaching methods…

Four dissimilar schools each respond to a learning challenge by questioning set-in-stone thinking and taking risks. A K-8 school in Toronto bypasses the traditional--and problematic--long summer vacation to follow a balanced calendar model. Students attend school year-round with two-week breaks scattered throughout the year; both remedial and…

Severely inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive children fall behind their peers and can be difficult for teachers. What impact do screening and/or advice have? Interventions were randomly assigned to 2040 schools and 24 local education authorities in England. School-level interventions involved naming pupils with ADHD-like behaviour, or providing…

There is limited information on how communication barriers impact on the health of deaf individuals. The present article describes the development of a standardized interview tool to collect health-related information from deaf adults via face-to-face interviews in American Sign Language (ASL). Questions were selected largely from existing…