Over the last several years, an understanding has been developing within the literature as to those elements which can best combine to produce increased student achievement within a small school environment. Many see such elements as, relationships, standards, rigor, student engagement, and others as part of a comprehensive whole. What is not…

Today's schools are responding to the pressing need for positive student-teacher relationships that promote successful learning and prevent dropouts and violence. To meet this challenge, many secondary schools are reorganizing around smaller schools or "houses" and structuring longer blocks of learning time. Authors Elliot Y. Merenbloom and…

Leaders need to be responsive to different ethnic, linguistic, and religious subcultures or they will place many students at risk of being excluded from the benefits of a high-quality education. By valuing diversity and preserving the cultural dignity of students, cultural proficiency enables educators to create an inclusive and instructionally…

Environmental factors currently affecting today's community colleges either will cause irreparable damage to their fiscal health and organizational structure or contribute to their rebirth--transforming systems and processes to meet current and future challenges successfully. Community colleges are facing challenges on many levels: (1) In 2003,…

This paper briefly describes two projects--one in the United States, one in England--that studied professional learning communities (PLCs). Part I of the paper describes the two projects. The American project is called the Creating Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement project. The purpose of this study was to document and examine…

Tacit knowledge, the knowledge that workers possess but do not articulate, is associated with terms such as "skill,""know-how,""working knowledge," and "expertise" that are used to describe knowledge about and ability to perform work. Learning that takes place through apprenticeships draws heavily on tacit…

The purposes of this study were to examine whether ethnic differences in college students' self-construals exist and whether these self-construals are associated with preferences for different types of classroom organization; and also to test the validity of self-construal theory to explain psychological differences. Self-reports were collected…

NYEC EDNet Tool is designed to help educators and practitioners gather information to improve schools or education programs through self-assessment. It is designed for people working with vulnerable youth in alternative and traditional education programs and schools. The self-assessment requires a concerted effort over a period of time and the…

Invitational theory addresses the total educational environment and culture of the classroom and school, focusing on the people, places, policies, programs, and processes that constitute any school culture. Invitational teaching is a process for communicating caring and appropriate messages to nurture the realization of student potential as well…

This book synthesizes current thinking about effective social and emotional education of young elementary school children. The book's chapters, by leading national experts, describe the range of programs and perspectives that can be used in elementary schools, focusing on concrete strategies and curricular-based programs that can be integrated…

This report presents findings from the 2001 National School Climate Survey related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students' experiences and feelings of safety in school. A total of 904 LGBT students from 48 states and the District of Columbia participated. Results indicated that the overwhelming majority of students heard…

A study was conducted to determine the extent to which teachers and principals perceive that strategies and conditions to integrate academic, career, and technical education are present in their schools. The study was carried out in Virginia through a 56-statement questionnaire with High Schools That Work (HSTW) schools (schools that are part of…

What will schools look like in the future? What big trends are most influential in shaping education and how might these unfold in coming years? What policy questions need to be tackled today for desirable pathways into the future to become more likely? Four chapters in part 1 address these questions. Chapter 1 examines the "driving forces" in the…

The High/Scope Curriculum is a developmentally based approach to early childhood education. This curriculum's "Extensions" newsletter, in which the articles in this collection first appeared, informs curriculum users about new development, relating to the High/Scope "open framework" curriculum. This collection divides the…

This book offers academic leaders advice to help their institutions initiate, implement, and manage the transformation to technology-enhanced teaching and learning in order to become Internet-based communication and learning environments. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Engaging the Faculty" (Paul R. Hagner and Charles A.…