Joyce VanTassel-Baska is the Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education and the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. For the past 20 years, the Integrated Curriculum Model, based on research of what works with gifted learners, has been the foundation of curriculum…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of providing Web-based information about child maltreatment to undergraduate education and graduate counseling students. The goal was to determine, via an objective test, whether students would gain information about abuse signs and symptoms and reporting laws. Methods: One…

This paper explores personalised learning, which is a "new" teaching and learning style in the Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners launched by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for England in 2004. The research was based on semi-structured interviews with 13 teachers mainly in charge of Key Stage 3 at two 11-18…

With the increased public attention to a rapidly growing number of children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it seems as if there is an equally rapid growth of new specialized programs catering to this group of children. The question to be considered is, if there are indeed promising models based on inclusive settings, why does…

The author experimented with a different type of parent involvement that turned out to be surprisingly positive and constructive by changing how parents, teachers, and the principal interact with one another. The initiative, a math parent volunteer program, followed a parent survey that highlighted the need for differentiated instruction in the…

June 22, 2007, was the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley (hereafter Rowley; 1982). In Rowley, the Supreme Court interpreted congressional intent in requiring that public schools provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with…

When a teacher plans instruction, he has in mind some prototypical students or group: someone like himself or some group similar to his in ability. With this conception of the prototypical students or group, he teaches only one-third of students to reach a level of achievement. At the end of semester, most teachers give their grades, generally…

Many teachers, fueled by their passion, classroom experience, and entrepreneurial verve, decide to start their own schools. With the needs of children driving their every decision, teachers can create successful schools where students thrive. In this article, teachers who established their own schools--from public charters to private…

Five undergraduate, dual preparation pre-service teachers who began their program in the fall of 2005 were followed through their second and third semesters of their two-year program of study. The study examined their (a) beliefs about how to teach reading to students with learning disabilities and to students without learning disabilities, and…

Instructional strategies make a difference in whether students are engaged in learning and are profiting from their time in class. High schools, technology centers and middle grades schools are encouraging teachers to adopt new teaching techniques and are providing opportunities for teachers to work together to improve their instructional skills…

Secondary schools--be they middle schools or high schools--are reading-rich environments. Secondary schools provide contexts in which students must regularly read and write competently to demonstrate their literacy achievement. In any given semester, there are short stories and novels to read, comprehend, and analyze; civics and science texts…

This self-instructional model, written for registered nurses, is divided into three sections: (1) anatomy and physiology of the patient before and after laryngectomy; (2) eating and nourishment following the total laryngectomy; and (3) two options for speech following a total laryngectomy--the electrolarynx and esophageal speech. The manual…

This paper describes an evolving series of television programs that are designed to paint personal portraits capturing the thoughts, methods, theory, and practice of such major innovators in individualized instruction as Samuel N. Postelthwait and Fred S. Keller. The major purpose and potential benefits of this video history series are explained,…

Primary children in the individualized multiage programs (IMP) had lower state and trait anxiety than those in traditional learning environments (TRAD), as measured by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. The IMP-TRAD instructional programs and trait anxiety had different effects on performance at the first and second grade levels.…

Investigates the effectiveness of an individualized, student-centered program designed to increase the language skills of third and fourth grade students. (RB)