This article offers a detailed description and discussion of Project TIES, a professional development program that allows K-8 teachers to make the transition from a traditional classroom to one where technology is embedded and becomes an integral part of teaching and learning. Project TIES (Technology Integration Enhancing Science), a four-year…

This multilevel investigation examined the effect of group interaction and its influence on individual-level membership variables and group assimilation. The study is based on a model of group socialization developed by Moreland and Levine (1982) and was modified in this study to investigate the development and maintenance of highly interdependent…

Teachers are constantly under pressure to produce results in the form of student achievement. The combinations of characteristics and methods that teachers use to achieve those results may seem endless. Still, there are behaviors and techniques that constantly emerge in any evaluation of a master teacher. In this article, the author presents an…

In this article, the author describes a project in which Collaborative Inquiry, or CI (Bray et al. 2000), was used by a small inquiry group consisting of a high school science teacher and two university educators, Marie Cashion and the author herself, Karen Goodnough, to explore Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In CI groups, co-learners work through…

The conditions that promote best practice in the mentoring of beginning teachers in secondary schools are explored in this paper in relation to the experiential model of learning put forward by Kolb [(1984). "Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development." New York: Prentice-Hall]. The underpinning processes of this…

Outcomes of Rider University's model of a secondary-postsecondary partnership are documented. This was developed in response to school districts' need to provide their students with hands-on experiences in the theory and practice of modern biology. It was observed that partnership models not only helped students to increase their knowledge, but…

From 1999 to 2002, two university professors, one trained in language education and French and the other in Hispanic literature, undertook a comparative qualitative study of their parallel third-year reading course. Using a variety of data sources, most importantly extensive interviews, they documented their teaching beliefs, practices, and…

Blogs are currently receiving a great deal of attention in the popular media. In some cases blogs are being called "the next killer application," and "a replacement for email." While a portion of this attention is warranted, in the end a blog is simply a website. But blogs may also represent an empowering technology ? a step toward "leveling the…

The paper reports findings from research into the extent to which an on-line course, "Try Science", achieved its objectives compared with a face-to-face course with the same content and objectives. "Try Science" has the dual aims of developing participants' understanding of science content and of teaching science through enquiry. Whilst the…

We compare the content that was expected with what actually was put into practice in a course of ongoing education of secondary education (12-16 year olds) science teachers, and describe the most relevant problems that arose. We believe that the educational content--its nature, how it is organized and presented to the teacher participants, and so…

Qualified special educators are needed to carry out research-based practices in schools. The shortage of special educators, the high numbers of uncertified teachers, and high attrition rates threaten the practice of science in the schoolhouse and, consequently, the education that students with disabilities receive. If teachers are to use…

The Professional Development School (PDS) concept was developed by the Holmes Group (now known as the Holmes Partnership) in response to a national call for educational reform. More recent reform agendas question the effectiveness of the PDS model. This article examines the changes that are occurring in the Temple University PDS in Philadelphia,…

Toni Garvey, director of the Phoenix Public Library (PPL) and LJ 2004 Librarian of the Year, has practiced her profession in a Western county jail, for the politicized board of a Southern public library, in the children's room of a university community, and through the up and down economics of a major American city. She has managed branches and…

In an effort to meet local, state, and federal demands for education reform, school leaders are scrambling to identify effective strategies for delivering and reporting on technology professional development and how it impacts school reform. School leaders nationwide are critically evaluating their return on investment as it relates to technology…

Describes multiple aspects of the site coordinator's role in K-12/university partnerships where a master teacher was the site coordinator. Interview data highlight multiple themes within the areas of personal and professional benefits and challenges. Overall, site coordinators learned to walk in two worlds nd became an accepted part of the culture…