In this article, the authors describe their efforts to improve the performance of their middle school students on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). As middle level educators, they knew that in addition to addressing the curriculum, they also had to address the psychological needs of their students. To administer a standardized…

"How can this Abstract Algebra course help me to teach Algebra in high school?" To professors of prospective mathematics teachers, this type of question has a resounding familiarity. Because students are unclear as to the relationship between upper division mathematics courses and the high school curriculum, answering the opening question to the…

In this essay, the author calls attention to a little-studied but critical aspect of school system reform: the nontransparent and sometimes illogical ways school districts allocate funds and personnel, especially teachers. Drawing on a series of studies produced by his Center for Reinventing Public Education, the author asserts that mayors who…

In their senior year, biochemistry majors at the University of Detroit Mercy take a senior seminar course entitled "Recent Advances in Biochemistry Related to Societal Issues." Students read papers selected from the current literature and take turns presenting these papers to the class. Papers are grouped into units dealing with molecular biology,…

This paper examined: (a) the accuracy of teacher nominations in identifying (n = 86) students with and without academic and behavioral concerns; and (b) the degree to which these different types of students responded to the multileveled intervention program. Results suggest that teachers were highly accurate in discriminating among students with…

In this article, the author features the Family Literacy Center, a service-learning project at the University of Utah's English education program. For the author and her students, Family Literacy Center has become a place to investigate the role of teacher-student or mentor-student relationships in learning and literacy development. The goals of…

Objective: To study the help-seeking process of parents for emotional or behavioral problems in their child with borderline to moderate intellectual disabilities. Method: In 2003, in a special education-based sample of 522 youths (ages 10-18 years, response = 77.9%), we studied the parents' perception of their child's problems, their subsequent…

Whole Farm Nutrient Management is an upper-level, undergraduate course offered through the Department of Animal Science (AS) and Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (CSS) at Cornell University. The course (AS/CSS 412) is designed for students interested in agricultural careers and aims to help them develop a working knowledge of agricultural…

"Houghton Mifflin Mathematics" is a core curriculum for kindergarten through grade 6 students at all ability levels. According to its developer, "Houghton Mifflin Mathematics" emphasizes the five content strands and processes recommended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards. At each grade level the…

This volume comprises the refereed proceedings of the 2007 ATLAANZ (Association of Tertiary Learning Advisors of Aotearoa/New Zealand) conference. The first three chapters set the scene well for the breadth and depth of issues addressed by the authors. In Chapter 1, Andy Begg refers to his own educational journey in discussing the inseparability…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and the efficacy of regional special education programs. Focus groups were conducted in an independent school district and two special education cooperatives. Focus groups were conducted with general education teachers, special education teachers, principals, paraprofessionals,…

This "Packet of Information for Professionals" (PIP) was developed for professionals who work with gifted and talented students who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of PIP is to offer recommendations that will lead to a positive experience for twice-exceptional students who participate in specialized programs for…

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) increasingly is being used to study and address environmental justice. This article presents the results of a cross-site case study of four CBPR partnerships in the United States that researched environmental health problems and worked to educate legislators and promote relevant public policy. The…

The Technology Immersion Pilot (TIP), created by the Texas Legislature in 2003, was based on the assumption that the use of technology in Texas public schools could be achieved more effectively by "immersing" schools in technology rather than by introducing technology resources, such as hardware, software, digital content, and educator…

The web has the potential to offer an environment that can support standardized medical education to students dispersed in time or place and, in the process, respond to reduced availability of patients for practice. This exploratory article describes how we evaluated critical thinking in an online collaborative Problem-based Learning (PBL)…