The process of accreditation review in the U.S. serves two primary functions: quality assurance and continual improvement. The experienced educators who voluntarily serve on accreditation teams apply common standards of quality that serve students and meet public accountability expectations and offer suggestions and recommendations for…

To examine how Kentucky teachers perceive their needs and how to best meet those needs in the context of systemic reform, researchers examined teachers' plans for their own professional development. Data came from case studies of 21 Kentucky schools that were part of the Professional Development in the Service of Systemic Reform project and a…

The debate over school choice has been dominated by research findings that emphasize the impacts of school choice on standardized test results. This study of the attitudes of parents in Cleveland (Ohio) and Milwaukee (Wisconsin) indicates that test results are not what interest parents most when they are facing school choice. Parents are…

This paper highlights features of an interactive, bilingual CD-ROM currently under development that is designed to be used for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) decision making with professionals and families of children with disabilities. The CD-ROM is scheduled for release in the spring of 1998 and will: (1) provide information…

This study sought a better understanding of faculty culture and was designed to allow faculty to describe their own cultural experience through a series of structured interviews. Fifty faculty members at three universities were asked to voice their beliefs about faculty culture, particularly in regard to faculty stratification (perception of…

Ten teachers write about time-related frustrations growing out of school reform efforts, noting how problems were or were not resolved. There are specific examples of what it is like to experience school reform and how reform affects teachers' already full days. These cases are preceded by contextual descriptions. Each case study includes one or…

This report outlines the European Union's Community Initiatives for Citizenship Education Regionally Organized (CICERO) pilot project, its results, and suggestions for further action. It describes the participants from seven different groups at their first meeting in Barnsley, England, and each group's definition of what it would like European…

Achievement in Mathematics (AIM), an algebra class at Lexington Community College, has successfully demonstrated the benefits of collaborative study. Six sections of Intermediate Algebra were taught by three instructors, each teaching one traditional section and one collaborative section. All six sections were given the same lectures, tests, and…

This study examined university curricular reform, explaining how teacher education programs must create innovative curricular redesign to promote the development of students' critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making skills. The study highlighted a school of education in the process of curriculum redesign, using observation,…

This simulation allows students to experience what it was like to live in the medieval world. For three or four weeks, the classroom becomes a manor, a castle, a monastery, a town, or an army en route to Jerusalem to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslim hordes. The phases of the unit include: (1) feudalism; (2) manorialism; (3) knighthood; (4)…

This guide for parents, in Spanish, explains the changes in the federal special education law resulting from the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Changes related to the parent's role in decisions about the child's education and in how schools can discipline special education students are highlighted. A…

A technique for second language teachers to use in predicting and directing classroom interactions is outlined. The technique, if-then predictions is based on theories of cognitive information processing. The if-clause of a prediction describes the scope of conditions for a certain behavior or experience specified in the then-clause. The teacher…

This study investigated how four teacher educators, who were collaborating with school-based partners to reconceptualize the portion of the teacher education curriculum traditionally delivered in the university methods courses, approached course reconceptualization. Data from interviews with the teacher educators highlighted four themes: learning…

This book reports findings of research to explore the changing relationships between British further education (FE) colleges and the communities they serve. Chapter 1 outlines changes in FE over the past 10 years to provide a context. It deconstructs and conceptualizes the term "community" within the context of this project, and explores…

This case study examines the process of opening and developing a new high school, with a specific emphasis on the evolution of its culture. Guided by a theoretical framework informed by the literature on school culture, this study explores the nature of school culture, how school cultures are established, the role of the principal, and the role of…