This paper provides an analysis of approaches to quality assurance and of the management of quality in general management literature and considers its application to public education systems. Key components of a fully integrated approach to quality assurance and quality management for school systems are listed. (SLD)

Describes a two-week bilingual poetry writing unit that combined a creative writing class and a Spanish class and that compiled a classbook of students' poems in the two languages. (SR)

Discusses a strategy to present girls with models of hardy female personalities through examples of young problem solvers found in children's literature to nurture and build the strength in female students to tackle problem-solving situations. Contains 17 references. (ASK)

Describes four activities that use graphing calculators to model nuclear-decay phenomena. Students ultimately develop a notion about the radioactive waste produced by nuclear fission. These activities are in line with national educational standards and allow for the integration of science and mathematics. Contains 13 references. (Author/WRM)

Describes a fourth-grade class' exploration involving measurement of body parts that developed from a work of children's literature. (ASK)

Describes a two-year program using the characteristics of ecology as a framework for inquiry and learning. Discusses the framework as a model for the biological, social, political, historical, and cultural systems that make up the content of the grade 9-10 curriculum. (CCM)

Describes a student checkbook program for a third-grade classroom that integrates mathematics and behavior management. Reinforces arithmetic, language arts, and social studies skills. Discusses pedagogical implications. (ASK)

Describes a model for schools searching for a project to provide focus for instruction across curriculum areas. Argues that schools can foster compassion in students and a desire to take action by selecting a theme that is both engaging and meaningful for students, and providing skills and knowledge from across the curriculum. (CCM)

Describes two ways of making photograms-silhouette-like images using light sensitive paper. One activity calls for regular photographic paper and processing, and the other uses special "sun print" paper that processes in plain water. (WRM)

Examines whether students would learn about friendship through guidance lessons led by their teachers with a sample of 5th grade students. Results indicate that students and teachers were receptive to the lessons. Teachers reported behavior change in some students. Students' perceptions showed an increase in using positive behavior toward other…

Presents an activity that incorporates elementary level science and mathematics in which students have many opportunities to use mathematics to communicate the local weather conditions. (ASK)

Summarizes an interdisciplinary undergraduate research project involving experimental physics and calculus and illustrates how mathematics was used to finesse incomplete experimental information and maximize physical quantity known as jerk. Describes how calculus can be applied in the "real world" where functions are not always given by nice…

Describes a two-year grammar sequence that the author uses with the seventh- and eighth-grade reading and writing program, in an approach that combines grammar instruction with what students are reading and writing. Describes how systematic grammar and usage instruction is connected to what students are reading and writing. (SR)

Reflects on three articles in this themed issue written by classroom teachers, describing how and why they incorporate the arts into the heart of their language arts instruction. Concludes that sign systems and the arts are powerful tools for thinking, whether they are used efferently, to represent specific information, or aesthetically, to create…

Describes how Japanese fish printing brings interdisciplinary science and culture to the classroom. Presents an activity on fish printing that provides students with a tactile, concrete experience and explores what fish feel like and how their scales are arranged. (ASK)