Self-directed teams (SDTs) are small groups of employees responsible for an entire work process or segment, expected by some to be the workplace wave of the future in terms of organization and peak performance. SDTs work to improve their operation or product, plan and control their work, and handle day-to-day problems. (JOW)

Used group development stage theory to investigate team development patterns in an academic setting. Twenty-nine teams of undergraduate college students enrolled in a study skills improvement course met weekly for five weeks and completed the Team Development Rating Scale at the conclusion of the meeting. Found some support for three patterns of…

Principals, familiar with school personnel, goals, and operations, are a logical leadership choice for establishing an effective decision-making process. School-based management offers potential for organizational change geared toward teacher empowerment. Principals must first encourage open communication and trust and help staff develop…

Interviews with 15 presidents of diverse colleges and universities investigated the ways in which the administrators perceived their administrative teams as useful. The presidents had very different approaches to teamwork, using them for utilitarian, expressive, and cognitive functions ("real" teams) or in more limited ways ("illusory" teams).…

In Brookline, Massachusetts, two classroom teachers learned that restructuring the teaching profession had to begin with restructuring the school. Discouraged by disappearing colleagues and dissatisfied students, these teachers began a team teaching and internship project called the Learning/Teaching Collaborative and sought ways to further…

The mission of the Rum River (Minnesota) Special Education Cooperative is to help local school district staff integrate students with challenges in regular education settings. Currently, almost all children attend a home school in their local communities. The expanded opportunities in regular classrooms have raised disabled students' expectations…

Because many drug-exposed children have normal-range cognitive abilities despite having some language-development and attention problems, schools do not have to build new special-education wings or teach these children one-on-one. Schools can serve these children best by setting up and coordinating intervention programs with other agencies. (18…

Educators' most pressing leadership challenge is tapping each individual's full mental capacity and evoking the highest levels of quality, performance, and productivity. Building learning communities depends on resolving issues related to quality and excellence, governance and restructuring, organizational linkages, diversity as capacity, better…

Explains how to set the stage for cooperative learning in primary classrooms. One article describes how to achieve classroom cooperation using developmentally appropriate planning; the other discusses class activities that can spark a collaborative spirit (e.g., cooperative murals and book discussions). (SM)

In interdisciplinary teaming, each student belongs to a manageably sized group of students associated with an in-common, shared group of teachers. Study comparing professional and student involvement in team versus departmental organizational structures supports interdisciplinary teaming for middle schools. Teaming's participative climate is…

Academic competitions are discussed as a means of motivating underachieving gifted students. Particularly recommended is the U.S. Academic Decathlon which forms teams based on grade point averages. Two case studies illustrate the program's value. The paper also considers the program's benefits for high achieving students and the role of team…

Many schools are implementing collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches (cooperative teaching, collaborative consultation, and teacher assistance teams) to help teachers meet students' diverse needs. This article, which shows how a rural eastern Virginia middle school developed coteaching as an alternative to special education pullout programs,…

Explores students' need for team experiences, advantages of teams to learning and to course management, methods of team and project management practiced in industry, and adaptation of industry's methods to projects focusing on freedom of expression. Describes the usefulness and lasting value of resulting student work. Suggests unusual ways to…

This article describes expanded audit requirements for managing federal awards to colleges and universities, as outlined in Circular A-133 of the Office of Management and Budget. Applying lessons learned by state and local governments in implementing A-128 audits is recommended to help assure a successful, cost-effective transition. (MSE)

Paper examines how physical education can contribute to and work proactively toward each of the six national education goals in America 2000: readiness to learn, national graduation rates, competency in five core subjects, world class achievement in science and mathematics, literacy, and a positive learning environment. (SM)