Parents, community members, and school staff are involved in planning and staff development for systemic change in Columbus (Ohio) public schools. The model is site-based, data-driven, and school-specific. The article reviews effective schools features and program features, noting the success of the collaborative effort. (SM)

Describes the development of an alternative preservice teacher education program that helped students realize that children learn through constructing ideas about the world and themselves and demonstrated the belief that learning to teach is a process of constructing meaning. The program encouraged student teachers to explore their potential for…

Recent research shows that at-risk young people involved in well-planned and supervised peer-tutoring situations improve their grade point averages, literacy and study skills, reading comprehension, ability to identify long-range goals, and self-confidence. This article describes a high school peer-tutoring program applicable to middle school…

The Maryland Partnership for Teaching and Learning has brought together the state's education department, higher-education commission, and university system to ensure success for all students. This goal is achievable via high expectations, aligned standards and college admission requirements, modified college general education requirements, and…

To close the Anglo/ethnic minority achievement gap, 11 education and community leaders formed the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence. Two goals were paramount: ensuring success among K-16 youngsters in area educational institutions and ensuring all high-school graduates' readiness for college. The program achieved impressive results.…

Faculty incentives are skewed away from the collegiate ideal, particularly at research universities. It is not inevitable that research-oriented faculty divorce themselves from students and campus life, but active participation requires changes in faculty culture, evaluation/reward structures, and types of conversation in which faculty engage on…

A discussion of the new scrutiny of faculty tenure by legislators and governing boards presents the views of four critics of traditional tenure. Topics addressed include problems associated with tenure, financial and educational perspectives on faculty productivity, possible alternatives to tenure, and implications for academic freedom.…

Although necessary for a diversified student body, minority teachers are underrepresented due to a lingering resistance to integration efforts, unappealing classroom conditions, salary issues, and culturally biased professional exams. Equitable placement procedures, incentives, competitive salaries, mentoring programs, subject-area recruitment,…

Summarizes the status of preservice special-education teachers' preparation for diversity based on a review of the special-education literature. Issues regarding the special-education literature base, special-education professional standards, and special-education organizational structures are addressed. Identified challenges include retooling…

Examines the changing environment for serving adult learners, with special attention to new modes of delivering instruction: distance education; use of information technology; emphasis on convenience; focus on special markets; and emergence of large-scale, profit-driven enterprises. Argues that, to develop an effective response, universities must…

Describes school-reform efforts in Anderson Community Schools (Anderson, Indiana) that are partnering schools, parents, and the community so students have the education and training to perform jobs needed in the future. Discusses the need for change, collaboration, the use of technology, and new models for learning. (LRW)

An author who comes from the German higher education system offers insights into how it differs from the American higher education system and how certain undesirable characteristics may be avoided in the United States. Topics discussed include student independence, lack of extracurricular activities and campus community, tendency toward…

Defines and clarifies the whole-language approach to second-language instruction, discussing the process of shifting to the whole-language approach, use of the approach in secondary schools, and using student interests to shape the curriculum. A chart contrasts elements of the transmission philosophy of the traditional classroom and the…

The cases of two research universities, Michigan State University and the State University of New York at Buffalo, that are seeking to combine strong research mission with initiatives to convey the practical implications with local clients, are discussed. In the process, both face the challenge of sustaining the commitment of leaders, altering…

Argues for college learning communities as vehicles for high school reform, and by extension, for reform of K-12 instruction. Such learning communities can model sound academic practices that all students should master in their last year of high school and first year of college. Programs at Temple University (Pennsylvania) and Portland State…