This collection of papers offers advice on restructuring education to create heterogeneous schools, with the goal of creating happy, comfortable, and successful learning environments for all the children and adults who learn and teach in them. Section I, titled "A Rationale for Restructuring and the Change Process," contains the following papers:…

Intended to provide background information and preliminary policy options for the California Community Colleges' Commission on Innovation, this document explores the advantages and costs of shifting to year-round operations to increase college capacity and reduce the need for new facilities. Following introductory materials detailing the…

The Northland Wilderness Experience (NWE) was established in 1985 to provide outdoor therapeutic programs for at-risk youth from the Northland region of New Zealand. The program involved a physically challenging 10-day expedition, followed by an 18-month followup period of group outdoor activities offered every 2 weeks. By the end of 1989, 280…

A paradigm is a way of understanding that includes rules and regulations that: (1) establish boundaries; (2) provide fixed rules for success within the boundaries; and (3) act as filters for data. While a paradigm may help people to operate in terms of things as they are, it also may blind them to alternative ways of looking at the world around…

Three inter-related phenomena push the need for educational change and school improvement. These are the change from an agrarian to an industrial, and from an industrial to an information society; the changing demographics that see an increase in student racial and cultural diversity; and the need for new services for low income students. The…

The materials provided in this package include a 24-minute video and a professional development guide. The video portrays several different approaches to teaching mathematics in ways that are consistent with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards. The methods employed differ from conventional mathematics teaching in…

This paper presents an overview of a three-phase investigation that featured: (1) an analysis of Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services demonstration projects focused on employment; (2) consensus development with respect to specific employment-related outcomes and activities; and (3) the identification of employment-related…

This report examines the state of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on issues of interest to philanthropic organizations seeking to assist African colleges and universities. Chapter 1 discusses the impoverished state of most African universities, due largely to economic and political decline at the national level, as well as…

A fifth-grade teacher researched the experts, observed master teachers, and experimented to find out what worked best for her and her students as she made the transition from the basal to the process approach to teaching the language arts. Taking courses and meeting with others helped support her decision to change. During the process of change,…

This document provides a framework for the development of sustained and coordinated activities to support Kentucky teachers in learning the new roles and ways of teaching envisioned in the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. The report begins with a discussion of the context of reform, which is seen as consisting of two realities: new expectations…

Presented is the fourth Summative Report developed by Northern Arizona University researchers for the Joint Legislative Committee on Career Ladders (JLCCL) concerning the implementation of the Arizona Career Ladder Program (ACLP). The ACLP has resulted in considerable developmental success toward meeting intended program goals. This report is…

The restructuring of the Romance language program at Howard University to improve oral proficiency involved modification of goals, syllabi, classroom activities, and testing. Goals were adapted to American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)/Educational Testing Service (ETS) guidelines for oral proficiency. Assessment of French…

Nongraded primary education is the practice of teaching children of different ages and ability levels together, without dividing them or the curriculum into steps labeled by "grade" designations. Changing from graded to nongraded structure requires a major investment of time, energy, and commitment on the part of teachers and…

This paper documents a small group discussion about the preparation of teachers for urban students with disabilities. The paper reviews data on the incidence of limited English speaking students in urban areas, changes in the racial composition of urban schools, and the increasing incidence of low-income families. Other issues in urban education…

This book is designed to accompany "A Good Place to Work: Sourcebook for the Academic Workplace" and represents a tool for colleges interested in supporting faculty morale and the quality of the academic workplace. The Audit, developed from a study by the Council of Independent Colleges, is organized into nine sections, each one focusing on an…