The Education Commission of the States has identified several crucial factors that ensure successful school improvement programs, including political support, pressure for improvement, belief in students' learning ability, high-quality programs, state-level implementation strategies, and adequate resources. State agencies must also promote school…

Describes the Advance College Project, a cooperative program between Indiana University and high schools in Indiana wherein selected high school teachers came to campus for summer seminars, high school students applied for specific courses in English composition or other areas, and public school and university officials worked out the…

Argues that the participatory leadership model is especially effective at the middle school level because the team concept is vital to the middle school construct. Asserts that principals who use such a model can truly become instructional leaders. (FL)

If the concept of articulation between educational levels is revised to view the educative process as "one system," all students will benefit. The one-system model, with its multi-level cooperative career planning, preparation, and counseling, can prevent minority students from falling by the wayside or being routinely relegated to nonacademic…

Explores key components of the teacher professional growth process and examines how "significant others" can contribute to the components discussed. Presents a structure for a collaborative approach to supervision and staff development. (FL)

The effectiveness of a statewide coordinating agency is dependent upon its statutory powers, makeup of its board and prestige of its members, the size and quality of its staff, the credibility and reliability of its policies, its ability to establish continuing and working relationships with institutions, executive and legislative leaders, budget…

The purpose of this study is to provide case studies of co-operation between education and industry in the Northern Territory in particular; the study also provides exemplars of co-operation between education and industry in Australia and worldwide. The existence of such co-operation is not surprising as education and industry share many common…

This case study documented the collaboration of Lake Middle School (pseudonym for a school in Michigan) with Middle Start, a middle-grades reform model and its progress and struggles implementing the model. Middle Start was coordinated by the Michigan Middle Start Partnership, and alliance that provided technical assistance, professional…

A renewed emphasis on arts education has come after a period of neglect during the 1980s and early 1990s when the arts were often slighted as school budgets grew tight and as educational priorities shifted to the basic academic subjects. Recently, results of several research studies have confirmed the advantages of student participation in arts…

This book takes up issues of violence in the lives of college students and looks for possibilities of teaching composition as an act of peace making. Through a variety of writings, the book illustrates students' experiences on the city streets of New York and in the small mining and steel towns of western Pennsylvania. One section of the book…

The May 2001 regional seminar on "Teaching Materials: Controversial and Sensitive Issues, Multiperspectivity," held in Ohrid, was included in the Stability Pact, with financing from Austria and Switzerland. It was the first regional teacher training seminar in this region. The seminar reviewed controversial and sensitive issues in…

At the December 2000 meeting of the working group, four priority areas of activity were identified: (1) curriculum development; (2) initial and inservice teacher training; (3) development of teaching resources; and (4) history teaching in higher education. The working group also anticipates that added value and synergy can be created through…

Creating an integrated curriculum requires a collaboration that balances the personal, professional, and production aspects of a project. This paper describes interaction within a team of teachers whose focus for developing an integrated curriculum emerged from a community-arts organization. Topics examined include: the tension between team…

This paper reports on a larger study that described public/private school partnerships throughout the U.S. The study described collaborations in terms of their goals, organizational structure, support, commonalities and differences, and evaluations. The present essay discusses how these partnerships provide a model for understanding what…

The National Writing Project's (NWP's) mission is to improve writing and learning in the nation's schools. Through its professional development model, the NWP recognizes the primary importance of teacher knowledge, expertise, and leadership. In 2001, the project sponsored over 5,500 professional development programs through its local sites. In…