High Schools That Work (HSTW) Assessment data show the need to improve science education in both the middle grades and high school. Science education increases students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This publication is designed to help principals, other school leaders and teachers identify rigorous instruction and successfully…

Need in Deed (NID) is a non-profit organization which has been serving Philadelphia schools since 1987. The organization aims to promote youth engagement in their schools and communities by working with teachers to develop and implement service learning projects in which students can apply academics to real life problems. Until recently, NID staff…

A quality school education is essential if young people are to have access to the greatest possible opportunities in life, but it is not a universal experience in Australia. Instead, too many young people are disengaged from school, especially those in the middle years of schooling and those living in disadvantaged areas. This study examined the…

In the US and many other industrialized nations, far fewer females and minorities enter Information Technology (IT) fields than do males and majority populations. Research has revealed that unsupportive educational environments reinforced by obstructive societal norms and expectations have often contributed to the lack of interest and involvement…

Variation in teaching techniques was examined among instructors based on their status (full-time vs. part-time) and educational level (doctorate vs. nondoctorate). To facilitate this study, a survey instrument was developed and distributed to 400 randomly selected faculty members employed at the two largest institutions, Community Colleges X and…

Drawing from three years of research in the classrooms of four highly effective elementary and secondary teachers in South Los Angeles, this article considers theories of teaching in urban contexts by examining effective practices in urban classrooms. It outlines an original framework of five indicators of effective teaching in urban schools and…

The way public school educators respond to emerging information technologies will be the defining event for public education over the next decade. This author, however, worries about whether public schools have the capacity to take advantage of the revolution going on around them--a revolution that is affecting not only the way students learn, but…

The term "visual culture" includes all manifestations of cultural life that are significantly expressed through visual aspects and interpreted through individual and shared experiences. Visual culture includes art, cultural practices, media images, and other forms. However, teaching visual culture involves more than extending the range of visual…

This paper describes one aspect of a multi-factor investigation of the parameters which mediate in the effectiveness of an inservice staff development program. The paper also represents an attempt to recognize and to meet the problems associated with the evaluation of inservice programs for teachers in terms of student outcomes. The inservice…

In the summer of 1993, more that 55 educators from across the United States attended The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge (Massachusetts). Teachers, school administrators, and their champions in the community joined MIT students, professors, and professionals from…

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) developed around the understanding that writing is a developmental, incremental procedure that is intimately linked to thinking. Two major branches in the WAC movement are the write-to-learn focus, or the push to incorporate writing tasks solely as strategies for teaching and learning course material, and the…

This document, developed by the Commission on International Education of the American Council on Education, stresses the importance of students developing the competence to function effectively in a global environment and the need for state and local governments and the private sector to support higher education's efforts toward this goal.…

In higher education, there is an increasing emphasis on development of discipline-specific pedagogical knowledge among faculty, whose central precept is the interconnectedness of content and teaching method. Some college and university faculty development centers have begun providing services in this area. The University of Washington's Center for…

Research on the effectiveness of specific strategies for faculty and instructional development at the college level is reviewedd, focusing on five delivery strategies: (1) workshops; (2) instructional consultation; (3) grants for instructional improvement; (4) colleague collaboration; and (5) print resources. In each case, the strategy is…

This annual journal issue contains 21 papers, many of which were developed as background pieces for sessions of the annual conferences of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). Papers are grouped into four sections on: personal reflections, faculty development, evaluation of teaching practices, and…