Increased interest in interdisciplinary instruction in secondary schools has led to the development of different models. At one school in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) three designs evolved when teams of teachers took on nontraditional, integrated instruction as a goal. In general, integrated curriculum designs in secondary schools match one of…

Much of what teachers know about how to teach and how to conceptualize specific academic content is learned from their undergraduate professors. In 1990, California State University, Fullerton, received a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), Project Teach, to improve the quality of instruction which…

This paper describes major characteristics of Australia and its education system, including changes in the structure of higher education as former Colleges of Advanced Education, where most teacher education in Australia had been conducted, amalgamated with existing universities or became new universities. Preservice teacher education models are…

This unit of study for high-ability language arts students in grades 2-3 uses an inquiry-based approach to investigate literature in an interdisciplinary curriculum. The guiding theme of the unit is the recognition of change as a concept that affects people and their relationships as well as the world around them. The unit provides the vehicle for…

This book contains a discussion of the resource program concept for students with special needs, the roles of the resource teacher, and directions for implementing and operating resource programs. Part I outlines a rationale for resource programs, their historical development, types of resource models, research-based effectiveness of this…

For more than 80 years, Boys Town's mission has been to change the way America cares for its at-risk children. This collection of articles describes how Boys Town carries out its mission via the Boys Town Teaching Model. The essence of the Boys Town teaching model is two-fold: building relationships with children and teaching skills to youth. To…

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between elementary school teachers' professed teaching practice and their beliefs about and understanding of elementary mathematics. The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989) was used as the criterion for…

This volume lays out the human factors involved in effective teaching and encourages both future teachers and current practitioners to cultivate the personal and professional qualities found in the kind of teachers they want to be. The single most important factor in a teacher's effectiveness is described as his or her unique style of interaction…

This study assessed the effectiveness of a model for providing long distance technical assistance on teacher implementation of an intervention designed to increase child-child social interaction. Subjects were 10 preschool special education teachers and 40 preschool-aged children (some developing normally and some with mild to moderate…

The "problem-posing" education model of Paulo Freire takes as its departure point the life experience of the learner, rather than the teacher's knowledge. Ursuline College (Cleveland, Ohio) created several courses for returning adult students that were based on Freire's ideas. One course called "Humanities Focus on Life" is for…

Addressing the Pittsburgh public school system's need for staff evaluation, Pittsburgh's Research-Based Instructional Supervisory Model (PRISM) is an adaptation of Madeline Hunter's materials on effective teaching and Theodore Forte's synthesis of Hunter's materials in his "Workshop on Instructional Skills." While total PRISM…

The summer institute phase of the Hartford Effective Schools Initiative is evaluated in this report. Part 1 includes (1) an overview of training content; (2) a section on trainers' methods, assessing strengths and weaknesses; (3) participants' responses to training based on observations by the evaluation staff and informal interviews with…

In response to the negative learning environment found in most public schools today, a pedagogical method known as "The 3 Rs" (Reading, Reflecting, and Reacting) was developed to help schools produce active participants in a democratic and pluralistic society. Inspired by the literacy work of Paulo Freire, the method makes extensive use…

A program initiated to demonstrate the use of retired teachers to enhance the quality of teaching by new teachers at the City University of New York is described in this report. Retired teachers were recommended by their former principals on the basis of criteria relating to mentoring functions. After a 4-day training period, mentors were assigned…

Intended as a response to the call for reform of education in the United States, this volume presents theories and practical examples school personnel can use in order to bring about change in reading programs. The articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Characteristics of Exemplary Reading Programs" (S. Jay Samuels); (2)…