Examines assumptions about groups from three perspectives: restructured nondirected interaction, exploration of reasons for group membership, and discussion of group roles. Compares facilitation and leadership and illustrates ways to be a good facilitator. (SK)

The increased availability of computational modeling software has created opportunities for students to engage in scientific inquiry through constructing computer-based models of scientific phenomena. However, despite the growing trend of integrating technology into science curricula, educators need to understand what aspects of these technologies…

Problems facing African Americans students are complex and numerous. In this article, we describe current educational contexts (i.e., high standards, accountability, and standardized test scores). In addition, we discuss the realities confronting African American students through West?s (1994) lenses of paranoia and poverty. Finally, we present…

The Breaking Through (BT) initiative of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation seeks to prepare low-skilled adults, adult learners who are below college-level in reading, writing and/or mathematics, often lacking a high school diploma, and frequently low-income, to be successful in college and the labor market by strengthening and expanding policies…

Recent developments in policy and practice have emphasized the importance of promoting self-determination and supporting access to the general curriculum for youth with disabilities. To understand how these trends align, we examined the efforts of 340 general and special educators to promote student self-determination in high school classrooms.…

In 1994, the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) initiated two related projects supporting and acknowledging composition in schools and offering the opportunity for secondary school-aged students to work with prominent Australian composers. These were the Young Composers' Project and the Composer-in-Residence Project. Both projects were…

It was heartwarming to see so many states, school districts, and communities throughout the United States open their doors to the children of Katrina. This response was a graphic portrayal of the spirit of volunteerism, the value of the more able assisting the less fortunate, and the sense of altruism that surfaces when major crises occur.…

This study examined the impact of the 2004 Asian tsunami on 400 Thai adolescents 1 year after the disaster. Quantitative analyses showed that youth behavior problems were positively associated with tsunami experiences and negatively associated with positive family functioning. Tsunami exposure, school connectedness, religious beliefs and…

The paper reports on a collaborative education model involving library education, faculty and public library practitioners preparing under-represented and culturally diverse individuals for employment as support staff in public libraries. The Urban Library Program (ULP) is an intensive ten month education certificate at the para-professional…

Introduction: Medical education topics might be locally prioritized using public health data on health outcomes and risk factors unrelated to quality of care. Methods: The Missouri Information for Community Assessment (MICA) supplied preventable hospitalization rates (PHRs) for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, heart…

Forsyth County Schools has recently finished a very successful year. In 2008, all 16 elementary schools and eight middle schools made Adequate Yearly Progress. In spite of the fact that Georgia administered new, more rigorous math assessments for grades 3-5 and grade 8, the district had an average of 22% more students passing the assessments than…

The essential nature of public school student performance on standardized examinations is becoming increasingly apparent. As schools across the nation are examined more closely based on the science achievement of students, career and technical education programs will be expected to contribute to this effort. Through the lens of Ajzen and Madden's…

Founded in 2005 by three former PayPal employees, YouTube has revolutionized the Internet, marking a change from the static Internet to the dynamic Internet. In this edition of Places to Go, Stephen Downes discusses how the rise of a ubiquitous media format--Flash video--has made YouTube's success possible and argues that Flash video has important…

Every child has a right to an education. In the United States, the issue is not necessarily about access to a school but access to a quality education. With strict compulsory education laws, more than 50 million students enrolled in primary and secondary schools, and billions of dollars spent annually on public and private education, American…

This article engages in the debate about what counts as professional knowledge from the perspective of improving outcomes for diverse learners. The authors begin by highlighting the importance of assumptions about appropriate roles for teachers and how those assumptions have shaped the debate about what teachers need to know. Then, they consider…