Describes how 35 teachers worked to create the Learning Collaborative, a technologically based resource for advanced placement teachers around the world, including a website to offer variety of resources. (SR)

Introduces a theme issue that describes a range of ways in which universities and schools and colleges of education can provide leadership for collaborative ventures involving the wider community. The 10 collaborative undertakings described include working with: community agencies, other schools or colleges within or external to the institution,…

This article suggests that the influence of school culture on Individual Education Plans (IEPs) has received insufficient attention and that school changes may be a demonstration of compliance to external pressures rather than the development of good practice. A secondary school is described that capitalized on existing strengths through…

Minority faculty and administrators need appropriate support in handling professional and personal expectations. Proposes six programs and practices designed to: ensure their professional development: create safe havens; protect their time; judge them by, and give them credit for, what they do; be sensitive to cultural isolation; and remember that…

To embed ongoing learning opportunities in routine school practices, superintendents must help schools create the collaborative cultures that enable teachers to work together, engage in collective inquiry, and learn from each others' experience. Suggestions for fostering quality staff development, clarifying priorities, and improving capacity are…

Examined how a team of teacher educators collaborated and recorded their conversations of change over time using a polylog a (common journal). As part of the conversation, instructors shared information and insights about instructional decisions, feelings, student responses, continued professional reading, and responses to each others' questions.…

Describes the Arkansas Comprehensive School Reform Model, which focuses on staff development and a collaborative support system for teaching reading in the elementary grades. Reports that preliminary results indicate an average increase of at least 20% on standardized testing scores for students in model classrooms. (NB)

Addresses past and current issues concerning teacher response to first-year student writing and suggests that teacher intervention should be viewed as a writing process itself. Describes the author's own process of responding to student writing, which he has found to be very effective. Concludes that individual teachers must decide for themselves…

Discusses some methods educators can use to ensure that grading supports and enhances learning. Suggests ways to grade written work that will enhance learning. Notes that teachers benefit from collaborative grading, primarily as a result of discussing grading practices with colleagues and sharing ideas about effective methods. Presents guidelines…

Lets the reader "listen in" as a group of four teachers search for a focusing question as they plan a focus study on the colonial period of American history. Organizes the authors' thinking, knowledge, resources, and predictions about what the students might bring to the table and what they might need from their teachers. (SG)

Teachers' quests for more data-based planning, problem solving, and decision making often stumble against limited capacities for engaging in thoughtful interactions, with groups typically lacking process tools, collaborative communication skills, and reflective habits. This article presents a three-phase model for guiding data-driven dialogue in…

Describes the first stage of a 3-year project, the Democratic Education and Exchange Project, sponsored by the Great Lakes Consortium for International Development. An 8-day institute was held in Szeged, Hungary for teams of Hungarian and Ukrainian teachers, who later established Internet connections with American counterparts. The institute…

Highlights an award-winning school superintendent whose leadership and vision helped create a system of high-performing schools. He established a culture that embraces respect, collaboration, and commitment to lifelong learning for students and staff. Student test scores are high, and the achievement gap between middle- and lower-income students…

Recommends that professional development should address five aspects of school capacity: teacher knowledge, skills, and dispositions; professional community; program coherence; technical resources; and principal leadership. Research on nine urban elementary schools nationwide found considerable variation in schools' use of professional development…

Introduces the Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF), a web-based forum targeting Indiana preservice and inservice teachers for the support of developing a better understanding of inquiry-based science and mathematics teaching. (YDS)