Discusses problems with the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education and characteristics of successful inclusion programs, including real collaboration between special-education and general-education teachers, involvement of parents in the education of their children, and considering inclusion to be a process, not an event. (CR)

In The Netherlands, school management is no longer deemed senior management's exclusive preserve. This paper reports Dutch research into departmental teams carrying out middle-management functions in secondary schools. Departments offer relevant contexts for teachers' collective engagement and collaboration but can create barriers to professional…

Discussion of mentoring of beginning special education teachers considers: how mentors can help, matching mentor with new teacher, first-year teachers' comments about their mentors, and alternative sources of mentor support. Topics mentors should discuss with new teachers and useful Web sites for new teachers are discussed. (Contains 12…

Describes efforts by a high school science teacher and English teacher to collaborate with one another, aiming to enhance the students' learning by focusing on common skills and processes in their respective subjects. Outlines problems and difficulties (showing how the world of schools and teaching intrudes on innovation) as well as positive…

Teachers and administrators in Middlebury, Connecticut, are developing portfolios that are both powerful professional development tools and substitutes for formal observation and evaluation. An eighth-grade teacher reflects on her four-year learning experience in constructing an "educator's collaborative portfolio." This teacher learned by…

Those who expect consultants to solve problems for schools operating under the traditional model of fragmentation and teacher isolation will be disappointed. The key to using consultants effectively is developing systematic processes that engage staff in the work of a professional learning community as they consider the ideas presented to them.…

Investigated the advantages and disadvantages of placing student teachers in a collaborative situation at one elementary school. Data from student teacher journals and surveys, cooperating teacher interviews, and supervisor field notes indicated that, despite a few disadvantages, there were many benefits to introducing collaboration during the…

Offers guidelines to special education teachers who are co-teaching with regular teachers concerning ways to teach hands-on science to students with and without disabilities. (DB)

Considers how people and institutions outside the classroom shape the extent to which drama becomes part of the culture of the school and of individual classes. Discusses a case study of how classroom teachers and a school drama specialist negotiate and interpret the evolving status and function of drama as a potentially generative, artistic…

Describes a team-based approach for creating Sentence Verification Technique (SVT) tests, a development procedure that allows teachers and other school personnel to develop comprehension tests from curriculum materials in use in their schools. Finds that if tests are based on materials that are appropriate for the population to be tested, the…

A survey of 565 teachers in 96 Saskatchewan school districts examined teacher attitudes and beliefs about teacher collaboration, the nature of interprofessional relationships in schools, teacher and student diversity, and teachers' time usage. Teachers also reported the extent to which their beliefs matched actual school conditions and the…

Focuses on the implementation and evaluation of instructional strategies in a core science education methods course within a Bachelor of Education preservice program. Examines how a collaborative learning experience that incorporated components of problem based learning was implemented and how students reacted to and reflected upon this approach.…

Interprofessional collaboration in the schools is discussed in terms of: major influences on collaboration (including social changes, legislation, and educational changes); practical aspects of teamwork; and parameters of collaboration in practice such as collaboration with students and their families, collaboration among school professionals, and…

Describes collaboration between a college of education and urban and suburban school districts that supported dissemination of effective elementary practices across seven districts. Collaborators created four booklets describing best practices identified through research-based literature. Parent involvement, literacy instruction, multiage…

This article discusses possible roles and responsibilities for itinerant teachers and makes recommendations about the kinds of preparation and support these teachers should receive to facilitate early childhood inclusion. The use of itinerant teachers to modify the physical environment, provide appropriate levels of support, and monitor children's…