This study evaluated the implementation of inclusion concepts and the attitudes of secondary teachers toward inclusion in one Midwest school district. Nineteen general and special education teachers were surveyed with a specially developed questionnaire. Follow-up interviews and class observations were also conducted. Data analysis indicated that…

This study evaluated Metropolitan State College of Denver's Teacher-in-Residence (TiR) alternative licensure program. To participate, teacher candidates must possess a baccalaureate degree, have a teaching contract in a participating local school district, enroll in the TiR program, and pass a state content test. This study examined what Metro…

In the year 1998, California began a massive experiment that focused on testing students and holding teachers and administrators accountable for results. The goal: dramatic, system-wide improvement. Schools' performance began to be measured using California's Academic Performance Index (API). In 2001, with passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB),…

Discourse analysis, a qualitative method for examining verbal interaction, can be an effective method for evaluating medical school clinical teaching, through clarifying interaction patterns, highlighting factors impeding effective instruction, and identifying microskills needed by clinical teachers. Having faculty members coach each other also…

This article reports observations of teachers' collaboration within an inner city elementary school located in western Canada. The study traces the school's development as a learning organization, focusing on the interplay between individual--the level at which learning and action actually occur--and social learning--a conceptual tool for…

Over the past decade or more, educators and policymakers have sought to define new directions for teacher education in order to address widely perceived failures to prepare teachers adequately for the challenges to be faced in schools, especially those serving the poor and English learners. As colleges of education and urban school districts have…

This article explores the experiences of six First-year teachers working in the broad, cross-categorical field of early childhood special education. A multicase approach provided insight into the complexity of teachers' roles and work with young children with special needs in a range of settings, with children of various ages and developmental…

In this article, the author presents Sharon I. Byrdsong, the 2006 MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year, who believes that all students can achieve and makes it happen with programs and policies that support students and teachers. When Sharon I. Byrdsong took over as the principal of Azalea Gardens Middle School in Norfolk,…

The United States has engaged in intensive reform efforts in school mathematics education in the decade since the publication of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Standards for School Mathematics. This context has generated interest in how to best develop reform-oriented teachers. In this article the authors describe their thinking…

A Pennsylvania district used study groups to help teachers districtwide change their science teaching to standards-based practice of inquiry. Standards-based inquiry instruction requires that teachers have a deeper content knowledge as well as understand the process of inquiry. Making those changes requires support and a collegial environment.

The authors report on their experiences as participants in the Community, Self and Identity Project; a collaborative teaching and research project between the University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University. The project aimed to provide fourth year social work and psychology students the opportunity to become part of a shared…

This paper discusses a reform project (The Professional Development System: Collaboration for Quality Education) collaboratively developed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Brunswick and Duplin County (North Carolina) public school systems. The project takes a systems approach to changing the way teachers are educated and…

This paper reports on the author's 4-week consultation with faculty of the Lesotho National Teachers College as part of the Primary Education Project which provided technical assistance with issues of primary age schooling in the Kingdom of Lesotho. The consultant worked with 12 faculty members of the National Teachers College in a process that…

This monograph describes results of focus group interviews with 53 regular and special education teachers in Tennessee concerning their experience with inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classrooms. An introduction notes the trend toward inclusion of students with disabilities in regular programs while providing needed…

Noting that children learn through active involvement and concrete experiences as well as through dialogue about these experiences, this book provides instructional guidelines and class activities to assist the cognitive, social, creative, personal, and physical development of young children based on early childhood research and theory. Chapter 1…