By statutory mandate, all first-year teachers in Kentucky receive support and assistance that develop a strong, lifelong career foundation. Legislation in 1985 established a collegial team to induct new professionals and establish a culture of continuing growth for the profession. Internships with meaningful mentoring are keys to success. (MLH)

Describes a multilevel interagency transition-planning process which includes three levels: a community-based team, school-level team, and individual-level team. Evaluation data are discussed that indicate consumer satisfaction with the Teaching All Students Skills for Employment and Life Transition planning process. Three case studies are used to…

Summarizes the four-year findings for two different teams of practicum students participating in a study of peer coaching and paired placement during their early field experiences and before their final elementary student-teaching experience. Data from observations, surveys, journals, and peer-coaching forms indicated that the program positively…

Presents three aspects of multi-professional shared learning. Discusses the levels of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that comprise a learner's "readiness" for Inter-Professional Learning and describes the design and implementation of a multi-professional shared-learning course. Identifies the educational principles underlying shared…

Describes how teamwork, consistency, and use of sign language helped a child with Down Syndrome and deafness to increase her vocabulary from less than 20 words at the beginning of kindergarten to 228 words by the end of first grade. Six specific teaching strategies are outlined. (DB)

Provides evaluation snapshots of nine programs operated by the Chesapeake (Virginia) Public Schools to illustrate the importance of ongoing program assessment. Advises evaluators to use teamwork, employ a full-time evaluator, utilize consultants as needed, write annual management plans, involve school division administrators, and meet regularly.…

The superintendent of a wealthy, rural school district describes the unique context of schooling reform in Westchester County, New York. Pressures for reform coming from parents and the community lead to interschool competition and spark micropolitics that spill out into the community. Successful schools have greater autonomy and empowered…

A small group of teachers at one Illinois high school is helping to effect and promote change. Through the Action Research Laboratory (ARL), teams of teachers conduct collaborative action research to improve classroom practices. Data from the first two years of the ARL indicate that teachers are eager to participate in, and have thrived in, their…

This study evaluated effects of training a school team in use of the Participation Assessment Framework and barrier-specific interventions (including technology applications) on the participation in literacy and math activities of a 10-year-old student with cerebral palsy and no functional speech. It found that the systematic training was…

Prereferral teams have been found to reduce special education referrals. A followup study of 10 prereferral teams in a rural northwestern school district found that strategies for successful team maintenance included training and rotating members, utilizing various skills of multidisciplinary members, administrative support, and implementing a…

Applies Stephen Covey's "seven habits of highly effective people" to creating stronger, more effective middle school teams. Presents ideas for implementing a flexible staff development plan for learning about and how to practice Covey's seven habits. Asserts that highly effective middle level teams will build highly effective students.…

This article describes Effective Behavioral Support, a systems approach to enhancing the capacity of schools to adopt and sustain use of effective processes for all students. Implementation across four major areas of the school system is discussed, including: (1) schoolwide; (2) nonclassroom; (3) classroom, and (4) individual student. A sample…

Explored the journey and progress of elementary teachers conducting action research within science and mathematics, examining their perspectives of teaching, empowerment, research, and professional development through team planning. Data from journals, activities, observations, surveys, and interviews indicated that an initial stumbling block to…

Although democratic decision making offers the best hope for public support of schools, simple majority rule is not enough. Deliberation is needed for long-term community engagement. A Washington State elementary school's broad-based site leadership team sets school direction and handles issues influencing student learning. This team successfully…

Examined the effects of pairing junior high school physical-education learners by skill ability on students' motor-skill performance, cognitive performance, and perceptions about working with a partner. Pretesting and posttesting indicated that students improved their performances and liked working with partners regardless of how high- or…