Educators from around the state, with the help of The Vermont Institutes, developed Vermont History and Social Sciences Grade Cluster Expectations (GCEs) as a means to identify the content knowledge and skills expected of all students for local assessment required under Act 68. This work was accomplished using the "Vermont's Framework of…

This book describes nearly 30 protocols or "scripts" for conducting meetings, conversations, and other learning experiences among educators. Chapter 1, "The Basic Ideas," explains the basic ideas underlying the rest of the book, discussing why educators should educate themselves and making the case for exploring student work as…

Observation is an extremely important aspect of science investigations and is one of the process skills that is a focal point in science education. This ERIC Digest describes the importance of process skills, specifically observation, for student learning and discusses implications for teaching and research. (Contains 18 references.) (YDS)

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has emerged as a powerful organization development philosophy that builds on past successes to impel positive change. AI is a highly participative, holistic approach to change that values the wisdom of members of the organization and amplifies positive forces. This session will introduce AI as a tool to enhance…

Most middle school science curriculum has been created to provide superficial treatment of the different subject areas (earth, life, and physical science), and in-depth coverage of very little. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) criticism of the typical American school curriculum is that it is a "mile wide and an…

This paper presents the results of a study concerning the use of text in support of firsthand scientific inquiry instruction in the early elementary grades. A partial transcript of two teaching sessions in which an expert classroom teacher incorporated text into her inquiry instruction is investigated. The knowledge gained from these sessions…

This handbook features a presentation that summarizes the main ideas and current approaches in inquiry-based, content-rich mathematics education. This presentation is a product of Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) professional development efforts, and has been used with teachers, administrators, parents, and at diverse community…

This book examines why John Dewey's arguments present viable solutions to issues that must be addressed in any serious attempt to develop an adequate philosophical view of educational thought and practice. It notes that there is currently very little attention being paid to this sort of thinking and what it means for education. The book focuses on…

A study-in-progress is examining the multiple and fluid identities in one person's "been-being-becoming-imagining" as a facilitator in transformative drama--for example, as researcher, facilitator, participant, observer, audience. The inquiry is a recursive and spiraling process. The goals and procedure arise through the research…

A short vignette illustrates how one teacher, in her attempt to utilize the inductive method, makes things seem not as they really are to a student. (JB)

The author discusses a revision of a theory underlying the continuing development of the school instructional media center and its program. (9 references) (Author)

Today's society, schools, and youth can no longer afford an educational system which continues to report that the questions it uses demand little more than recall of past knowledge by its students. (Author)

Poses a series of questions to start student investigation of the effect of varying the dimensions of a piece of grass or other flat ribbon of material on the sound that is produced when it is used as a reed between the thumbs. (AL)

Provides a photograph of a football crowd and poses several questions that could be used in instruction in mathematics and science. (AL)