The McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) is a planning process for furthering the integration of children with disabilities into the school community, using a team which includes the individual, family members, friends, and regular and special education personnel. Examples of MAPS planning for elementary-age and secondary-age children with severe…

Offers impressions about curriculum writing from eight years' experience coordinating and participating in local curriculum development efforts. Focuses on subjective aspects of curriculum writing: conversation, confrontation and experimentation, consolidation and compromise, and communication. (TE)

The primary mechanism for assessment and program planning associated with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act is the multidisciplinary team--a group including at least one teacher or specialist in the suspected disability area. This article describes three bases of the multidisciplinary assessment process. Includes 14 references. (MLH)

Discusses school reform difficulties, profiling a suburban New York superintendent's struggle to forge an institutional mission via stakeholder surveys and strategic planning. Contrasts Seymour Sarason's pessimistic views about reform with Michael Fullan's school-renewal approach. Describes a Pennsylvania superintendent's successful employment of…

"Altering the normal flow" is the statement in Larry Lezotte's article (in same issue) that best describes changes in Illinois school district. Although district was well run when new superintendent took over, its internal change process geared toward learning for all proved more challenging than cooperating to pass a tax referendum.…

The League of Professional Schools is a practitioner-driven, school-initiated reform effort founded on the belief that those closest to students have the capacity to improve schools. The league now has 62 member schools working on action plans. The league's three guiding premises are shared governance, action research, and instructional focus.…

The Canandaigua City (New York) School District successfully incorporated educational technology into a capital project, thanks to efficient planning. Planners should build a team, shape a vision, work backwards toward specifics, keep the plan flexible, put off hardware decisions, choose the best software, invest in training and support, and…

Recent federal and state initiatives have analyzed American health needs and highlighted strategies for improvement. This article describes a collaborative partnership model that links academia with health practitioners in preparing health educators. The Baylor University health education model continues pragmatic traditions of American higher…

British high school students (n=120) participated in a management exercise in which teams prepared a marketing contract, drafted a promotional leaflet in French, and gave a marketing presentation to hotel management. The exercise developed teamwork, decision making, and leadership, as well as other skills valued in the workplace: bilingualism,…

The organization is a complex living system comprising four levels: individual, face-to-face team, group-divisional, and policy-strategy. This article applies one framework of organizational levels to the university context and shows how a focus on successful task completion on each level provides a paradigm for effective administration. (17…

Analyzes the communication training received by over 4,000 workers as part of an effort to implement a team concept production system at a General Motors plant. Presents an overview of the team concept training. Discusses five barriers to effective training, four successful instructional methods, and implications for business communication. (RS)

Discusses cooperative learning strategies that lend themselves to working on computers. Advocates the use of learner-centered software. Describes the essential ingredients of cooperative computer lessons. (SR)

This unit is designed to strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving skills by allowing students to assume the roles of 1992 Winter Olympic Games planners who make preparations for the event. A reproducible data sheet serves as a resource. Hands-on activities and a critical television viewing activity are included. (IAH)

Narrates a proposal writer's experience over five weeks as a member of a team writing a grant proposal on the design and implementation of a practice-oriented master's degree program on manufacturing education and training. (SR)

Describes an interdisciplinary project at Mankato State University in which a team constructed a solar car and competed in SUNRAYCE '93. (SK)