Although information regarding the consequences of adolescent pregnancy and childbirth is disseminated, the recipients of that information are most often adults. To present this information directly to never-pregnant adolescents, an annual conference, outside of the authority structure of the school was developed in Bangor, Maine. The three…

School change is not the rational deliberate process that some people might believe it is. One of the realities of schooling is that teachers possess their own theories about what they do, and about what is reasonable, feasible, and possible in classroom teaching. This is invariably knowledge based upon 'lived experiences,' rather than on the…

The main tasks of the foreign language writing class should be to focus on the writing process and to help the students see their work as an act of communication with value in itself. An important means of encouraging good writing is the provision of good readers during the composition stage. A Swedish undergraduate course in English as a second…

A practicum addressing (1) elementary school students' need to increase their sight vocabulary, (2) their needs for self-esteem, (3) their individual learning differences, and (4) the practical difficulties of providing additional practice time and personnel to teach is described in this guide. The introduction of the guide discusses the community…

Research has shown that cooperative learning rather than competitive behavior enhances students' achievement, self-esteem, and satisfaction while reducing performance anxiety. Although cooperation within a small group results in greater productivity and member satisfaction, it should be considered only as a means to an end, not an end in itself. A…

It is especially important that teachers working in classrooms in rural areas of developing countries select instructional technologies that are appropriate, pedagogically sound, innovative, cost-effective, and manageable. When selecting the instructional media that will be used in a particular classroom situation, teachers should remember that…

A 9-week practicum was designed to integrate severely/profoundly handicapped (SPH) students with third-grade nonhandicapped peer tutors in Broward County, Florida. Additional Objectives were to promote greater understanding of handicaps by nonhandicapped peer tutors and to increase awareness by SPH teachers of the importance of interactions…

Project SITE (Successful Inservice through Turnkey Education) is an exemplary staff development program which provides training in mathematics content and appropriate methodology to elementary school teachers (grades 2-6). Participants interact with manipulative materials, taking an active role in their own concept development and learning of…

In three sections, this paper discusses and describes Peer Assisted Leadership (PAL) training from the perspective of two experienced trainers within the context of principals' work lives. PAL training is an intensive 6-day experience in which participants acquire skills in onsite observation, reflective interviewing, theme identification, and…

This paper presents a detailed example of teachers' professional development as a part of a district's career ladder pilot-test program in Arizona. A case study describes a secondary school teacher who has been a leader in a major national and state teachers' organization. A description is given of how teachers develop intellectually and…

This document describes the Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL) Program, a peer helping program developed by the Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas. It explains how selected high school students are trained to work as peer facilitators with younger students either on their own campus or from feeder junior high or elementary…

This paper describes the Young Adult and Adolescent Decision Making About Contraception program, an ongoing clinical research project designed to address the problem of unplanned adolescent pregnancy from a biopsychosocial perspective. The program is described as a peer-led intervention to promote the use of contraception by teenage girls at high…

Proposals to use interracial/cross-ethnic learning teams in desegregated classrooms raise issues from research that demonstrate the complicated nature of the relationship between learning teams and classroom interracial relations. According to the research, relationships are affected by the characteristics of learning teams, namely…

Because Los Medanos College (LMC) has no entrance tests or academic tracks, instructors are faced with mixed reading and writing levels in the classroom. LMC has elected to address this problem through a college reading and writing center and through the extensive use of peer tutors to upgrade language skills in all subject areas. In 1980, LMC…

This paper rests on two propositions: that inservice training must radically change to result in the transfer of training to classroom practice, and that inservice training must be embedded in coherent school improvement programs in order for change to be sustained. Accordingly, the first section reviews three recent research studies designed to…