In the recent past, during the 36 hours of required coursework necessary to become a certified teacher in the state of New York, not a single course deviated from the same model of teacher centered lectures and a long list of "to dos" that would presumably enable pre-service students to face 30 odd children in their own classrooms with…

Consensus is growing that high-quality early education is a critical support to all subsequent learning. In early childhood education quality is generally considered holistically in terms of the physical environment, programmatic structure (e.g., length of the school day), curriculum and instruction, and the nature of interactions between teachers…

Over the course of the past few decades, technology has shaped the way people interact, work, learn, and retrieve and disperse information. The advent of the 21st Century includes new forms of knowledge and information, requiring tools and skills previously unseen by generations of learners. New tools are meant to be used for expansion of…

A problem-solving capstone course for mathematics and mathematics education majors can help majors synthesize material learned in the major, create a basis for lifelong learning in the discipline, develop confidence, and promote interest in graduate study. Such a course may also play a role in departmental assessment of the major. This article…

In this paper, the authors draw on empirical data from CCRC's Scaling Innovation project to examine trends in developmental education instructional reform and outline a framework for reform adoption and adaptation. The paper's findings are based on two qualitative data sources: a scan of developmental education reforms that involved changes to…

New College was an experimental and demonstration undergraduate teacher education program, founded in 1932 at Teachers College Columbia University, only to be shut down by the administration eight years later. Described as an "unorthodox venture," New College promised to be an alternative route to teacher education at a time when the…

This article is about my experiences as a ninth grade history teacher trying to implement a "big idea" unit on ancient African history. My experiences as a first year teacher and also my experience in seeing this unit develop over three years are chronicled. I conclude that implementing a big idea strategy of instruction is possible in a…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

As the principal of Baruch College Campus High School in New York City, the author wanted to help her teachers communicate with one another and put structures in place to develop the vision of the school while giving teachers opportunities for input and growth. After conducting a needs assessment, she found that teachers who had an ally in the…

This guide to 25 Northeastern schools honored by the United States Department of Education Secondary Recognition Program in 1982-83 profiles the schools from the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island. Each school is profiled through a description of the school, the community served, selected programs and…

This book is the only comprehensive guide available that provides all the tools necessary to create an ideal school. There are many education books out there but most are specific to one aspect of school improvement and do not provide a systemic framework or a total approach. This book does, and it is based on expertise that was developed and…

The phrase "all things useful and all things ornamental," coined by Benjamin Franklin, describes the stated mission of most of the approximately 6,000 educational academies flourishing in America in the mid-19th century. Built upon the roots of Latin grammar schools, the academies evolved to include courses in many areas, from classical…

In these vivid, thought-provoking essays, leading scholars draw from their own life experiences to explore the ways in which socio-economic class has shaped their lives and educational practices. Some experienced the sting of poverty as students, while others tell stories of a privileged upbringing and moments of epiphany when they recognized the…

Addresses educational benefits of integrating community service into the curriculum and describes efforts toward achieving this goal. Involving students in community service can lead to social change by balancing individual rights and self-interest with collective responsibility to the community and society at large. (LP)

This publication offers the 56th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (NRC). This Yearbook begins with a preface and presents profiles of three awardees, Michael C. McKenna, Douglas K. Hartman, and Michael Kamil. Included in this Yearbook are the following papers: (1) What's It All About? Literacy Research and Civic Responsibility (Victoria…