We share an example of how we organize our undergraduate research projects.

The author introduces a new program that brings city kids who really need college to a private rural campus that really needs kids. Under the program, called Pipelines Into Partnership, a handful of urban high schools and community organizations--the groups that know their kids beyond the black and white of their transcripts--determine which…

Lyndon State College's (LSC) participation in the America's Future Initiative on the U.S. national debt, in association with Public Agenda, began with a grant application for funding to participate. After being awarded funding, as the sole political scientist, I was selected with approval by the administration to attend the September 11 to 13,…

Describes a Vermont elementary school's transformation into a computerized learning center, thanks to a $1.1 million grant from a former state senator. After choosing appropriate hardware, an 11-member technology committee initiated teacher training, appointed a full-time technology facilitator, and set learning goals for students. Beneficial…

The Stafford Technical Center (STC) in Rutland, Vermont, operates with a mission statement that proudly touts its desire to "create a learning environment that promotes pride in work, a sense of self-worth and the ability to respect others by developing effective communication and life skills." Stafford acknowledges that these learning…

Describes an environmental education program which focuses on nature in Indian myths. Instructional strategies used in the program include storytelling, free association, play-acting involving members of the audience, dancing, and sharing of artifacts during a question and answer period about Vermont Indians. (JN)

Describes the development, beginning in 1988, of Vermont's portfolio-based writing assessment program, pointing out the inevitable tension in assessment programs between the need for measurement and a wish for professional development that leads to improved instruction. (SR)

Justin S. Morrill of Vermont began advocating for the Land Grant Act in the 1850s. The act's passage in 1862 provided a grant of 30,000 acres of public land for each member of a state's congressional delegation, to be sold to raise funds for the creation of agricultural and engineering colleges. While the original Land Grant provided grants of…

This collection of 43 activities represents an initial sampling of the creative efforts that Vermont teachers are currently making to improve the learning environment of their students. The resources are the outcome of a campaign initiated by the regional service teams of the Vermont Department of Education to collect information about promising…

Describes a walkabout program that a sixth-grade teacher developed for her students from several models designed for older students. The program's basic structure revolves around five areas of personal development: adventure, creative expression, local inquiry, practical skills, and service. This voluntary program's success hinges on developing…

Vermont excels at including children with disabilities in general education; here, 83% are educated in "regular" classrooms, compared to just 36% nationwide. Supportive demonstrations, training, funding, and policy-making efforts have resulted in fewer special-education student identifications, successful instructional support teams, and…

The "Let's Talk about It" program began in Vermont as a reading and discussion group based in local libraries and grew into a program in 30 states and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The program brought together a diverse audience of adults to read books on selected themes in literature.…

This article describes Vermont's "Connections" project, a book discussion program designed to move newly literate adults from practical literacy to "literate" literacy by engaging them in discussion of texts and ideas in the tradition of liberal education in the humanities. The article also describes the Vermont Reading…

Interest is growing in planning and implementing new systems of holding child and family services accountable for results. The Results-Based Accountability (RBA) Project at the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has supported and built upon recent state efforts to develop these new accountability systems for child and family services. The RBA…

Four aspects of computer assisted instruction (CAI) are treated: (1) an introduction to computer literacy and awareness; (2) guidelines for establishing a computer-assisted bilingual instruction site; (3) a description of some existing computer-assisted bilingual projects; and (4) identification of future needs. The first section provides a…