This article describes what Anita McCafferty and Jeffrey Beaudry did when they were were given a two-hour time block for professional development on a Friday afternoon just before the school district went on a week-long vacation. Their audience included 175 K-12 teachers and administrators from a school district in Maine, and their topic was…

As American students struggle with basic mathematical skills, the importance of math fact fluency has gained the attention of educators and researchers. Generalization of math fact fluency is also important for the transfer of skills to other settings and formats, assisting students in the completion of more varied and complicated math tasks. This…

The health and well-being of adolescents continue to be in jeopardy due to a lack of proper nutrition combined with a sedentary lifestyle. A collaborative effort between two Maryland entities, Prince Georges County Family and Consumer Sciences Department and the University of Maryland Expanded Food and Nutrition Program, involved a…

Employees in a negotiation training workshop are chatting happily in a company cafeteria near San Francisco. They're not on break. They're on assignment. Their objective: to discover three things they didn't know--and wouldn't have guessed--about each other. The exercise isn't about the information, though. It's about the methods they used to get…

Fitness programs can be greatly enhanced with the addition of fitness balls. They are a fun, challenging, economical, and safe way to incorporate a cardiovascular, strength, and stretching program for all fitness levels in a physical education setting. The use of these balls has become more popular during the last decade, and their benefits and…

Implementation of universal design for learning (UDL) in undergraduate special education programs offers a valuable foundation for training preservice teachers to educate K-12 students in rural schools. In this article, we provide an overview of UDL and the integration of multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression in assessment,…

In primary teacher education, using a multimedia learning environment, we challenge student teachers to develop narratives of paradigmatic classroom situations. In this digital environment they observe footage of classroom practice (mathematics lessons) and discuss, analyse, and interpret these episodes. The environment will stimulate student…

This article offers six training suggestions for preparing paraprofessionals to work successfully with students having disabilities in an inclusive setting. These include providing preservice training through a centralized interdisciplinary training team, modeling the use of appropriate behavior management techniques, and communicating the…

This report describes a dental model technique used at the Academy of Health Sciences, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The technique uses Dentoform which provides a realistic set of Ivorine plastic teeth set in rubber "gingivae" upon which operative dentistry, prosthodontics, and limited periodontal scaling can be practiced. (GLR)

A long-standing challenge for schools of education is how to prepare teachers to effectively integrate technology into classroom instruction. A widespread practice in training preservice teachers is the stand-alone technology class. These classes have evolved over time. This article suggests a further development in stand-alone technology classes:…

This study was one of a series of field experiments designed to accomplish three purposes: (1) to validate research-based principles of classroom organization and management found in correlational research to be related to instructional and managerial effectiveness in elementary classrooms (grades 1-6); (2) to determine if school district…

Follows the development of a simulation game called the Language Assistant Game (LAG) designed to give practice to classroom language assistants in explaining meaning to students. The game simulates explaining in one's native language to students who are learning that language. Describes the competitive elements of the game and its different…

A summary is presented of the final report, "Effective Classroom Management and Instruction: An Exploration of Models." The final report presents a set of linked investigations of the effects of training teachers in effective classroom management practices in a series of school-based workshops. Four purposes were addressed by the study: (1) to…

This brief by the Literacy Coaching Clearinghouse addresses issues related to literacy coaching in classrooms where there are English Language Learners (ELLs). Briefly defined, an English Language Learner is a child whose native language is other than English and who is learning English as a second language. Moreover, ELLs are defined as students…

Describes the Irvin Paraprofessional Program (IPP), a 12-week intensive intervention that includes: (1) direct intervention to children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by specially trained paraprofessionals; (2) teacher consultation by the school psychologists on effective classroom management strategies; (3) school-based…