Describes a high school's Ethnic Week study on South Africa and the global issue of apartheid. Discusses the role of the school's library media center in planning and implementing the program. Notes that the impact of the week-long study carried on throughout the school year. (RS)

All classes at the K-8 (40-student) Aleknagit School in southwest Alaska revolve around a theme that has a science or social studies emphasis. A thematic approach encourages holistic study of a subject and reflects the most recent research on how the brain comes to know. According to three teachers involved with the program, results have been…

Evaluation of a nursing practicum designed to involve students in a meaningful research experience in a limited period of time showed its contribution to increasing knowledge in selected areas and changing attitudes in undergraduates. (Author/JOW)

Describes an upstate New York high school's success at restructuring its schedule according to a modified Copernican Plan. The Dover Renew 2000 block schedule divides the school year into trimesters; each term has two 120-minute periods and a shorter interest block. This approach "dejuvenilizes" the high school and allows more focused,…

Describes a student-behavior-modification process and ongoing research project involving 650 of the highest risk youth from a population of 11,000 6th to 12th graders. After identifying at-risk students, researchers isolated routine problem behaviors and examined how they could be modified. Students work their way back to a regular school setting…

The Paideia School Model was inspired by philosopher Mortimer Adler's belief in a high-quality, single-track, liberal arts education to prepare students for work, citizenship, and lifelong learning. This article describes how Chattanooga (Tennessee) parents and educators worked to develop and implement a holistic, rigorous Paideia curriculum. (MLH)

The United States has about 225,000 to 500,000 homeless children. In 1987, Congress passed a comprehensive law to provide emergency and long-term assistance for homeless persons. Under the Stewart B. McKinney Act, states receive funding to investigate homeless children's needs, identify education obstacles, and develop plans to overcome them. Tips…

Educational technology can be a catalyst for creating new learning structures. For the past six years, Central Harlem's Earth Lab project has been designing, implementing, and observing effects of a local area network system intended to facilitate collaborative work in elementary earth science. System coordinates small groups, promotes teacher…

The Netherlands' new basic school (bringing together kindergarten and primary schools) was implemented in the mid-1980s to increase individualized instruction and curriculum differentiation for young children. This article summarizes a study mapping the new program's implementation by principals and teachers, and identifies three response patterns…

Outlines seven factors that should be considered in the selection of an integrated learning system (ILS): the vendor's educational philosophy; provision of courseware updates; courseware offerings, management systems, customization, and online tools; availability and cost of maintenance support; reasonable terms of procurement; the personnel and…

Asserts that a large part of the labor pool from which businesses draw employees is poorly educated. Suggests that a good way to get help is to create strategic alliances with government agencies and private organizations. Presents examples of an alliance that was formed to address labor deficiencies in South Carolina. (JOW)

Recounts the history of Pennsylvania's attempts to invoke large-scale changes in language-related instructional curricula. Discerns patterns among school districts in terms of literacy instruction as well as in factors that seem to be associated with successful change processes. (RS)

Describes a Master's of Arts in Writing program which is an attempted reform of the master's degree in English: an experimental curriculum designed to revive rhetorical approaches to the construction and interpretation of literary works. Outlines the program's strengths and the problems that emerged in the first three years. (MG)

Policy initiatives from Kentucky to California are espousing curriculum based on NCTM-backed core concepts that students understand through induction rather than memorization, teaching based on guided mastery rather than didactic instruction, and assessment that is open-ended rather than machine-scorable. This article highlights obstacles to…

Eugene (Oregon) Public Schools want to replace the traditional content-driven curriculum with a general concepts-based curriculum stressing the relationships among ideas. To help district educators understand the new model, a coin metaphor describing the two interlocking areas of curriculum (learning core conceptual knowledge and strategic…