Adolescent pregnancy and parenting remains a pressing social and public health concern because the United States continues to have the highest teen pregnancy rate among Western developed nations and because of the attendant social, psychological, and physical problems for young parents and their children. Prevention efforts to reduce the incidence…

Three years ago, when the author joined the staff of Agua Fria High School in Phoenix, Arizona, as an assistant principal, she was excited to find that the students' school day started an hour and a half later than normal each Wednesday to provide staff development time for the teaching staff. That first year, however, neither the principal, Bryce…

School administrators, eager to raise student achievement levels to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, are increasingly looking to staff development as a means to enhance student achievement. In this article, the author describes how Mountain View Alternative High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, an alternative high school…

Enterprise initiatives come in a number of guises but, whether they are grant-funded or a commercial aspect of a university's business, the key driver is output. This usually means numbers--of students, of businesses, of ideas developed and sold, of financial gain and reputations made. A critical element impeding progress to the successful…

We teach them the craft of word-spinning. The damage is done, we should be teaching them the art of seeing. (Frank Pick) In 1937 the Council for Art and Industry sponsored a national exhibition in London of materials "for use in connection with teaching in elementary schools." Local Education Authorities were encouraged to send…

One of many reasons that keep Orem, Utah's residents firmly planted right where they are may have something to do with the superior schools--and teachers--in the Alpine School District. This article describes one such teacher, Toni Zundel Boyer. Boyer, a third grade teacher and literacy coach, developed her own reading and writing materials that…

There are many factors that affect the design of effective professional development (PD) programs. This review of literature focuses on some of the theoretical models used to explain teacher change, the contextual factors that impact teacher behaviors and curricular change, and the role of continuous professional development in changing teaching…

Teaching, to a large degree, depends on more than just technical skills. The demands of classroom teaching require interpersonal skills and dispositions that are often ignored when determining a preservice teacher's fitness to teach. This article provides an example of how one university addresses the challenge of evaluating students' skills and…

We report on a study of a laboratory teaching apprenticeship program designed to improve graduate teaching assistant (GTA) performance. To catalyze GTAs as laboratory teachers we constructed learning goals, synthesized previous literature into a design model and a developmental path, and built two instruments to measure 12 strategic pedagogical…

Communities of Practice offer state agency personnel a promising approach for engaging stakeholder groups in collaboratively solving complex and, often, persistent problems in special education. Communities of Practice can help state agency personnel drive strategy, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop members'…

The guide is designed to help states and localities create or strengthen their own youth councils. It is a synthesis of theory and practice that provides a general framework for thinking about youth councils, explaining the principles for youth action and the importance of youth engagement. It also incorporates advice and lessons from people in…

This paper reports the development and implementation of a multi-year program targeting a cohort of at-risk pre-freshmen. The program, called BOSS Camp (Business Opportunities for Success School), was designed to motivate, acculturate and encourage economically disadvantaged pre-freshman to attend college and become business majors. The process of…

Research spanning the last thirty years confirms that people learn better by active enquiry, collaboration and experimental problem solving than by passive reception and acceptance of information. Empirical evidence, as well as the pressing demands of pervasive social and technological change, requires learning and teaching approaches that combine…

This paper provides a description and documentation of two significant events in the history of our field: (1) the development of our field and the doctoral program review process and outcome by the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education; and (2) the process by which the Academy successfully had "kinesiology" included as a…

The current paper describes the design and development of a qualitative analysis course and an interactive web-based teaching and assessment tool called VSE (virtual structural environment). The widespread reliance on structural analysis programs requires engineers to be able to verify computer output by carrying out qualitative analyses.…