As part of an international comparative study of active learning in seven countries, a case study examined active learning practices of students and teachers in a small rural school in Finland. Small schools have traditionally existed in the sparsely populated Finnish countryside, and 60 percent of Finnish elementary schools have 1-3 teachers.…

Over half of Finnish elementary schools are small schools employing 1-3 teachers. This paper examines the implementation of new national curriculum policies in two small elementary schools. The new policies, adopted in 1994, stress autonomous control of learning and encourage each individual school, in collaboration with the community, to draw up…

An examination of the issues surrounding the concept of change is fundamental to curriculum improvement for elementary and middle schools. New beliefs surround an integrative rather than a separate subject isolation approach to curriculum. This report examines past, current, and future curriculum practice and considerations, focusing on a new…

Studies have criticized age-graded schools as creating a barrier to meeting the goals of equity and instructional excellence in schools. This handbook provides research on multiage classroom practices and argues that a multiage system better addresses and meets students' needs. Information is presented on the following topics: educational reform,…