While community colleges excel at expanding postsecondary enrollments, these institutions often struggle to help students succeed. A chorus of school leaders and policymakers increasingly agree that broad-based, comprehensive organizational change is needed to drastically improve community college student success and equity. The Guided Pathways…

This essay explores how elementary school teachers can support students in becoming effective peer tutors. Drawing on the author's personal experience as an elementary educator and researcher, it discusses how cognitive load theory can be used to generate a framework to support practicing teachers in implementing peer tutoring in their own…

Individually Guided Education (IGE) is an alternative to the traditional age-graded form of elementary schooling. In a typical IGE school, the principal shares her/his authority with leaders of units in decision-making domains and reaches decision by consensus. The leader of a unit in turn shares his/her authority with unit teachers in making…

The 1983-84 Preparation for Raising Educational Performance (PREP) program was a theme-based program of instruction and supportive services for incoming ninth graders who are substantially below grade level in reading and mathematics. PREP was offered in 91 public high schools in New York City and provided services for nearly 12,000 students.…

Despite some fears that small schools would have difficulty implementing the British National Curriculum, findings from 50 schools (9 with fewer than 100 students) show that small schools may provide greater opportunities for innovative curriculum and class organization and strong curricular leadership from headmasters who teach. (SK)

Attributes one elementary school's rising test scores to the principal's introduction of a computer-based curriculum and integrated learning system; a neighboring elementary school's laboratory approach proved unsuccessful. For technology-based change to work, the principal must understand the technology, know the school's instructional and…

Applying industrial organizational theory to classroom management, the authors examined the organization of a complex bilingual curriculum for the effects of shared authority among students and teachers and the effects of shared decision-making among staff. Using a math-science curriculum called "Finding Out: Descubrimiento," the nine…

Seven alternative approaches used by school districts dissatisfied with the Chapter 1 pullout model are described in this paper. The problems the districts encountered are discussed, and the viability of implementing similar programs in other districts is assessed. The seven programs include two replacement models, two aide-based delivery service…

Reports a project that used simulated master schedules as an alternative to grade-level, subject-matter, classroom-group organization of instruction in small schools. Describes a multigrade, multicourse learning center approach that decouples the course = class equation and allows small schools to offer a stronger educational program. (SB)

Secondary school administrators must carefully consider the ramifications of a proposed alternative scheduling plan before proceeding with implementation. The first article in this newsletter presents findings from a study that compared data from two groups of schools (one group with a 4 X 4 block plan and the other with a trimester plan) to data…

Using a case study approach, this report summarizes a teacher's observations of students working on a personal computer in both classroom and nonclassroom settings. The first section addresses teacher concerns about technology in education, such as fear of replacement by a computer and other symptoms of computer anxiety. Four phases of classroom…

"Looping" is a practice that allows single-grade teachers to remain with the same class for 2 or more years. Organized in a question-and-answer format, this book answers 72 questions about looping commonly asked by teachers and parents, including questions about its benefits, disadvantages, and implementation. Chapters include: (1) "What Is…

The "cyberjournal" is a bridge between handwritten journals and word-processed essays that can be integrated into college courses to help students improve writing skills and maintain classwide discourse and multivoicedness through the Internet. Discusses the advantages of cyberjournals (class-centered, public, task-focused,…

A class council can collectively decide what components will make up the instructional system in an elementary school class. A class council is a friendly assembly made up of the students and the teacher; it meets to discuss and make decisions about all aspects of the instructional system, including objectives, grading, and materials. Each student…

An annotated bibliography approach was used in this report of a literature review/study designed to determine the effectiveness of learning centers in the classroom and to give classroom teachers a carefully planned system to ensure successful use of learning centers. The first section, which explains the rationale of using learning centers in the…