Two articles present suggestions for enhancing classroom management in creative ways. The first article describes how to use flexible seating arrangements to encourage cooperation, friendship, and community. The second article discusses how to encourage and work with classroom volunteers from the community. (SM)

Class meetings can help prepare students for substitutes. The process might involve explaining the meeting's purpose, sharing feelings about substitutes, imagining class with a substitute, brainstorming ways to help, planning how to implement students' ideas, writing partner biographies for the substitutes, inviting substitutes as guest speakers,…

This manual draws together evolving information about how group size influences what the group does and how learning tasks may be designed and employed to accomplish desired outcomes. The manual includes ideas from research on class size and its outcomes; theories of learning and development; and validated experiences of expert educators. It…

Ability grouping can impact students' self-esteem and cause segregation. Suggestions for using ability grouping beneficially include reassessing grouping assignments frequently, varying instructional levels and pace, assigning groups based on demonstrated needs and abilities, grouping students for only one or two subjects, and using ability groups…

To assist districts in analyzing and using the second set of results (the summary reports for class, school and district) from the New Jersey Minimum Basic Skills Tests, this guidelines booklet was developed. The booklet is divided into four main sections: (1) required interpretation of the summary reports; (2) interpretation checklist; (3)…