The exercise of pursuing greater understanding of riddles, especially of locally Indigenous traditional riddles, is an exercise in observation and perception, of limitation and self-correction, and of infinite persistence--skills essential to cross-cultural, cooperative decision making. This article aims to model a shared experience for teachers…

Self-mastery refers to problem-focused coping facilitated through personal agency. Communal mastery describes problem solving through an interwoven social network. This study investigates an adaptation of self- and communal mastery measures for youth. Given the important distinction between family and peers in the lives of youth, these adaptation…

This case study describes an experienced high school teacher's difficulties in an Alaskan town with severe tensions between Caucasian and Eskimo students and between community members and teachers. This "teaching case" helps preservice teachers understand the complex, ambiguous situations which arise in rural teaching. The limitations of…

"Alaska's Image in the Lower 48," is the theme selected by a Blue Ribbon panel of state and national leaders who felt that it was important for students to explore the relationship between Alaska's outside image and the effect of that image on the federal programs/policies that impact Alaska. An overview of Alaska is presented first in…

In 23 brief chapters this handbook provides information about purposes, procedures, legal arrangements, interpersonal relationships and other topics related to foster child care in Alaska. Chapters 1 through 3 are introductory. Chapter 4 gives information concerning Foster Parent Associations and includes a member recruitment form. Chapters 5…

The reflective inquiry model of teacher education uses case methods to develop a particular professional way of thinking characteristic of expert teachers. Teaching cases play an important role in preparing teachers emotionally as well as intellectually for the problems of multicultural classrooms, and in legitimizing the discussion of crucial…

This manual presents a collaborative "situational negotiations" approach to collective bargaining. After a brief introduction, part 1 describes the traditional adversarial bargaining model, using a case study from a medium-sized school district in the state of Washington to illustrate how the aftermath of confrontational bargaining is…

This guide was developed to encourage excellence in education, help educators meet standards, and integrate environmental education programs into school district curricula in Alaska. Educational activities are active, inquiry-based, interdisciplinary, and connected to real-world applications. The following evaluation criteria for standards-based…

This publication focuses mainly on research designed to improve adolescents learning of mathematics. Sometimes it provides insights into interventions to help all students learn more mathematics and sometimes special interventions that focus on the particular needs of nonproficient mathematics students. However, no intervention should diminish the…

This study examined teacher opportunities to learn content subject matter at a summer mathematics institute. The Alaska Partnership for Teacher Enhancement was formed as a collaborative between a university, four school districts, the State Department of Education, the Anchorage Education Association, and General Communication, Inc. It offered…

This curriculum guide lists science topics and concepts, learning outcomes, and sample learning objectives (in three columns), separately for grades 1-3 and for grades 4-6. Topics/concepts, in the first column, describe the major parts of the subject under consideration. They define broadly the content to be included in the study of each subject…

Educational assessment, as it is typically conducted in U.S. schools, does not successfully capture or build on potentially important content knowledge and understanding of Indigenous students. In fact, current policies (such as the No Child Left Behind Act, 2002) are interfering with the implementation of many of the things we know about making…

This report, the third in a three-volume study evaluating day care in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, contains a profile of various day care characteristics and an estimate of the potential impact of the proposed federal day care requirements on current day care costs in the four states. The profile includes data describing the definitions…

Systems thinking involves seeing relationships between the parts to the whole within the school improvement effort. After providing the key principles and examples of systems thinking, the article emphasizes the importance of staff development, highlighting experiences at a Wellesley (Massachusetts) middle school and an Alaskan high school. (SM)