The Open University of United Kingdom's Postgraduate Certificate of Education program is an 18-month, part-time course that annually trains over 1000 graduate teachers via electronic conferencing and open learning methods. The program provides every student and tutor with a Macintosh computer, printer, and modem and builds on face-to-face contacts…

A Dutch undergraduate course in professional counseling skills uses simulation to test students' ability to conduct an initial client interview, using standardized case histories. A study investigated the effectiveness of the method with 160 course participants, 77 non-participants, and 12 professional counselors and found it useful for…

Project 1000, based at Arizona State University, is attempting to recruit, admit, and graduate Latino and other underrepresented minorities in graduate programs around the country. With 1 application, a student may apply without charge to 7 of 80 participating institutions. The program has recruited over 3,000 Latinos, African Americans, Native…

The Optometric Center of Los Angeles provides students of the Southern California College of Optometry with an urban clinical environment that incorporates diversity, high levels of pathology, and community involvement. Through networking with outside agencies and with foundation help, the center provides a valuable educational setting for…

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte's innovative approach to campus planning was to designate an internal task force to provide the vision, values, planning assumptions, and operational rules guiding the master plan, only later to involve architect-planners for implementation. This keeps control of the plan within the campus community…

A Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) program designed to instill workplace values in the institution's business and finance areas is described. Program elements include a focus on the values of a specific work group, acknowledgment of the relationship between work performance and institutional success, and recognition of the good work of…

The author and a colleague developed the Administrator/Teacher Alliance at California State University, Los Angeles. There were three key planning goals: maintaining integrity of course goals and objectives, developing relevant performance-based assessments, and designing authentic assessment activities that would maximize opportunities provided…

Uses the example of a fourth-grade class working to have the firefly declared as Pennsylvania's state insect to highlight the effectiveness of dynamic social studies in elementary school. Discusses how dynamic social studies maintains a balance between seriousness and fun by offering a blend of variety, active involvement, and excitement while…

At Horizonte, an alternative Utah high school, students help direct their own learning. The five guiding principles resemble fundamental beliefs more than specific strategies. Curriculum is shaped to meet student needs and learning styles, technology access is universal, the program is inclusive and multicultural, students are assisted to meet…

Describes the Touchstones Discussion Project at New York's Rice High School, in which students lead and participate in discussions on writings related to controversial issues. Suggests that the project helps students master complex material and develop leadership skills as they take increasing responsibility for their education. (AJL)

Provides a perspective from New Zealand on the role of medical education in addressing racism in medicine. New Zealand nursing curricula have introduced the concept of cultural safety as a means of conveying the idea that cultural factors critically influence the relationship between carer and patient. Describes a cultural immersion program for…

Describes a University of Ottawa program involving a French-language stream to train future physicians for the francophone minority population of Ontario. Francophone students conduct interviews in French in a communication skills laboratory while being observed by clinicians trained in observation and feedback techniques. Simulated patients play…

Describes Lane Community College's Rites of Passage program, which has helped more than 100 African American teens living in Eugene, Oregon to connect to their heritage, community, and to college. The program is also being expanded to Asian, Native American, and Latino students. (EV)

A Wyoming research project is investigating the efficacy of distance assessments of young children with special needs in rural areas. Interactive technology transmits video signals to, and audio signals to and from, off-site assessment team members. The arrangement affords rural families high-quality assessment services without traveling long…

Describes the transformation of women from babysitters to child care professionals as a result of becoming a family child care provider in the U.S. military Family Child Care (FCC) program. Discusses application process, orientation training, the use of peer mentors, initial setup, inspections, enrollment, caregiver training, and accreditation.…