After studying numerous schools involved in restructuring, Fred Newmann and his research team concluded that reform-minded schools must address how learning can have intellectual quality and communities of learners can be built. This interview summarizes insights from five studies recently published by the Center on Organization and Restructuring…

Looks at online delivery of soft skills such as problem-solving, communication, interpersonal competence, and leadership. Suggests that, although online courses can be made meaningful, interesting, and valuable, it may be more difficult to ensure that appropriate interaction takes place. (JOW)

The Paideia Seminar was first defined as part of philosopher Mortimer Adler's Paideia Program in "The Paideia Proposal" (1982) and two other books that followed ("Paideia Problems and Possibilities," 1983, and "The Paideia Program," 1984) shortly thereafter. From the beginning, this teaching and learning strategy was intended to be used as part of…

What is the most effective approach to teaching enterprise? A residential week-long event brought together students and tutors from a variety of backgrounds and with differing expertise. The result was a melting-pot of ideas, some of which generated new businesses. This article critically examines the approach taken on the first of what have…

The National Writing Project (NWP) is the nation's premier professional development network dedicated to improving the teaching of writing. The NWP network comprises nearly 200 local sites in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This report presents the results of a seven-year survey study of teachers participating in NWP summer…

Definitions are central to both the practice and the power of leadership. This deceptively simple supposition was the basis for an elective doctoral leadership seminar at Illinois State University designed and taught by Lyman in Fall 2005, and replicated by Gardner in Spring 2007. The authors featured the same texts and stimulated students'…

This evaluation study, conducted in 2005, examined the impact of the pilot Programme of Inclusive Education of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in two States of India: Karnataka and Uttar-Pradesh (U.P.). The dual objective of this evaluation was to assess the usefulness of the programme for children with disabilities and the…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

This paper gives an overview of "The Schooled Mind: Do the Arts Make a Difference? An Empirical Evaluation of the Hamilton Fairfield SPECTRA+ Program, 1992-93." SPECTRA+ is an education reform, school renewal approach involving all students in the arts on a daily basis. The primary mission of SPECTRA+ is to improve education for children…

This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive program for teaching adolescents about alcohol use. A brief overview of research in the area of adolescent alcohol use is followed by a brief description and detailed outline of key facets of the Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT) approach to alcohol education which is being…

A study evaluated the higher order thinking skills model developed at the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory. A primary thesis of the thinking skills model is that the majority of the cognitive skills considered relevant to academic success can be categorized into three distinct groups: (1) learning-to-learn skills, (2) content thinking…

This discussion of some of the research literature that is relevant to the issue of teaching thinking provides descriptions of hypothetical, ideal thinkers, and problem solvers; considers the problem of teaching thinking and problem solving; and explores the issue of evaluating programs so that they can be revised and improved. Following Bransford…

Article evaluated programs created to coordinate the Federal effort in education research and development. (Author/RK)

Inservice training procedures used to implement the Teaching Resource Classroom Model (a program for moderately, severely, and profoundly handicapped students) were evaluated with 94 teachers and administrators. The model is composed of the following 10 components: delivery of appropriate cues and consequences, assessment of student skill level,…

A CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION HAS BEEN INSTALLED FOR $15,000 THAT REINFORCES AND EXPANDS THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM. TELEVISION IS USED IN MOST CLASSES ONLY ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH TO RELATE DIRECTLY TO WHAT IS BEING TAUGHT AT THE TIME, AND THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY THAT ALL TEACHING WILL EVENTUALLY BE DONE BY TELEVISION ALONE. THREE QUALIFICATIONS ARE…