The quality of relationships between teachers and students has been associated with academic achievement and performance outcomes for students at all levels of their education. Extensive literature examining characteristics of positive relationships between teachers and their elementary age students exists, but is less abundant in regard to…

The reauthorization of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 strongly encourages the use of a response-to-intervention (RtI) model to reduce the number of students identified as learning disabled, to increase student achievement, and to close learning gaps between subgroups of students. RtI is based on the systematic assessment of…

In the fall of 2007, the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) conducted a national survey of high school reform and project based learning (PBL). The study included teachers from several major high school reform networks that emphasize PBL as an instructional approach: New Tech High, High Tech High, Edvision Schools, and Envision Schools. It also…

This paper identifies the ways in which the Productive Pedagogies framework has been refined as a research tool for evaluating classroom practice within a current study into issues of school reform in Queensland. Initially emerging from the landmark Queensland School Reform Longitudinal Study (1998-2001), the Productive Pedagogies has been taken…

Describes the program of the Hawaii Explorations Academy, a restructuring effort of Konawaena High School housed at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. After a general description of the program, two students describe their experiences in the program. Two program administrators then discuss the role of the environment and the importance of…

In the first part of this paper, conceptions of trainee teachers are defined, together with their importance for the process of teacher education. Many studies concerning teacher conceptions and models of teacher development show that the conceptions of instruction, knowledge, and teacher and learner roles are a key part of the teacher's…

Eight articles, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in March 1994 and ending July 1995, track the work of eight educational reform design teams: (1) "Back to the Future" (Lynn Olson)--the virtues and values of the past in a modern context; (2) "A Welcome Change" (Ann Bradley)--instruction school…

This response to five case studies of inclusive practices for elementary students with learning disabilities stresses the importance of educational restructuring, especially establishing goals that focus and direct what is taught in all classrooms and changing policies and operations to create more collaborative work structures. (Author/DB)

This paper examines the concept of "outcomes-based education" (OBE), how it was developed, how it relates to other current reforms that encompass the notion of outcomes, and how it relates to students with disabilities in theory and in practice. Outcomes-based education holds that all children can learn and succeed and that schools are…

This article examines the use of the TARRGET model (Tasks, Autonomy, Recognition, Resources, Grouping, Evaluation, and Time) in restructuring middle school literacy instruction in urban schools. By changing the scheduling of reading and writing instruction, using literature as a basis for reading instruction, and emphasizing comprehension…

Preparing educators for the challenges of an empowered school community demands collaboration among teacher educators, practitioners, and the community. This paper proposes a theoretical model of empowerment which supports university-school-community ventures. The model, which embraces intra-university collaboration and university-school-community…

Comprehensive school reform focuses on making coherent schoolwide improvements that affect virtually all aspects of a school's operation, rather than using a piecemeal, fragmented approach to reform. The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program aims to raise student achievement by helping public schools across the country implement…

This videotape and viewing guide present an emerging learner-centered paradigm of teaching and learning and contrast this new paradigm with traditional concepts. An associated guide describes the elementary school in the videotape, noting the full inclusion of 50 students identified as disabled, the team approach in which teachers are renamed…

This theme issue on talent development in students who are gifted or have special talents contains several feature articles, editorials, and a calendar of events. Articles have the following titles and authors: "Talent Development in Education" (John F. Feldhusen) proposes four domains for fostering talent in all youth:…

This article describes the Pathfinder Project, an Arizona project which serves adjudicated youth in an alternative placement based on a "Success School" model of the school as a learning organization with high emphasis on community service, individual goals, work-study, coaching for success, and group counseling. (DB)