Being strategic at facilitating change in the quality of accommodations employed on behalf of students with learning disabilities means focusing on teacher-specific variables. This article provides a critical analysis of these variables, presents a triadic synergistic model for implementing change, and discusses the development of software for…

Describes journal writing with first-graders to promote math relevancy. Children brainstormed situations requiring mathematics, wrote about them in journals, and shared journal entries with classmates. After children solved a word problem that the teacher created from journal entries, they wrote their own word problems, worked in pairs to check…

Describes a computer-assisted, interdisciplinary course in decision making developed to promote student participation and critical thinking. Students participate in 20 interactive exercises that utilize and illustrate psychological and economic concepts. Follow-up activities include receiving background information, group discussions, text…

Presents a case study of a middle school with discipline problems leading to high suspension rates. The school implemented a voluntary peer mediation program as part of a comprehensive conflict resolution program. Discusses the program's objectives, selection and training of students, implementation, supervision of mediators, and program…

Presents a continuing study on the Chesapeake Bay as an example of a problem-based approach to environmental education using real life problems. Argues that the approach gives students responsibility for their own learning. (DDR)

Describes a mathematical investigation of gold--how it is weighed, stored, used, and valued. For grades 3-4, children estimate the value of treasure chests filled with gold coins and explore the size and weight of gold bars. Children in grades 5-6 explore how gold is mined and used, and how the value of gold changes over time. (PVD)

Presents several types of functions which fit a given set of data and create opportunities for classroom discussion comparing different kinds of functions and identifying some of the potential hazards associated with extrapolation from best-fit functions. (DDR)

Describes a unit that applies constructivist teaching methods to a science concept. Contains mini-lessons in math that present to students information that they need to know in order to perform their experiments. Gives students the opportunity to construct their own knowledge about the natural phenomenon of light as they apply their mathematical…

Describes the use of writing activities as tools for teaching mathematics while helping students develop communication and reasoning skills. Writing takes the form of formal essays about mathematical problems, writing to prompts, or focused journal writing. Students learn to clarify, refine, and consolidate thinking. Children learn mathematics…

One of five articles in the second section "Deepening Relationships through PDS Brings Change in Practice," this article details some of the hard-to-discuss problems that occur in professional development school partnerships, suggesting that discussion cases can help facilitate communication. A sample discussion case is presented, with suggestions…

Recounts a week-long environmental program that revolved around staff dressing up as Alpha Centaurions to point out pollution on Earth. Activities were chosen to teach students about ways in which our environment is being ruined and students were encouraged to look for solutions. Activities included zoo visits, ecological study of Brockhill Valley…

Documents the implementation of a collaborative model of consultation between general and special education teachers. Presents content outcomes for students who historically have been pulled out of content classes for basic skills remediation. Focuses on the feasibility of restructuring regular and special education to serve students with diverse…

This article presents the challenges that urban special education administrators face in serving students with frequent behavior problems. New strategies for creating supportive environments are shared, including creating a positive school climate, increasing capacity to initiate and maintain research-validated practices, and implementing programs…

Defines inclusion and the importance of inclusive education. Suggests that reciprocity built on self-empowerment, mutual need, ethics, and rationality builds partnerships for inclusion. Illustrates creating reciprocal partnerships by describing one effort to build a developmentally appropriate classroom. Describes a seven-step exchange model for…

Describes a model class for instructing general and special educators in best practices in inclusive education. The class emphasized cooperative learning and decision making, highly structured problem solving activities, and use of in vivo case studies involving children with disabilities in local schools. These components were designed to model…