This booklet provides business leaders and coalitions with information and resources they can use to support charter schools in their own communities. Section 1 provides a brief overview of the charter school movement and discusses the key features of charter schools, which are self-managed public schools that operate through performance contracts…

The Annenberg Rural Challenge seeks to create an effective and sustainable rural school movement that actively involves families, communities, and educators in supporting good rural schools in reciprocal relationships with their communities and local environments. Twenty-six projects, involving hundreds of schools and communities, have been…

The 21 papers review the most recent research approaches to multicultural education and discuss initiatives for new methods of teaching and learning. More than 400 people from 12 countries participated in this conference. The first section, "Theoretical Reflections on Multicultural Education," contains five articles on curriculum development and…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results suggest to American citizens that compared to the United States' goal of excellence among nations, the U.S. is not on track with other nations. By contrast, Japan is consistently at the top of international rankings in mathematics and science. To gain insight into the Japanese…

This monograph explores the development of comprehensive systems of care for severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. It is intended as a technical assistance tool for states and communities interested in improving services and as a review of the state of the art for developing systems of care. A generic model of a system of care…

This paper extends the factor analytic research of C. W. Swartz and others (1990) on the North Carolina Teaching Performance Appraisal Instrument (NCTPAI), which contains 28 teaching practices grouped into 5 functions (management of instructional time, management of student behavior, instructional presentation, instructional monitoring, and…

The 12 articles presented in this issue of a journal on giftedness in school-age children focus on interdisciplinary thematic instruction for gifted students. "Untangling the Web of Interdisciplinary Instruction" (Susan L. Beibelman and Sandy Hall-Chiles) explains the use of a curriculum webbing model to provide structure. "Interdisciplinary…

The guiding principles of developmentally appropriate early childhood education are examined, along with pertinent research, concrete examples, and implications for practice. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to recent trends in early childhood education. Chapter 2 considers the principle of matching early childhood education practices to…

The essential theories underlying the whole language approach require individual teachers to examine their assumptions about teaching and learning and to undergo a major paradigmatic shift that requires a new set of assumptions. One of the principal tenets of whole language is that the classroom teacher becomes an autonomous professional. This…

This collection presents a cross section of research into the theme of equal opportunities in education in the Netherlands. The majority of articles are on the Dutch situation, which resembles that of other countries in many respects. Contributions include: (1) "Educational Inequality Research in the Netherlands. Conditions, Constraints and…

This report updates 1979 studies of European practice in catering training and education. Section 1 provides background. Section 2 describes the structure of West German federal and state government and their respective responsibilities for vocational education and training, including the dual system of apprentice training and the role played in…

A study examined vocational and general education in Great Britain 2 years after a national commission on education issued its recommendations for reforming Britain's system of elementary and secondary education and training. Several concerns were raised regarding the content and application of the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and…

This project identifies the competencies and knowledge required by elementary and secondary teachers to accommodate the needs of an inclusive classroom. Utilizing a literature review and the results of surveys completed by teachers who had been successful while teaching in inclusion classrooms, a 10-member focus group developed the following…

A study analyzed the experience of eight schools that had begun working to integrate their academic and vocational education programs several years before passage of the 1990 Perkins Act amendments. The following common themes were identified as collectively defining integration as a distinct reform effort: (1) richer, better sequenced curricula…

A 1-year research project was designed to analyze an early childhood teacher's current teaching practices within a framework of existing theories and to address unexpected or anomalous situations by constructing and testing new categories of understanding, strategies of action, and ways of framing problems. The main teacher concern addressed by…