This handbook offers step-by-step guidelines for practitioners and community leaders who desire to upgrade the human services available to students and their families. Specifically, the book offers strategies for developing school and community collaboration to improve the benefits provided to students in a school district. The book describes the…

A case study examined how one elementary school teacher negotiated her response to VAP (Vermont Assessment Program), Vermont's requirement for a portfolio assessment. Two questions guided the study: (1) how does one fifth-grade teacher use portfolios in classroom writing assessment and instruction? and (2) to what extent do portfolios, as mandated…

This proceedings, in English and Spanish, describes the first U.S./Mexico Curriculum Symposium, held in Austin, Texas, in November 1994. The symposium grew out of an ongoing exchange between educators in the Republic of Mexico and the United States and was attended by over 200 teachers, administrators, staff from state and regional education…

This report describes a project designed to expand higher order thinking skills in five primary students with disabilities in order to increase problem solving and decision making skills. The project incorporated higher order thinking skills into mathematics, science and language arts units, and implemented weekly, cooperative learning techniques…

In 1993, the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), in the Dominican Republic, and New York's LaGuardia Community College (LaGCC) entered into a partnership to establish a series of community colleges in the Dominican Republic. The colleges were designed to foster economic growth, prepare graduates for transfer to the UASD to complete…

An action research project designed and evaluated the effectiveness of an instructional strategy to improve the writing of all secondary students (particularly African-American males) in the Webster Groves, Missouri school district. The first year was devoted to an intensive study of African American culture and literature. A list of six…

A program of faculty development was designed and implemented at Andrews University (Michigan). The training design included presentation of instructional theory, demonstration of instructional strategies, practice of the strategies by participants, feedback on practice sessions, and on-going peer- and instructor-support. The following topics were…

In April 1994, the U.S. Department of Labor initiated a systemwide dialogue to identify ways of improving job training and employment preparation for economically disadvantaged individuals. The dialogue process was intended to help achieve broad consensus among system partners and serve as a model of ongoing communication to ensure continuous…

This practicum aimed to improve global awareness among middle school students. One specific goal was to increase the students' concept of the world and their global perspective. A second goal was to increase the students' geographic knowledge, enabling them to locate sites of current world events and affairs on a map or globe. Students were taught…

This document reports on a collaboration between Webster University (Missouri) and Pattonville School District (Missouri) to develop a Professional Development School (PDS) Partnership. The goals of the partnership centered around student learning and reflected five themes: cultural diversity, technology to support learning, constructivist…

This packet contains 15 lessons developed in a workplace basic skills project for the metal casting industry established jointly by Central Alabama Community College and Robinson Foundry, Inc. The lessons cover the following topics: (1) green sand schedule; (2) the core room; (3) the core room (continued); (4) figuring time; (5) the cleaning room;…

A study evaluated the Early Childhood Resources Teacher Training Project (TTP). The purpose of the TTP is to train preschool and early primary grade teachers in developmentally appropriate practices. The evaluation sought to: (1) determine the extent to which teachers undergoing training were able to understand and implement the content of the…

SHELCOM, an adult education project in homeless shelters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, investigated the effects of using computer technology on participants' writing and communication skills. The project consisted of 2-hour workshops, twice weekly, complemented by online support and instruction. Learners paired across the city worked on creating…

Among the plethora of cooperative learning studies, several investigations of cooperative or group assessment (CA) have appeared. In this investigation, the methodology of R. R. McCown (1992) is refined to examine CA in a classroom setting, primarily examining achievement outcomes and student perceptions of the CA process. Fifty-six undergraduates…

This report examines the provisions of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and describes the steps that have been taken thus far to establish an Ohio system. It discusses the general features that must be included in Ohio's school-to-work system and the strategies around which Ohio's school-to-work plans are being structured. Recommendations are…