The Hale County (Alabama) school system and the University of Alabama formed a long-range collaborative relationship targeted at meeting staffing shortages and improving science instruction in the rural county. Statistically significant gains were achieved in the science teachers' mastery of content, teaching methodology, and attitudes toward…

Describes a strategy to motivate adult basic education students to comprehend text in a manner that draws on their background knowledge and is based on peer interaction. (RS)

Describes goals for service to children in groups developed by a Hennepin County Library task force: informing child-care providers of library services, providing equal access to children in groups and to individuals, improving access to programming, increasing cooperation with local school districts, and evaluating the library's responses to the…

The author discusses partnerships between the private sector and postsecondary institutions and their applicability in different college and workplace environments. He further suggests that both parties employ planning strategies in order to achieve the best results. Partnership patterns discussed include cross training; cooperative work-study;…

Which practices set award-winning principals apart from their equally hard-working peers? Using survey results and contributions from 35 award-winning elementary school principals nationwide, this essential text examines over 100 field-based practices recognized as the best for the elementary school principalship. Organized around seven themes…

Parental and community involvement in Title I schools is limited by occurrence and the absence of positive motivation. When parents are involved in the life of a school, children receive the message that education is important and the school is a vital commodity. With this involvement, a culture is developed that encompasses the children,…

This symposium on conflict management and decision making is comprised of three papers. "Two Approaches to Conflict Management in Teams: A Case Study" (Mychal Coleman, Gary N. McLean) describes a study that provided conflict management training to two employee teams using the traditional lecture method and cooperative learning (CL).…

In this social studies and language arts interdisciplinary unit for 8th or 11th grade, students are required to take on the persona of a Populist or a Progressive. The unit is designed to create a dialogue between two similar movements in late 19th and early 20th century U.S. history. Students work in small groups to research and present their…

School district communications planning rarely includes ways to work with the media during an emergency. This short guide is aimed at providing both school officials and media professionals with specific perspectives and recommendations for cooperating to deliver crucial information to parents and the community during a crisis on campus. The…

This paper argues that progressive pedagogy is a viable alternative to more limited basic skill approaches to school reform. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during the fourth year of a 7-year multi-site school reform initiative in a besieged urban district, the paper documents ways in which teachers have dramatically altered…

CES EssentialVisions is releasing three DVDs over the course of fall 2005, 2006, and 2007. Each DVD will capture how the Common Principles have been implemented, illustrating how students engage in their own education and how teachers develop as professionals. Focused segments provide unique perspectives on the benefits and challenges of each…

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to examine the effects of constructivist pedagogy when addressing the issues associated with below proficiency scores in basic skills in mathematics on the state exit exam. Scores of thirty-four 11th and 12th grade students who did not perform at the state-mandated levels of proficiency in basic skills…

This monograph summarizes presentations and discussions that took place at a symposium organized in conjunction with the spring meeting of the Trans-Atlantic Technology and Training Alliance (TA3). TA3 is an international alliance dedicated to sharing practices that prepare workers for technical careers, providing opportunities for faculty…

The Reconstruction Era in U.S. history is an important time because the nation was trying to put itself back together after the tragic and devastating Civil War. Families had been ripped apart, and the Confederate States that had seceded needed to be brought back into the United States. Hard feelings, distrust, and hatred were the dominant…

This paper reports on a case study of a U.S. high school literature class during an e-mail exchange with a high school literature class in Moscow (Russia). During this project, the students in both classrooms read short stories by Anton Chekhov and O'Henry. By using the stories as a catalyst, the students' goal was to help their distant partner to…