Proposes the benefits of instructional design reforms for college courses. Design steps include how to evaluate needs, establish goals, and make changes. A detailed example is provided of a restructured art history course which was changed from a large lecture format to self-paced learning activities. (Contains 22 references.) (SLW)

Describes alternative educational innovations at all educational levels, developed by the Maori of New Zealand in response to the dual crises of educational underachievement and the loss of language, knowledge, and culture. Major intervention elements are validating cultural identity, incorporating culturally preferred pedagogy, mediating…

In recent years, great emphasis has been placed on providing all students access to the general education curriculum (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, No Child Left Behind Act). Given the diversity found among today's student population, both general and special education teachers struggle to find methodologies that enhance the…

Why is classroom management especially problematic for urban teachers, and why has research yielded so few helpful answers to this question? In this article I take up both questions, suggesting that the answer to both emanates from the same source: the reliance on deficit paradigms to explain underachievement of students who have historically not…

To improve current civil society and achieve the possibilities globalization offers, we must incorporate an education-for-empowerment approach to lifelong learning. This chapter explores the potential, promise, and implications for local action and dialogue.

This case study examines how analyzing inaccurate referrals can provide key insights into managing change. The author analyzes what went wrong in an attempt to identify opportunities for an Access Services department to consider how it might adapt to constant change. She wishes to show how the nature of change today demands that one pay…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

The Exemplary Schools study at Howard University's Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR) was designed to aid the program in its goal toward developing and implementing a reform model that "overdetermines" success for all students. The Talent Development (TD) principle of "overdetermination of success" argues…

We present descriptive data about the nature and correlates of classroom conflict using a national sample of 226 faculty members. We differentiated two different types of conflict, inattentive versus hostile, in our survey. Levels of conflict were not associated with instructors' demographic traits or characteristics of their courses, but were…

The Education Working Paper Series is produced by the Education Unit at the World Bank (HDNED). It provides an avenue for World Bank staff to publish and disseminate preliminary education findings to encourage discussion and exchange ideas within the World Bank and among the broader development community. Many factors have contributed to Finland's…

Improving education achievement in Luxembourg is a priority for strengthening productivity growth and enhancing residents' employment prospects in the private sector, where employers mainly hire cross-border workers. Student achievement in Luxembourg is below the OECD average according to the 2003 OECD PISA study, with the performance gap between…

Schoolwide positive behavior support (SWPBS) exemplifies a longitudinal research program originating in the fields of special education and school psychology that has produced an extensive national database encompassing an evidence-based set of practices applicable to general education as well as special education students including those with…

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

The impact of changes in Pennsylvania's special education program rules and financing system during the first 2 years of implementation (1991-92 and 1992-93) are considered. Policy objectives were: to control escalating state expenditures for special education, to give school districts greater control over special education expenditures, and to…

This chapter addresses the role of action research in projects that link literacy education and cultural action in peripheral rural areas. These programs aim to improve the living conditions of a population without destroying its cultural heritage or way of life. Action research begins with three broad questions: In what terms do local people pose…