A 2 + 2 manufacturing program enables students to receive associate degrees from colleges in the Lima, Ohio, area. They then can take upper level courses offered by Bowling Green State University and the Ohio State University. The schools responded to requests by Westinghouse and others in the community to prepare employees with necessary skills.…

Provides background information on the Hudson Institute's "Charter Schools in Action" project that studied 50 charter schools in 10 states. Examines innovative ways charter schools organize and support themselves, and presents five lessons from the charter-school movement. Public schools would benefit by becoming more consumer-oriented,…

Discusses the philosophies and practices of the following 1997 state Teachers of the Year: Karen Fulmer (Washington), Ford Morishita (Oregon), Judy Kuhn (Alaska), Jim Francis (Idaho), and Kimberley Girard (Montana). Describes various activities and projects that these teachers have used to motivate and engage students. (SV)

Describes how extraordinary collaborations between agencies, educators, architects, and others created special places to learn within the New York City school system. Discusses this group approach in fostering commitment and achieving success in creating innovative educational facility designs. (GR)

Like today's educators, Japanese haiku poets were caught between standards (like courtly love) and everyday realities. From this tension, they created a remarkable poetic form. Three examples from teachers' professional development work apply simple-and-deep principles to listening tasks, an assessment "deal," and curricular-standards…

Bell Atlantic Corporation offers an associate degree in applied science (telecommunications) to its employees through a consortium of community colleges. The NEXT STEP program has become a creative partnership of education, labor, and industry. (SK)

Presents estimates of the proportion of teachers who used a wide range of research-based and traditional teaching practices. Data are from the 1994-95 Teacher Follow-up Survey, which asked a national sample of teachers about their teaching methods. (SLD)

Identifies analogous patterns in the histories of education and literacy education, noting wide swings of fadism over time, tracing phonics instruction throughout history, inspecting a model of educational innovation as related to literacy, and suggesting implications of this model for the future (noting lessons to be distilled from awareness of…

It is important to dispel myths that pervade current professional-development planning and establish and follow specific guidelines for effectively using additional professional-development time. The paper dispels three major myths that diminish the effectiveness of professional-development planning and offers four guidelines for ensuring wise use…

Describes the Talents Unlimited Program, implemented in an elementary school in southwest England, which provides a framework for developing creative- and critical-thinking skills. Describes an evaluation that found that 5-year olds taught with this approach performed better on specific critical- and creative-thinking skills tasks than did peers.…

Proposes that the development of the next generation of teachers begin in special charter schools (grades 9-12) devoted to careers in teaching. Argues that the charter school is an ideal place to institute unique educational reform and prepare better-qualified teachers with a sense of social responsibility. Outlines objectives, basic design…

Compares a 1970s-era Canadian high school's failure to sustain its innovative character with challenges faced by a similar, recently founded high school. Both schools experienced problems with leadership succession, staff recruitment and retention, expanding enrollments, district and policy context, and community support. Recommendations are…

Reviews the history of the International Council for Innovation in Higher Education, including its origins as the University Without Walls International Council, its early meetings and publications, and its name change to reflect its expanding mission. Reports on a survey of ICIE members and conference participants concerning future priorities.…

Provides a participant's commentary on a seminar discussing authentic progress in innovative educational practices such as those of Maria Montessori and Frank Lloyd Wright. Notes that there was agreement among participants regarding basic parameters around which innovation within limits was possible. Concludes that innovation is possible when…

Rethinks the meaning of power and demonstrates how, by building effective public relationships, students and educators alike can change their environments and transcend the culture of powerlessness. (Author)