This book presents a new vision of curriculum--one that invites students to read with important social ideas in mind and write with the purpose of making the world a better place. Developed over years of classroom experience with diverse children, the book will help more experienced teachers take the next step in their professional growth, while…

This document, both a historical report and a personal narrative from a university professor, describes public two-year college development in the United States from the late 1940s to the end of the 1980s. Highlights include: (1) by 1950, the number of public two-year colleges (322) had become greater than the number of private ones (302); (2) by…

This document examines an innovative marketing strategy developed by South Texas Community College (STCC) to promote its technical programs. In 2000, STCC organized the "Business Conference Institute" to develop 1-day conferences with the Division of Business, Math & Sciences (DBMS). The creation of this Institute linked the College with the local…

The Program for Access to Science Study (PASS) consists of a preparatory science course which is taught in tandem with a special counseling seminar. Problem solving is taught using content in chemistry and physics. The curriculum is divided into cycles, each built around a single topic. A problem set related to the topic and an illustrative lab…

The Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program is a new initiative that could affect International Reading Association members in the United States--but will benefit only those who take advantage of it. The purpose of the CSR initiative is to provide financial incentives for schools to develop comprehensive school reforms. Funding is available to…

This paper examines the last 2 decades of basic education reform in Chile with an emphasis on institutional and political dimensions. Chapter 1 centers on how the government has reoriented the formal and informal rules and incentives governing the behavior of teachers, parents, and administrators in an effort to produce greater system efficacy and…

This report examines the potential revolution in U.S. higher education public policies that require improved student learning. This revolution includes numerous teaching innovations activities that were initiated and sustained by external pressures and politically astute reformers. The report notes the criticism of U.S. elementary and secondary…

This textbook analyzes successful innovations in education. The first chapter provides an overview of the book, which is followed by a review of classical studies and disasters that have accompanied innovation. Chapter 3 offers a series of separate stories about the different ways teachers have responded to changes, and chapter 4 tries to reverse…

This publication presents a compilation of information about technologies used for distance education and web-based training for practitioners in adult, career, and vocational education. It focuses on the use of technology in the following ways: (1) as an instructional tool that expands classroom walls and enables the delivery of specialized…

A current initiative at many institutions is the formation of "learning communities" that link or cluster courses around an interdisciplinary theme and enroll a common cohort of students. This study examined the attitudes and perceptions of students, faculty and administrators who were involved in a learning community to determine the…

This document summarizes annual reports provided by Massachusetts' charter schools. It is supplemented with information from reports required of all public schools in the state and provides profiles of the 24 charter schools that were operating in 1997-98. The report opens with an overview of the four common features of charter schools--freedom,…

This monograph contains a case study of a controversial curricular innovation in Malta: the introduction of a subject called Systems of Knowledge at the postsecondary education level. The first part of the case study provides a historical interpretation of how Systems of Knowledge came into existence. The second part of the case study presents a…

The document introduces a college program designed to encourage the initiation and evaluation of strategies to increase student learning through innovative teaching methods. It also contains reports on completed individual projects. The principal activity of the Innovation Incubator at the College of DuPage (Illinois) is to support specific…

This book describes secondary school teachers' achievements and innovations, examining the historical and political contexts of curriculum development and control in the United Kingdom and analyzing the values and beliefs that have shaped the reforms in schools and colleges over the last 2 decades. It considers the extent to which these changes…

This study focused on the extent to which nontraditional instructional strategies targeted by a high school in its Title I schoolwide plan were observable in classrooms. The study was conducted in an inner-city high school where 76% of the students are classified as economically deprived. Data were collected through classroom observations in 18 of…