The University of Illinois' PLATO Elementary Program, which was observed and evaluated for two years, was the focus of Part 1. The major PLATO features were described and the PLATO elementary reading and mathematics demonstrations, representing attempts at sequential and concurrent hardware, software, curriculum, and implementation development of…

This manual presents instruments for evaluating the program and facilities of day care centers and family day care homes serving nonhandicapped children aged 3-5. Chapter 1 discusses child care evaluation in general and outlines the rationale underlying this evaluation system (including the principle that day care evaluation should assess program…

After outlining the advantages of individualizing instruction through the use of learning laboratories, this book describes the physical facilities needed in a laboratory and stresses the crucial role of the laboratory coordinator, who must be a counselor, test administrator, tutor or teacher, supervisor, bookkeeper, and curriculum specialist. A…

This handbook is intended to provide school board members with a good basic understanding of the school board's duties and functions and its relationship to the community, the school administration, and the school staff. Chapters 1-4 focus in turn on the topics of school board organization and operation, school board-superintendent relationships,…

Provides a checklist to help principals assess whether thinking skills are being taught in their schools and suggests what needs to be done to improve such teaching. (DCS)

This paper addresses some real assessment challenges that teachers have identified: (1) Figuring out what really is important for students to know and be able to do in history; (2) Teaching the skills of "doing history" in a world of testing that often seems to value only factual knowledge; (3) Identifying and using assessments that provide…

This Knowledge Essentials book shows parents how to enrich their child's first classroom experience and take an active role in preschool education. This book includes advice and offers information about: (1) What a child is learning at school and the educational standards to expect in preschool-level reading and writing readiness, math, science,…

This study is a collaborative teaching/learning pedagogy that offers an alternative teaching approach to curriculum development for early childhood education in an effort to explore how to best teach a child in English language arts classroom. This study, based on Gardner's Multiple Intelligences theory and Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development…

This booklet showcases findings from a new analysis of data from "Family Involvement in Education: A National Portrait," and provides a checklist for parents to assess their own school on issues of family involvement. The study was conducted in May and June of 1997 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Key…

This booklet was designed to inform, guide and support parents of children with special needs during their child's transition from an early intervention program (birth through age 2) into a preschool early educational setting. The first part of the booklet focuses on how the transition process works, including a description of the people who might…

This handbook is designed to help educational professionals develop cross-functional or departmental quality teams. Nine chapters focus on: (1) the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) and 14 points for quality in education; (2) team goals and formation; (3) stages of successful team building; (4) the development of quality task teams; (5)…

This guide to implementing a school volunteer program was developed for the 1995 Wisconsin Volunteer-A-Thon project, which was intended to encourage individuals, schools, organizations, and corporations to volunteer time to youth and education. Part 1 contains a timeline for the implementation of the project, a description of how to participate,…

Intended for use with the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, this integrated ongoing student assessment toolkit, in Spanish, is designed for preschool teachers to help them focus on all aspects of a child's development, thereby giving them a way to ensure that all children in their classes are making progress. The assessment kit uses a…

This book focuses on teaching reading in a multilingual setting. The book introduces core principles of effective reading practice, beginning with a definitive checklist grounded in a theory of reading. As the chapters progress, each item on the checklist is explained and illustrated in detail with examples of eight exemplary teachers who work…

Sierra Health Foundation is embarking on a new initiative to promote youth development practices among those who serve 'tweens and teens--youth who are ages 10 to 15. The initiative seeks to engage youth in a variety of contexts, including internships, service, social justice, and advocacy. A major part of the initiative focuses on expanding…