This study examined teachers' use and evaluation of cooperative learning along with students' reactions to cooperative grouping and the quality of the group cooperation in a sample of Dutch primary school teachers who implemented cooperative learning methods. Data collection involved teacher questionnaires, student questionnaires, and observation.…

Since 1992, Vermont has been pioneering the development of community partnerships for improving social well-being, using indicators to track success. The working definition of a community, for outcome purposes, is the area served by a school supervisory union. Vermont is divided into 60 such supervisory unions (school districts), but…

Storytelling with persona dolls (dolls that are given names, family histories, and other traits by teachers) is a powerful tool for teaching classroom and social skills, giving children words for and tools to manage their feelings, developing problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills, expanding children's comfort with difference, undoing…

The use of a multiple intelligences (MI) assessment to enhance a career exploration program for eighth graders was studied. All of the eighth graders (n=160) in a suburban middle school completed three sets of activities as part of their career exploration program. Students completed a multiple intelligences self-assessment, the Multiple…

This case study describes what performance-based instruction looks like when committed teachers implement it in the classroom. The focus is elementary mathematics. A literature review revealed five aspects of performance-based classrooms: (1) epistemology; (2) curriculum orientation; (3) assessment paradigm; (4) instructional strategies; and (5)…

This self-study handbook focuses on: (1) "Self-Study and Peer Review" (including the role of "Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education," the Middle States Commission on Higher Education's statement of standards for accreditation); (2) "Models and Approaches to Self-Study" (the comprehensive model, the comprehensive with special emphasis…

This collection contains selected presentations from an annual accreditation and quality assurance conference. The papers are: (1) "Turning around Troubled Institutions" (Matthew Goldstein); (2) "Triadic Hierarchical Planning" (William J. Austin); (3) "Edinboro University's Triangulated Institutional Effectiveness…

This conference focused on the effective use of technology in schools by examining the following issues: (1) What value-added does technology bring to schools? (2) What does it take at the system level to enable learners, teachers, administrators, and communities to use technology effectively? (3) What assessment strategies and designs are…

This document describes a survey of students from 23 different asynchronous (distance education) classes at Monroe Community College (New York). The eleven questions, and answers, included: (1) On what day do you most often log on to do your assignments? (Sunday had the highest percentage of 19%); (2) At what hours of the day do you do your online…

Technology alone will not improve educational quality, but when integrated with curriculum and instruction, it is a powerful tool. This digest reviews how educators can evaluate technology-based curriculum materials for use in classrooms. Authenticity is key to evaluating technology-based curriculum materials. To promote authenticity, learning…

Based on a decade of evaluation experience, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has developed the Integrated Evaluation Methods (IEM) Package, a series of conceptual and methodological applications to enhance CSAT-funded evaluation activities. Products in the IEM Package are organized within an evaluation framework constructed on the…

The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) can be helpful in personal, career, and marriage counseling; conflict and stress management; team building; and understanding managerial and learning styles. It has great potential to be utilized in human services organizations for training purposes because it offers a way to conceptualize employee…

This paper describes attempts to implement an emergent literacy intervention in a child-care setting in a high-poverty, Spanish bilingual setting in downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, it discusses the authors' work with a particular preschool teacher, explaining how the research team and the teacher were able to overcome their original biases and…

Although in the liberal arts the main concern is comprehensive education, it is generally accepted that an engineering curriculum, while providing the fundamentals, can change continuously to accommodate technological, industrial, and economical interests. Meanwhile, in recent years many new forms of learning have been proposed that are quite…

This study examined how middle school teachers co-constructed norms and practices related to classroom use of laptop computers, focusing on a school that gave laptop computers to teachers, provided appropriate professional development, and offered students access to laptops. Eleven teachers were eligible to be study cases. During the first year,…