This book was written with the assumption that teachers and administrators must work as colleagues to improve instruction and learning in schools. It was written to be consistent with the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards for school administrators, especially Standards 1 and 2, which emphasize a learning-centered…

This document offers recommendations on implementation of Portland (Oregon) Public Schools Talented and Gifted (TAG) educational program in the areas of identification, instructional planning, assessment, communication, early entry, isolated gifted students, social/emotional needs, and budget. The evaluation report identifies each recommendation…

A Teaching/Learning Conference addressed the challenge of facilitating learner adjustment to distance learning. By understanding the concerns of both students and faculty regarding the distance learning environment, professional development specialists may find ways to ease the transition from traditional teaching/learning environments to the…

Aimed at secondary school library media specialists who are undertaking the transition to block scheduling, this book examines the essential components of the library media program in a block-scheduled school and provides useful handouts, lesson plans, and the experiences of four practitioners through their case studies. The following chapters are…

New technology, which is eliminating the barriers of time and distance, is also challenging the existence of traditional, geographically based campuses and curriculum based on textbooks. Universities need to update curriculum to conform to changes in the teacher's role from provider of knowledge to facilitator of life-long learning. Technological…

The essays in this book, by contributors from around the world, clarify predominant theoretical issues that pertain to virtual instruction, and offer practical suggestions for implementing these programs in any setting. Chapters include: "Mapping Space and Time: Virtual Instruction as Global Ritual" (Joyce W. Nutta and Carine M. Feyten);…

The Technology Mentor Fellowship Program (TMFP), a consortium consisting of 6 rural East Texas school districts, 1 urban Central Texas School district, and Texas A&M University has designed an approach for integrating technology into teacher preparation programs that impacted over 5,000 minority, language-minority, and children of poverty and…

The instructional design that is imperative towards the design and development of a Web-based course environment is of primary consideration when a graduate-level course is the focus of attention. Further, a multimedia course that incorporates the theoretical as well as hands-on elements that must be consistently focused upon and updated is of…

This document contains the following papers on graduate, inservice, and faculty use of telecommunications from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2002 conference: (1) "Behind the Scenes: The Process of Implementing a High School Web-Based Course" (Merry Boggs, Holly Patterson-McNeill, Diehl Boggs); (2) "A Study of…

This research project examined an innovative technology integration model that includes the design, development, implementation, and assessment of the use and integration of technology by inservice and preservice teachers. Personnel from a school district, an area education agency, and a college of education work collaboratively to provide the…

Describes the Chata Project, a British research project that challenged the prevalent assumption that children will construct sound causal explanations from factual information imparted during history instruction. Their research suggests that explicit instruction is required for children to understand the causal relationships among events,…

Summarizes a Canadian study that attempted to determine how a diverse group of high school students identified and understood events of historical significance. The students' responses ranged from generally objective and analytical to wildly subjective. Includes a recommended exercise for establishing students approaches to and definitions of…

Presents a syllabus for an introductory political science course. Includes a course outline, description, list of textbooks and readings, requirements, and grading policy. The course is structured in thematic units including the context of politics, acting in politics, the work of government, and alternative arenas of government. (MJP)

Reviews a series of teaching activities that revolve around family photographs, letters, and artifacts. Outlines how these items can be used to teach recommended National Council for the Social Studies strands and provides classroom examples. Discusses developing a unit of study and includes a form for a Family Artifact Report. (MJP)

The costs and benefits of investing in new, multimedia technology for teaching languages are examined, looking at one recent grant-based Australian project for instructional development in German on CD-ROM. Limitations are discussed, including limited expertise, labor and equipment costs, need for flexible delivery, and cost-effectiveness of…