Turning Points is a New American Schools design for comprehensive middle school reform coordinated by the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) in Boston Massachusetts. It focuses on creating a professional collaborative culture and using data-based inquiry to improve teaching and learning for all students. Turning Points seeks to create…

This guide is designed to assist Florida teachers helping students achieve the Sunshine State Standards for Special Diploma. To meet the needs of students with disabilities more effectively and to align with the intent of the Sunshine State Standards and the Florida System of School Improvement and Accountability, the Student Performance Standards…

Students are more diverse than ever before in cultural background, learning style and interests, social and economic classes, and abilities and disabilities. This diversity replaces the old statistically derived, bell-shaped curve that uncompromisingly identifies some students as "inside" and other as "outside." With this shift in norm definition,…

Although interdisciplinary teaching has long been supported as a pedagogical practice, little research has looked closely at interdisciplinary teaching. A literature review was undertaken, therefore, to articulate the current theoretical understanding of interdisciplinary education and to examine how it influences practice in middle and high…

This report of the Australian Ministerial Committee on Middle Schooling examines emerging conceptions of middle schooling and educational arguments regarding adoption of middle schooling, weighs financial implications, and provides several brief policy recommendations. Chapter 1, "Introduction," reviews the establishment of the…

This text presents a framework and strategies for ensuring that students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum. Chapter 1 discusses standards-based reform and the links between standards and curriculum. The three domains of knowledge for ensuring access are also introduced: content knowledge, learning processes, and…

This guide to cooperative teaching provides field-tested ideas and strategies using an organizational analogy of a home remodeling project. Chapters address the following topics: (1) recent changes in the nations schools and an overview of collaboration in the contemporary educational system; (2) different approaches to collaboration, including…

This packet is designed to be used by teachers in middle schools and high schools as they teach drug education. It accompanies a public television series, "Moyers on Addiction: Close at Home," but can be used on its own. The materials are in three parts. The first part is a folder that explains how to use the materials, provides a list of…

According to Kasulis, a class discussion has three dimensions: content, process, and people. Though content is an obvious element that is usually thoroughly researched, process can be problematic for many teachers. Some students tend to dominate, while others disengage, and the discussion often wanders. These problems can be alleviated with…

One of the critical components in the curriculum is evaluation of students' knowledge or the amount they learned in the course. Over time, the assessment process has not changed significantly; it is only recently that university instructors are turning to technology for assistance in this labor-intensive task. There are disadvantages and…

This handbook is designed to help curriculum managers at Oregon's community colleges understand the State Board of Education criteria and processes that support the continued expansion and improvement of instruction. It outlines approval requirements and procedures for Oregon community college associate degrees, certificates of completion,…

This compilation includes a variety of perspectives and resources on providing appropriate and effective programs and services for young children with autism and their families. It is designed for use by state-level early intervention and early childhood special education staff, local service providers, training and technical assistance providers,…

This framework for social studies curriculum design in South Dakota schools incorporates 10 themes: (1) culture; (2) time, continuity, and change; (3) people, places, and the environment; (4) individual development and identity; (5) individuals, groups, and institutions; (5) power, authority, and governance; (6) production, distribution, and…

Although the "basics" of program planning and instructional delivery in traditional face-to-face settings are a good place for instructors to begin when developing online courses, they are only a beginning. When one educator was faced with the task of designing an online course for inclusion in a distance masters degree program for…

This report shows findings and recommendations from the Planning Task Force, a group of faculty and administrators at the City College of San Francisco in California (CCSF) that addresses the establishment and strengthening of linkages between non-credit programs. The Planning Task Force employed several methods of inquiry in order to determine…