This Special Issues Brief from the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR Center) and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) outlines essential features for providing high-quality, structured, and sequenced opportunities to practice within teacher preparation programs. This brief is…

Presents a partial list of the 132 Oregon and Washington plants which have been proposed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. Suggestions for student/citizen involvement in preserving these species and a description of a videotape about rare/endangered species of the Willamette Valley (Oregon) are included. (DH)

Designed to address the problems and solutions related to waste management, this curriculum guide contains interdisciplinary activities for K-12 students in Washington State schools. Listings of the activities are provided by concept categories (under the themes of revise, reuse, recycle, and recover); by waste management subject area (addressing…

One of the greatest challenges of any K-12 teacher education program is providing pre-service teachers opportunities to work with students who are culturally and linguistically different from themselves. Despite best efforts of selecting texts and facilitating discussions, new teachers recently interviewed report that coursework just did not help…

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, from a settled area of upstate New York, arrived in Old Oregon Country (what is now eastern Washington) in 1836 to make a new home for themselves and their companions. This was also the land of the Cayuse Indians. This teacher's guide to the Whitman Mission Museum (Washington) is designed to develop an understanding of…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory profiled 12 schools in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana that had made significant improvement in student achievement. While specifics of reform may vary, research shows that it is an ongoing process of determining goals and benchmarks by conducting needs assessments, using data to guide…

Anecdotal comments by teachers of English as a Second Language at all levels focus on problems in pay equity, working conditions, opportunities for professional development, and part-time teaching assignments. A Washington state survey of adult ESL program administrators echoed many of these problems and also found wide variation in class size.…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…