Historically, the place of career education in the educational agenda has not been clear. No shared belief exists as to how schools ought to prepare students for adult life. This digest outlines a new model of career education. Schools need to have clear and specific outcomes for each aspect of personal growth and development for students. Goals,…

This Digest explores facets of collaboration between general and special education teachers that are different from earlier models. Inclusion of students with disabilities into the same class has brought about teams of general education and special education teachers working collaboratively or cooperatively to combine their professional knowledge,…

Many cooperative civic education projects among U.S. and Central/Eastern European educators have emerged since the end of Communist Party Rule in the former Czechoslovakia. This digest describes a collaborative curriculum development project, Civic Education for the Czech Republic (CECR). The objective of CECR is to revise the existing social…

The Internet is an international computer network composed of thousands of smaller networks. State and regional education networks and commercial providers have made the vast resources of the Internet increasingly available to administrators, school library media specialists, and classroom teachers. This updated digest lists a selection of no-cost…

An increasing amount of national attention is focused on connecting K-12 schools to the Internet, while at the same time, there is some debate on the benefits of using it in the classroom. Most teachers know the Internet is a source of information, but may not know how it works or how to use it. This ERIC Digest provides a framework to explain…

Paraeducators are school employees whose responsibilities are either instructional in nature or who deliver other services to students. Large numbers of paraeducators have expressed a desire to become professional teachers. Because many paraeducators, perhaps the majority, are from minority groups, they would expand the pool of potential teachers…

The concept of "opportunity to learn" (OTL) strategies was first introduced several decades ago and was defined by a narrow set of instructional components. Since then, many additional criteria have been incorporated into the OTL concept, some specifically to ensure an equal education for disadvantaged and minority students. The original…

Urban school restructuring, although it can break down bureaucracy and empower teachers, can also seem distant from the day-to-day problems of most teachers, and even increase teacher burnout. Many of the following initiatives of the school restructuring movement may intensify a teacher's frustration: (1) school-based management may raise the…

Information literacy requires that the learner recognize the need for information, be able to identify and locate it, gain access to it, and then evaluate the quality of the information received before organizing it and using it effectively. In an information literate environment students engage in active and self-directed activities. Information…

Since 1981, Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act has provided school districts with supplementary services funds for more than five million low-achieving students. Historically, schools have used "pull-out" programs to serve this population, but the provisions of the current legislation, the Hawkins-Stafford…

The Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the White House Conference on Indian Education suggested systemic reforms that would improve the education of Native students who attend public schools. These reforms focus on fostering intercultural harmony in schools, improving teacher preparation, developing instructional curricula and strategies that…

This Digest discusses the conversion of military personnel to school employees and describes a U.S. Department of Defense program called "Troops to Teachers" that helps military personnel affected by defense cut-backs pursue new careers as teachers and teachers' aides. Created by Congress in 1992 through the National Defense…

Assessment can play a vital role in ensuring the success of citizenship education. Assessment should be an on-going process that informs about the progress and development of students. Guidelines are presented for designing and planning assessment activities, and several formats for assessment are described. Basic guidelines for assessment are…

Educational indicator systems are similar to indicator systems used to monitor the economy, the criminal justice system, or other social systems. Governments recognize the value of statistics that provide current information and make trend analysis and forecasts possible. Education statistics will qualify as indicators only if they serve as…

Research and evaluation staff members in schools and school districts are frequently called on to answer questions about the quality of schools. Responding merely with test scores is not sufficient, because it is important to communicate information about the total educational program in the district. Additional measures are available.…