There is an urgent need not only to attract more people into the teaching profession but also to build a more diverse, highly qualified, and culturally sensitive teaching force that can meet the needs of a rapidly changing school-age population. This Toolkit takes best practices from high school teacher academies around the United States and…

Details a preservice teacher's first experience tutoring in an inner-city high school, during which she found apathetic teachers and discouraged students. Notes that she does not want her upcoming student teaching experience to turn out the same way. Provides a response from another teacher, who suggests that apathy can be avoided if teachers are…

Describes how the San Diego Unified School District has worked with numerous philanthropic organizations for educational reform and provides suggestions for school districts and foundations interested in working together for public school reform. Provides pertinent information on the foundations that worked with San Diego. (SM)

Describes the design and implementation of Professional Development School partnerships between a university and three urban public schools intended to prepare future teachers for tomorrow's diverse students. Explains how the partnership initiated, built, and enhanced relationships and notes common elements found among the three schools (shared…

This booklet is a guide to setting up a formal mentor program in the community. Mentor programs can take many shapes, whether sponsored through the schools, by businesses, or by churches and volunteer agencies. Like any operation, a volunteer mentor program has various management functions. The planning function sets a mission statement, goals,…

Inclusion is the practice of educating children who have disabilities in classes together with their peers who do not have disabilities. This packet on "least intervention" contains resource materials that help ensure appropriate inclusion. The first section of this packet contains discussions of appropriate inclusion and a description of the…

In many big cities, noneducators are being asked to create rescue strategies for the public schools. In Cleveland (Ohio) and Chicago (Illinois), mayors have taken over the school systems, and in the District of Columbia and Baltimore (Maryland), reform boards have been asked to improve the schools. This book is designed to help these noneducators…

This book analyzes the nature of differences among students in terms of grade levels of academic abilities. How these differences have emerged, and what teachers can do to address such varied abilities in their classrooms are discussed. Chapter 1, "The Nature of the Educational Challenge," examines just how extensive these differences…

This package of materials is designed to provide schools with information, suggestions, and activities that can increase awareness of the nature of conflicts, conflict-resolution strategies, and the management of conflict and crisis situations. It focuses on developing a positive school climate that enhances intergroup relationships, encourages…

The present is a good time for school-community collaboration, and the National School Volunteer Program in Alexandria (Virginia) is helping by providing assistance and training for schools' volunteer programs. Eight principles characterize effective volunteer programs, including (1) strong top-level support from superintendents and school boards;…

This book presents a three-dimensional approach to handling hostility in the school that emphasizes methods of prevention, methods of action, and methods of resolution. Chapter 1, "The Problem of Violence," discusses the problem of violence in the schools and society, and considers how violence, aggression, and hostility have affected society and…

Argues that we must stop our crisis-oriented approach to urban education, sets forth three major goals for urban schools, and lists six policy guidelines for the future. (Author/WD)

Argues that traditional methods of involving low-income minority parents in their children's education have not worked. Suggests ways to improve parent-teacher communication, understanding, and cooperation in urban schools. (MM)

Presents a K-8 school design in Chicago that bridges the gap between the Hispanic culture of its students and an Anglo-American society by creating a Mexican feeling without making it look foreign to its surroundings. Describes the community in which the school resides, the planning strategy for its development, its architectural features,…

In this essay, the author calls attention to a little-studied but critical aspect of school system reform: the nontransparent and sometimes illogical ways school districts allocate funds and personnel, especially teachers. Drawing on a series of studies produced by his Center for Reinventing Public Education, the author asserts that mayors who…