Argues that if discipline-based music education is to be successful, change initiatives must take place at all levels of instruction. Discusses the collaborative efforts necessary to accomplish this. These include coordinated efforts among state departments of education, higher education and K-12, performing arts centers, teacher and professional…

Explores how a student service program can be implemented without a large staff and without cost, in large introductory sociology classes as part of an extra-credit project, while augmenting course material as an active learning component. Discusses a class that fits this description at North Dakota State University. (MJP)

Since tribal colleges acquired land-grant status in 1994, conversation with established land-grant institutions has focused on how tribal colleges can adapt to the dominant paradigm. In contrast, mainstream universities should adopt culturally aware considerations of holism, sacredness, cultural identity, and cultural viability. This will promote…

The present culture of standardized curriculum and assessment and scripted pedagogy creates an inner philosophical turmoil for educators who refuse to accept high stakes assessment as the sole measure of their success. Tips are provided for teachers and principals on implementing learner-centered place-based education. Principal-teacher…

Examines the nature of instructional capacity and its key components, and discusses the issues of improving human capital, quantity and quality of teaching resources, instructional cultures, and performance. A table is presented providing examples of capacity-building strategies at three system levels (that is, school, district, and state). The…

Describes an interdisciplinary transition model currently used in rural Wisconsin for special needs students that links vocational assessment, Individualized Education Plan development, program placement, instructional support, exit transition conferences, and postschool followup. Stresses collaboration among students, parents, educators, and…

Educators from nine rural school districts in Idaho participated in a transdisciplinary team training program aimed at improving educational services for disabled students. Pretest and posttest analysis revealed that training was effective in improving collaboration among team members but that further work was needed on teams developing and…

Explores the meanings constructed around the concept of cooperation by a teacher and her fifth-grade students during cooperative learning. Their experiences indicate that cooperative learning has the potential to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, promising much but actually stifling the empowerment of students for proactive social action. (SLD)

Describes the School-Community Connection Conference held in Flint (Michigan) on October 11-13, 1992, and the action plans that seven participating schools devised to improve the relationship between schools and their communities. The conference paired representatives from the state departments of education with school-based action teams to…

Explores the antecedents to the growing interest in the use of educational performance indicators. Discusses this issue in relation to the work of economist F. W. Taylor and evaluator Ralph Tyler. Describes a five-year project that demonstrates the promise of teacher-developed performance indicators. (CFR)

Describes school-improvement measures in Quebec, supported by the Partnership on School Improvement and the Quebec School Improvement Network. The Partnership includes representatives from government, McGill University, associations of school boards and school administrators, and teachers' unions. Staff trainings and improvement initiatives in…

A case study examined a whole-school model for supervising preservice teachers. The model employs constructivist notions that in a social-cultural context a persons' knowledge is created, examined, and transformed rather than simply transmitted and absorbed. The role of university facilitators changed from monitoring to mentoring, enhancing…

A case study of a sixth-grade boy with traumatic brain injury and behavior problems illustrates the use of an in-school action team to provide behavioral support. The team included special and regular educators, parents, a vice principal, and a member of a school-wide team with behavioral expertise. (CR)

This article reports on one part of Project REFER (Referral and Evaluation procedures For Education and Rehabilitation), which identified barriers to effective school and vocational rehabilitation collaboration and strategies for addressing these barriers as indicated by four stakeholder groups: secondary special education staff, vocational…

Evaluation of the provincial science curriculum in grades one to five in Saskatchewan (Canada) involved collaboration among teachers, administrators, and subject specialists in developing an evaluation plan, developing evaluation instruments, administering student and teacher questionnaires and student achievement tests, evaluating case studies of…