Developmental assets are a research-based list of the essential building blocks of healthy youth development and comprise the relationships, experiences, and values that youth need to grow up caring, confident, and responsible. In November, 2001, Assets for Colorado Youth (ACY) convened a group of educators, students, and family advocates from the…

A teacher educator, engaged in ongoing practitioner inquiry to explore self as well as program, examines her evolution as a teacher of teachers through reflection, systematic inquiry, and collaboration. Relating autobiographically, she conjures up her professional stories and listens to her voice in an effort to define and refine her role, reflect…

Describes a person-centered planning approach for involving students with disabilities and their families in the transition planning process. Components of person-centered planning are discussed, including development of a personal profile, identification of future lifestyle preferences, action steps and responsible parties, and necessary changes…

Describes the Touchstones Discussion Project at New York's Rice High School, in which students lead and participate in discussions on writings related to controversial issues. Suggests that the project helps students master complex material and develop leadership skills as they take increasing responsibility for their education. (AJL)

Discusses how teachers can include their students in classroom management by building a teacher-student partnership in the classroom. Explains that an increased role for students will enable them to practice their citizenship skills, improve instruction, and instill order in the classroom. Addresses how to expand the students/teacher roles. (CMK)

Interviews Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, the 2002 Teacher of the Year at Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Explains how Sheryl has pushed technology to its limits in an effort to help her students push their own limits. Contends that technology provides the perfect medium for offering children the chance to build their own experiences, construct their…

Economic and social barriers to the academic and social success of many African American children are persistent. This provides impetus for developing community-based partnership education programs designed to empower African American children. The Research-Based Model Partnership Education Program one such university-school-community partnership…

Focuses on the importance of developing student listening skills. Describes a classroom project for fifth-grade students in which they created a music video, addressing the roles of the students and the teacher. Includes a section detailing the steps involved in completing this project. (CMK)

Uses junk mail, newspaper advertisements, and other promotional material to overcome one teacher's lack of instructional material and to teach multilingual and multicultural teenagers and adults the basics of consumer advocacy and American civics. Notes that the students gained power through literacy that would not have been possible with…

Describes a six-week curriculum unit to assist Hispanic immigrant students entering mainstream urban elementary classrooms. Emphasizes interviewing activities that "empower" the new student and heterogeneous group activities that break down prejudice among the mainstream students. (FMW)

Describes a pilot project using electronic mail and conferencing in college courses including blind and deaf students. The effectiveness of group interaction is compared to the standard classroom. The use of communication technologies in the design of educational systems to simultaneously transcend physical distance and physical disabilities is…

Outlines the principles and components of the "Classroom Community," a model used in an urban high school for students with emotional and behavioral problems. The model employs a shared-responsibility approach to facilitating the development of self-discipline and social responsibility. (MKA)

The Manitoba School Improvement Program (MSIP) encourages Manitoba high schools to include students in their improvement projects. Through an array of action-oriented, student-centered initiatives, MSIP has come to a new understanding of "student voice" that encompasses various levels of students' engagement in both school improvement…

Explores benefits derived from the "Gardendale Family" (a vertically aligned team of K-6 classrooms in which students remain throughout their elementary school careers). Focuses on ways in which the Gardendale Family has built a strong school-based community within which family/parent involvement is crucial. (SR)

This article describes methods used by one school district to promote self-advocacy skills for students with learning disabilities. Through multicomponent group activities, students learned about their strengths and disabilities and how to advocate for educational needs and rights. Advocacy skills were applied to leadership roles, mentoring, and…