Based on 5 years' experience, the Project Challenge coordinator for the Pittsford (New York) Central School District explains how to implement differentiated instruction. Teachers should find a buddy, align objectives, find out what students know, plan flexible grouping, encourage student responsibility, and provide choices. (MLH)

Educational technology is not about spread sheeting, word processing, or slick, "PowerPointless" student performances. Professional development should focus on curriculum-based teaching and learning strategies that enhance daily practice. Like gardening, fertilizer is needed via informal support systems, study groups, mentors, help…

Applies a inside/outside reciprocity metaphor to the top-down/bottom-up combinations required for school reform. Sustained change requires internal change, active connection to the outside community, and a challenging, but nurturing external infrastructure. There is also a fusion of the spiritual, the political, and the intellectual. (Contains 13…

This article is part of a series of articles edited for this issue of "Childhood Education" relating to varying viewpoints and teaching strategies across the continuum of age groups, from early childhood to graduate education. Within this article the editors provide the text of an article written by a retired teacher educator whose…

In this article, the authors--the teacher educators who obtained a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVD)--explore what it meant for teachers and teacher educators involved in the PorTRAIT (Practitioner or Teacher Researchers As Inquiring Travelers) program to enlarge their views of teacher research and their own classrooms by being…

This preliminary analysis is part of the baseline phase of a longitudinal study designed to investigate the professional development of primary and secondary teachers across England. The study addresses four key research areas. The prevailing models of professional development for teachers in England are identified in this baseline phase and the…

Beginning in September, 2001 when the Portland Public Schools received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Urban Systemic Program (USP) initiative, the district focused, accelerated and strengthened its efforts to improve mathematics and science education K-12. Since its inception the authors at Inverness Research…

How does one become an effective teacher? What can be done to stem high attrition rates among beginning teachers? While many teachers are left to "sink or swim" in their first year--learning by trial and error, there remain a number of outstanding examples of collaboration and collegiality in teacher induction programs. Analysis of the…

Partnerships that form to advance early childhood education are influenced by history and purpose. They are enacted in diverse social, cultural, economic, geographic and educational contexts. Using the theme of "strong and equal partnership" between family and school, and taking a theoretical standpoint that values social cohesion and…

There is a strong relationship between students' socioeconomic status and their levels of academic achievement. Although educators should be held accountable for improving the performance of all students, including those living in poverty, schools alone can't eliminate the negative factors associated with poverty that lead to a large achievement…

This is the fourth of a series of papers exploring the potential influence of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards propositions, standards, and processes on the development of advanced master's programs for teachers. It makes the case that collaboration is at the heart of accomplished teaching, and hence, of critical interest to both…

The Interdisciplinary Teamed Instruction (ITI) Project was a 2-year project aimed at determining the effects of ITI on teaching and learning and at validating the effectiveness of a professional development model to facilitate development, implementation, and evaluation of ITI. Through summer institutes and onsite workshops, project staff provided…

This article discusses the observations and experiences of a multidisciplinary team at the Blind Childrens Center in Los Angeles, which works specifically with children from birth to 5 years of age who have been diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia and may have septo-optic displasia. Strategies for educational interventions are explained.…

This study evaluated the SOAR-High (Science, Observing, and Reporting-High School) Project, a Web-based earth systems science course involving collaborating teachers and deaf students. Findings indicated students became more proficient in using science process skills stressed by the curriculum, better able to work independently, and more…

Mentoring and teacher collaboration may be part of an effective reform program in Lithuania, but they are insufficient in themselves. Lithuanian educators also need materials and resources, such as printed texts and computer hardware and software. U.S. support should assume the posture of careful listener and willing instructor. (26 references)…