The Multiple Menu Model is a practical set of planning guides that teachers can use to design indepth curriculum units. This model differs from traditional approaches by balancing content and process, involving students as inquirers, and exploring knowledge's structure and interconnectedness. Components include menus for knowledge, instructional…

Presents a brief history of charter schools, summarizes important elements, discusses key lessons from the charter school movement, and explores some unanswered questions. Charter schools can positively affect student achievement, attendance, and attitude; often focus on low- and moderate-income youngsters; provide talented educators with…

Examines empowerment as a communicative process among teachers and students at a Midwestern Montessori school. Explores the praxis of empowerment in the organizational context of three Montessori classrooms. Observes the praxis of empowerment in three specific areas: the nature of the environment; the management of discipline; and the social…

This article examines contemporary research and debates about pedagogies of engagement that challenge the traditional assumptions and understandings of engagement. Three contesting epistemological constructions of student engagement are identified and examined through the contesting and resisting voices of teachers and students. The article's…

Describes an autobiographical study of a deputy headteacher's leadership role in organizing a teacher's group of action researchers in a comprehensive secondary school. The study aimed to provide the conditions and support necessary for empowering teachers to develop their classroom or management practice. "Story" aided self-reflection…

Now a major force Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established in 1987 to set high, rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should know and practice and to certify teachers via performance-based assessments. National Board Certification, which complements state licensing, helps empower teachers through mentoring and school…

Although the process of participative, school-based budgeting might seem tedious and time-consuming, it can truly empower teachers and administrators. One cannot set instructional and budgetary priorities without knowing costs. A costing formula to help facilitate the budgeting process is presented. Includes 18 references. (MLH)

True faculty empowerment involves decision participation, authority over issues concerning professional life, and opportunities to acquire knowledge necessary to warrant such activity. This paper describes selected experiences of four schools implementing a shared governance model, identifying factors facilitating meaningful involvement and…

Social, economic and technological changes on a global scale are challenging traditional forms of knowledge and educational practice. In response, educators worldwide are finding ways to forge new roles, identities and relationships. This paper recognises pressures on the teaching force in a global climate of educational reform. Drawing on data…

This article seeks to replace the traditional and authoritative staff appraisal at a case-study school by a concept of performance management depicted as the performance enhancement and peer appraisal of teachers. It is achieved by elaborating an open system of performance management where teachers are empowered within the existing vertical…

Explores the participants' perceptions and practices about writing, and ascertains some of the critical influences upon the development of teachers' and children's creative competence in the writing classroom. Seeks to empower teachers to develop their own creative potential in order to enrich children's written voices. (SG)

Drawing on specific examples in elementary school classrooms and flying instruction analogies, this article shows how teachers can creatively combine tenets of both holistic and direct approaches to reading instruction. Students are more likely to use reading and writing effectively when teachers themselves are empowered to select intelligently…

Challenged to increase leadership opportunities for teachers, an El Paso elementary school principal appointed two master teachers to a vice-principal vacancy, increased teacher collaboration time, and experimented with vertical-team representation, teacher input for hiring decisions, and creative scheduling. Only the principal can actually…

Over the last two decades, researchers have presented convincing evidence that teachers are an important key to school improvement and to closing the student achievement gap. However, ensuring that all students are taught by quality teachers--those with the right talent, skills, and experience--is not enough. Teachers--even the best of them--must…

The classroom is at the heart of the often-mixed messages of school reform and school practice. Educators must make sense of these mixed messages in order to engage in the work of teaching. Viewing educators as social agents amid the complexity of educational discourse and practice provides a distinctly different lens on reform than those…