With U.S. immigration policies tightening, many teachers find students from immigrant backgrounds are worried about families or friends facing harsh consequences--or are suffering from losing a family member to deportation. Some students and families are disengaging from school, and kids are even being bullied about their backgrounds. Kugler shows…

Rebecca Van Tassell struggled during her first years as a science teacher. She knew her colleagues had good ideas to share, but she never got to see them in action, so she started a walk-through club in which she and a few colleagues visited one another's classrooms and discussed what they saw. The group met every two weeks, after having…

Richard DuFour, a leading advocate for creating professional learning communities in schools, shares his insights on why teaching has become an "embattled profession" and the steps teachers and school leaders can take to enhance teachers' practice and their working lives. DuFour explains how recent reforms aimed at educators themselves…

A low-performing California school district experienced a dramatic turnaround when faculty members began studying student assessment data and working together to ensure students had the support they needed. Sanger Unified School District began its reform journey in 2004 when district leaders launched an effort to focus deliberately on student…

Community participation has many faces, but is moving increasingly away from a group notion toward the individual participant, that is, each and every parent and student as educational consumer. (Author)

A group of staff and parents in a Pennsylvania community developed a district strategic plan stressing character education. The original study group found three reasons for involving schools, including schools' historical commitment to character development, recognition of values education as an intrinsic part of teaching, and increasing crime and…

A student survey at a relatively inclusive Rhode Island elementary school revealed some environmental deficits. Many students saw the atmosphere as unsafe, uncomfortable, divisive, and unwelcoming. To facilitate community, staff began questioning before advising, and devised structures that allow students to welcome new students and to succeed on…

Describes the Three Dimensional Project", a program which has been established in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, to utilize the community as a learning laboratory and to expand and redefine the classroom. (Author/DR)

Describes the results of an intensive study of Chicago elementary schools on how relational trust among teachers, students, parents, and principals influences school-reform efforts. Relational trust is grounded in respect, personal regard, competence in core role responsibilities, and personal integrity. Describes the benefits of relational trust…

John Goodlad believes the imminent teacher shortage could provide an opportunity for centers of pedagogy to prepare reading and math head teachers to work with teams of primary teachers. By democratizing school conditions, students could be educated for "civitas," or human goodness. Technology is no substitute for human infrastructure.…

Describes how a high school teacher successfuly organized, funded, and involved students and community members in an archaeological dig under the school's front lawn. (IW)