When it comes to professional practice, getting a clear picture of how you're teaching in the classroom is easier said than done. The instructional coaches and teachers whom the author interviewed as part of a study on using video in professional development were, in almost all cases, surprised by what they saw in a video of them teaching. In many…

The Transformational Coaching Team in Oakland Unified School District provides differentiated, sustained, job-embedded support to the district's school leaders. In this article, members of the team describe how they work with principals to transform the culture of schools. Student achievement data show above-average improvement in schools in which…

The authors describe a program implemented in Red Bank Middle School in New Jersey to help at-risk, minority middle school girls realize their leadership potential. The GLO (Girls Leading Outward) program was developed by the Developing Safe and Civil Schools Project at Rutgers University and is facilitated by university students. Selected middle…

Although depression is classified as an adult mental health disorder, middle to late adolescence is the age when symptoms most commonly surface. If teachers can recognize the signs of depression in students, Crundwell and Killu assert, they can provide a supportive, flexible school environment that enables depressed students to learn and thrive.…

Ways to implement television in the teaching process are examined. (CK)

Adolescent English language learners present particular challenges for schools. The population of adolescent ELLs is diverse, and their educational needs are affected by differences in immigration status, quality of educational background, native language, cultural distance from U.S. culture, future plans, and economic status. The article offers…

Students in cooperative classrooms encourage their teammates to do well because they also benefit. (MLF)

To handle unforeseen crises, Albuquerque Public Schools established a critical-incident response team with a simple, understandable chain of command. The group aims to ensure maximum safety and people' well-being, develop a districtwide crisis-response-management plan, coordinate necessary training, and collaborate with community agencies…

As the staff and students of Littleton (Colorado) High School have found, talking about restructured educational programs is easier than implementing them. Participants redesigning graduation requirements encountered seven realities, namely the need for sacrifice, adequate funding, discussion time, outside perspectives, ways to dispel fear and…

The structural approach to cooperative learning is based on the creation, analysis, and systematic application of content-free ways to organize classroom interactions. Structures (outlined in a table) have differing uses in the academic, cognitive, and social domains, such as team building, communication building, mastery, and concept development.…

Teachers should engage in active, collaborative, creative problem solving with their colleagues and students when developing solutions to common behavioral problems. Children communicate through their behaviors and need to learn more positive alternatives. Teachers should help students make successful transitions, create a sense of control, follow…

This interview explores William Glasser's ideas about educational relevancy and students' needs for belonging, power (feeling important), freedom, and fun. Glasser advocates learning teams and control theory to help students determine their needs and explore alternative choices for satisfying them. Schools cannot succeed at teaching the basics…

School improvement involves long-range, visionary planning. Each school in one Buffalo (New York) school district has several planning teams that include parents, students, community members, and support staff, as well as teachers and administrators. The teams are not merely problem solvers, but visionary collaborators in promoting their final…

Aurora (Colorado) Public Schools staff found that empowering students meant teaching students what enhances and what impedes learning; helping them recognize and develop their own personal learning strengths; teaching them specific thinking and learning strategies; and passing on learning responsibility to them. The key is willingness to share…