Successful classroom teachers have the skills to teach students with disabilities. Teachers should consult with colleagues and specialists; welcome disabled students; accept full teaching responsibility; facilitate students' belonging; clarify expectations with team members; adapt activities and arrangements; provide active, participatory learning…

The authors question whether elementary students will have access to effective science and mathematics instruction within the current structure of elementary schools, in which each classroom teachers is expected to possess the expertise to teach all subjects well. They review research showing that good teachers are the key to student achievement…

When Richmond County, Georgia, teachers formed study groups to become proficient in new teaching strategies, their students' achievement and behavior improved markedly. The teachers adopted an organic approach to school renewal, restructuring the workplace and using training to bring research-based teaching models into teachers' regular workday.…

By statutory mandate, all first-year teachers in Kentucky receive support and assistance that develop a strong, lifelong career foundation. Legislation in 1985 established a collegial team to induct new professionals and establish a culture of continuing growth for the profession. Internships with meaningful mentoring are keys to success. (MLH)

Although democratic decision making offers the best hope for public support of schools, simple majority rule is not enough. Deliberation is needed for long-term community engagement. A Washington State elementary school's broad-based site leadership team sets school direction and handles issues influencing student learning. This team successfully…

The Lewisburg (Pennsylvania) Area Middle School has successfully implemented an alternating-day block schedule that has yielded improved academic performance. The positive effect may derive from administrative support, teacher empowerment, and community agreement. The culture of the traditional schedule and school year remains essentially intact,…

The most valued means of support and learning cited by new teachers at Poland Regional High School in rural Maine are the collegial interactions that common workspace, common planning time, and common tasks make possible. The school has used these everyday structures to enable new and veteran teachers to converse about curricular and pedagogical…

Collaborative school reform occurs when teachers, parents, students, and administrators creatively design and implement a block schedule. Planners should use a systems approach, secure superiors' support, understand the change process, involve all stakeholders, consult outside resources, brainstorm alternatives, examine budgetary implications,…

The nation's educational system mirrors the dynamics of our marketplace democracy, recasting parents as self-interested consumers. Jane Addams' philosophy of education (enhancing people's productive capacities to benefit the commonweal) has been revived in Public Achievement, a work-centered, civic-earning program in St.Paul, Minnesota, that helps…

At a Quito elementary school, the biggest challenge facing teachers was developing a curriculum that supports child-centered learning, a new concept for Ecuador's traditional society. To strengthen their own teaching and involve parents, a bilingual group of teachers began by collaborating among themselves. The result was a thematically oriented…

Students attending a Minnesota school in a middle-class neighborhood are finding that cooperation, conflict resolution, and civic values are creating a safe haven from the stresses of family and neighborhood life. Students have two innovative programs (Continuous Progress and Discovery) to choose from. Highlands Elementary nurtures its students…