The New Mexico Rural Revitalization Initiative (NMRRI), an innovative program to enhance the growth and development of rural communities, involves schools and students as part of a holistic approach. The program requires community members to take responsibility for revitalizing their economy and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit among students.

Two approaches to professional learning communities, the inquiry-oriented and the results-oriented approaches, both have weaknesses. Neither adequately addresses the overall coherence of a school's efforts to improve teaching and learning. A third model, the Common Priorities approach, combines the strengths of the other two approaches and…

Cross-generational learning teams that bring together novice teachers with veteran teachers would address problems at both ends of the teacher pipeline--and benefit student learning at the same time. In this cross-generational learning team, each member brings different skills to support a child's learning--some bring deep science content…