Discusses two areas (the socialization of new teachers and curriculum improvement) that might help urban teachers improve educational quality for urban students. Teachers new to urban schools need experienced professionals' help. The cultural deficit curriculum model must yield to a more challenging, meaningful approach. Includes 27 references.…

There are over 64,000 items available at the Springfield (Missouri) Public Schools'"etc." Center--a supplementary materials warehouse designed to encourage recycling and enhance teachers' curricular repertoire. The idea was hatched by a concerned parent. Staffed by a director and volunteers and funded partly by outside user fees, the…

Florida's Project CHILD (Computers Helping Instruction and Learning Development) is a computer-integrated instructional program for grades K-5. The project supplies teachers with training, specific strategies and supporting materials; teachers implement the program by following guidelines concerning classroom organization, implementation of…

There are many students with high native abilities that remain underdeveloped because of inadequate opportunity, practice, and motivation. Although genetics significantly affects development of various intelligences, environment (including cultural values) and sequential experiences help crystallize native abilities. Schools must organize and…

Abandoning conventional assumptions about skills hierarchies leads to a new set of curricular principles focusing on complex, meaningful problems, embedding basic skills instruction within more global tasks, and connecting instruction to students' experience and culture. Teachers can then model powerful thinking strategies, encourage multiple…

In November 1990, President Bush signed into law the National and Community Service Act. This article briefly reviews three arguments for the role of service in an educational program (to stimulate learning and social development, to reform society and preserve democracy, and to halt separation of youth from the wider society). (36 references)…

A survey of 28 teachers who participated in the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification process showed that most felt they had undergone a strong professional development experience. Unfortunately, teacher participation remains low. Many educators are unfamiliar with the process, lack access to support services, view board…

A study of Chicago school reform revealed that principals of productive elementary schools skillfully use various strategies to promote parents' and teachers' work with children. These include resolving highly visible problems quickly, focusing on the instructional core, adopting strategic orientation, attacking incoherence, involving parents, and…

An effective systemwide teacher supervision and evaluation program can be developed only if district leaders (representing the school committee, administration, and teacher association) carefully attend to the ELPS (the educational, legal, public-relations, and social/emotional components of the process). A Massachusetts district's experience is…

Findings of study by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education on the roles played by central-office staff members in shaping and supporting instructional reforms in three large urban school districts. (Authors/PKP)

Bruce Joyce has long been involved in efforts to develop collaborative professional inquiry. In this article, he looks back at some of those efforts in the hope that we can draw lessons from them and finally realize the vision that Mike Schmoker set forth in his February article. In the article featured on the cover of the February Kappan, Mike…

The Essential Learning Skills Television Project is developing 60 15-minute programs and related print materials designed to blend and review math and language skills while focusing on the reasoning process. (Author/IRT)

Examines gains and deficiencies in American education since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983. Highlights priority concerns such as dropouts and marginally skilled graduates, urges renewed commitment to curricular development and federal aid programs, outlines administrator and school board roles, and offers 12…

Instruction in thinking skills is possible and desirable, but educators must guard against assumptions that undermine the process. Eight fallacies that obstruct the teaching of critical thinking skills are presented. (MD)