An essential mission of schools, Mr. Bellamy and Mr. Goodlad argue, is ensuring that each new generation understands the principles and institutions that support democratic life. Schools require vigilant stewardship to serve this public purpose. Much of the needed work is local, but it depends on new and challenging collaborations among education…

Myles Brand is a person of unquestioned integrity and high principle. As president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), he has been asked to fend off an unruly mob with a switch. In the present environment for collegiate sports, his chances for success are slight, at best. What Brand and the NCAA face today is a very real "arms…

Although parents and teachers appreciate the value of reading aloud to early elementary children, they often forget that upper elementary children can still benefit from individual attention during reading. A small pilot study in a South Carolina elementary school demonstrates the value of pairing adults and children for regular reading time.…

School-to-school partnerships can be enormously rewarding for staff and students in U.S. districts and in American schools overseas. Cooperative projects bring cultures closer together and narrow the gap between U.S. society and the lives of people in foreign countries. (MLH)

A partnership between Texas Tech University and the Lubbock, Texas, schools has 141 of the university faculty members volunteering in the classrooms. They serve as resources, exchange teachers, and role models and mentors for the students. (MD)

Assesses the activities of educational cooperation in Latin America through multinational projects sponsored through the Organization of American States and the Alliance for Progress. (LN)

Neuroscience and cognitive science relating to education are hot topics. They receive extensive but simplified coverage in the mass media, and there is a booming business in "brain-booster" books and products, which claim to be based on the research. Eric Jensen advocates more collaboration among scientists from the full variety of disciplines…

Good work by "outsiders" requires more than the right attitude concerning school complexities on the inside. Outside change agents can use seven strategies: acknowledging values, problem-setting, short-circuiting the system, one-legged conferencing, text-making, curriculum-making, and observing with feedback. Includes 24 references. (MLH)

The clinical phase of teacher education needs to be a shared responsibility among three equal partners: schools and school systems, colleges and universities, and professional organization of teachers. These partners must develop clinical teacher training criteria that will make teacher preparation programs effective and improve the schools…

Coordinated school-health programs such as South Carolina's Healthy School Initiative focus on key risks to health and learning; enjoy student, staff, and community support; and incorporate many disciplines, community groups, and agencies. Higher education institutions should become more involved, despite problems with developing common goals,…

Describes the successful teacher collaboration project at the Institute for Research on Teaching (IRT) at Michigan State University. Teachers collaborate with researchers on educational research projects. While the costs are high, the benefits are substantial to both teachers and researchers. (MD)

To be great teachers and contribute to their school systems, teachers must gain others' support. Teachers can tap endless resources: their colleagues, students, parents, professional organizations, professional literature, other schools, universities, and themselves. Teachers allowed to teach according to their beliefs are happiest. (MLH)

As we move into the 21st century, a largely unprecedented trend has emerged. Rural and urban schools, for so long faced with distinctly different challenges, have increasingly found themselves facing similar problems: a declining tax base, rising rates of linguistic and cultural diversity, deteriorating infrastructures, and inability to attract…

That an athletic career is currently a glamor one almost goes without saying. Given the national infatuation with sports and the publicity, praise, and money paid athletes, it is a rare teenager who, if given the opportunity, would not opt for a games-playing job no matter what his other talents and prospects. (Author)

The main purposes of parent/teacher conferences are to give information, to get information, and to find solutions to academic or behavioral problems. Fear or frustration caused by excessive demands by one of the parties can undermine the value of the conference. (Author/IRT)