This participant's manual provides local educational agency/district teams of instructional leaders a way of examining their personal beliefs and values, developing a more inclusionary perspective, and gaining skills for creating schools that work for all students including those with severe disabilities. Team participation is emphasized as…

In 1989, in response to declining enrollments and the smallest average school size in the nation, North Dakota legislation provided incentive payments to consortia of four or more school districts that voluntarily collaborated in program planning and implementation. Participating districts were required to vote on a reorganization proposal after 3…

This guide provides a description of "Crisis: Urban Education," a series of four half-hour documentaries, aired on public television stations and produced by Thirteen-WNET, that explore the human side of the educational crisis. The series described in this guide presents the latest thinking of school reform experts, and highlights bold and…

The final report of a project group representing the 18 member countries of the Council of Europe Council for Cultural Co-operation investigates education and cultural development of migrants. The report discusses methodology and reasons for selecting an intercultural approach to migrant education in terms of interculturalism's basic elements:…

The Greenville Teacher Corps project developed a model demonstration of a field based teacher education program designed to provide both preservice and inservice training to a rural and isolated region in northern Maine. The project was designed to be responsive to local needs. Collaboration and participation of all constituents was central to the…

Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) serves the 21 counties of rural northeastern North Carolina. In Fall 2000 ECSU administrators met with educators in area school districts to discuss their professional development needs. This paper reports on those expressed needs relevant to mathematics education and discusses ways to help achieve excellence…

The National Science Board (NSB), charged with advising the President and Congress on national science policy, urges a nationwide consensus on a core of knowledge and competency in mathematics and science. The Board believes it is both possible and imperative to develop national strategies that serve the national interest while respecting local…

Accomplishing significant improvement in teaching and learning requires strong, open, and interactive relationships between schools and the community. Chapter 1, "What's Out There," explores the vital role of teacher morale in successful reforms and argues that teachers and schools should actively connect, in more effective ways, with…

This document shares lessons learned related to states' strategies to improve accountability. Case studies describe promising practices or particular strategies within an accountability system that have operationalized six standards identified by the National Association of State Boards of Education. The introduction discusses accountability and…

Explores issues faced by designers of school choice systems as numbers and types of choice arrangements proliferate and become more complex. Defines elements of a successful system of choice. The system developed will depend on the intentions, assumptions, and commitments present in the initial design. (SLD)

Considers issues of school choice and school autonomy. Parents, society as a whole, and the educator team of each school should have a lead role in answering the basic questions about schooling. Examples from schools in other countries illustrate some new approaches to school autonomy. (SLD)

Describes the 10-year development of the Rough Rock English-Navajo Language Arts Program (RRENLAP) to improve the teaching of language, literacy, and biliteracy. Discusses collaboration between Rough Rock and the Hawaii-based Kamehameha Early Education Program, key RRENLAP instructional features, and the role of bilingual teachers in the struggle…

Identifies roles and strategies that district and state agencies can use to support action research at the school level. Districts can pool resources, develop collaborative relationships with other agencies, and improve funding. State governments have similar roles, and can help disseminate best practices across regions. (SLD)

This guide is designed to help the educational practitioner understand more fully how teachers fulfill their roles in integrating vocational and academic education. A description is provided of the field study during which more than 100 teachers, counselors, principals, and administrators were interviewed at 10 school sites using the Behavioral…

The Research About Teacher Education (RATE) project is an ongoing data collection effort to establish a reliable database about institutions of higher education where teachers are prepared, and about the faculty, students, and programs at these institutions. This RATE study is based on a survey of 91 heads of schools, colleges, and departments of…