The six thematic teaching units, designed for teaching Spanish to native speakers in the American Southwest, are a result of a July 1993 conference of 30 middle school and high school teachers. Each unit was produced by a group of teachers, and is entirely or primarily in Spanish. The units contain lesson outlines, activities, tests, samples of…

Picturing Peace is an ArtsBridge collaboration in which K-12 students learn to use digital cameras to communicate their feelings and ideas about peace. The photographs of three student cultures were analyzed. Both local and universal symbols of peace were found, such as nature, light, community, environment, peace signs, play, spiritual symbols,…

The San Diego City Schools (California) has received nearly $500,000 in federal funds to replicate and evaluate the following successful dropout prevention programs: (1) Motivation and Maintenance (M and M); (2) Partnership Academy; and (3) Summer Training and Education Program (STEP). The M and M program is designed to provide a case management…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) U.S. Department of Education Holds High School Summit: Diploma Should Be a "Road Map to a Prosperous, Purposeful…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of summarizing Indicator 2--Dropout--for the analysis of the 2005-2010 State Performance Plans (SPP), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in December of 2005. The text of the indicator is as follows: Percent of…

The term "doing hair" is utterly familiar. However, while the term can refer to simple acts of combing, brushing, washing, and styling hair, in the culture of adolescent African-American girls, doing hair is a social practice that represents power, creativity, and sometimes popularity. This article describes a three-month afterschool…

This study examines the relationships between student literacy performance and discussion-based approaches to the development of understanding in 64 middle and high school English classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models indicated that discussion-based approaches were significantly related to spring performance, controlling for fall…

Background: Since the early 1980s, when A Nation at Risk sounded a clear warning about the condition of American education, there have been extensive federal, state, and local efforts to improve schools for all students, including broad policy initiatives intended to change the school experiences of students with disabilities and improve their…

Background: Since the early 1980s there have been extensive federal, state, and local efforts to improve schools for all students, including broad policy initiatives intended to change the school experiences of students with disabilities. These efforts have had significant impacts on policy and practice at all levels of the education system,…

This book presents cases of schools (Part One) and programs at the district level and beyond (Part Two) in which reform, while driven by high-stakes accountability, became larger and deeper through data-driven dialogue, culture change, organizational learning, and other elements of high performing cultures. Commentaries on cross-case patterns by…

SpringBoard is a comprehensive instructional program in English language arts and mathematics that reflects powerful, research-based understandings about how people learn. This report presents a model of learning based on cognitive science with particular attention to the role of memory and language. The instructional framework of strategic…

Exposure to violence at school remains a significant problem for children and adolescents. This study examined the relationship between exposure to violence at school and child reports of psychological trauma symptoms and violent behavior. The sample consisted of children in grades 3 through 12 in 17 public schools from two different states. Rates…

This text captures the profiles and cumulative records of six diverse students at early childhood, middle childhood, and then high school level. Intended for the preservice teacher, this book illustrates how to create a caring school environment; accommodate for special learning needs in instructional and assessments; and interact with families…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program in Texas designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Texas…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…