This capstone examines the National Center on Education and the Economy's (NCEE) efforts in its initial planning stage to lead the design of and build support for a proposed national system of teacher career ladders. In this career ladder system, teachers can voluntarily seek advanced certification leading up to the role of Master Teacher, and…

Iowa is in the process of transitioning to new English language arts and mathematics standards that will better prepare students to be successful in college and their careers. Time, effort, and resources must be dedicated to effective implementation in order to realize the promise of these new common core state standards. This paper captures the…

This paper discusses a joint project of the American Library Association and the American Sociological Association. The goal of this collaboration is to guarantee that students of sociology, particularly sociology majors, develop strong information literacy skills during their undergraduate experience. The article talks about national standards…

Lead teachers were a major part of a staff-development program first offered in 1983 for science teachers in Iowa. Later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) reform project called Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) involved 20 school districts and worked annually with new teachers involved during the 7-year funding period,…

This article features the Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, and describes how the University of Iowa College of Education offers teacher education through the Belin-Blank dynamic model of professional development. As a part of the University of Iowa College of Education, the…

Portfolios are used in teacher education programs to provide evidence of pre-service teachers' professional growth and development. As programs are better able to integrate technology into the teacher preparation curriculum, many educational institutions are implementing electronic versions of portfolios (e-portfolios) on a widespread basis. Uses…

Provides an overview of projects developed for preservice teacher education in Iowa that used the Iowa Communications Network and a Star Schools grant to train preservice faculty in distance education techniques. Highlights include praxis, self-evaluation, interactive video, science experiences for students with disabilities, and national…

This unit was created as a result of a summer institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The Center's goal is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). To this end, the Center provides professional support for foreign language…

This study examined whether there were significant differences in the level of knowledge regarding curriculum reform efforts in mathematics and science and the level of incorporation of these new standards and recommendations into the curriculum among districts of varying size in Iowa. Data were gathered from respondents to school surveys of…

This unit was created as a result of a summer institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The Center's goal is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). In the summer of 1996, the Center offered the Culture and Children's…

This unit was created as a result of a summer institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The Center's goal is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). In the summer of 1996, the Center offered the Culture and Children's…