This chapter details the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) program at Montana State University, describing the intent and design of the program, as well as how FYRE participants differed in their approaches to learning from non-participants.

This project took place at four Montana middle and high schools in three rural settings located across the state. Study participants included students and teachers located in four middle and high schools. Each of the schools had large percentages of struggling readers, American Indian students, English learners, and low-income students. Comparison…

This is the third paper on the topic of outcomes-based funding written by Dennis Jones for Complete College America. The first paper, "Performance Funding: From Idea to Action" (ED535356), proposed a set of design and implementation principles to help states develop and implement their own outcomes-based funding models. The second paper,…

The US Forest Service has a long history of youth conservation education. We investigated U.S. Forest Service citizen science programs that involve secondary school students in field collection of monitoring data to understand (1) how the programs integrated science and environmental education and (2) whether these programs advance ecological…

This brief provides contextual information and descriptions of select programs and practices serving Native students, regarding state identification and support, representation of Native student interest, and locally created examples. The National Comprehensive Center's American Indian and Alaska Native Education Project developed this brief to…

Due to increasing demands from the field, the University of Montana-Western (UM-W) recently began to offer a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education that builds upon the associate degree. Students complete their general education credits, early childhood specialty courses, and an area of special emphasis. Courses are offered online or…

The Glendive Migrant Program, a 1989 exemplary Chapter 1 program, is a 5-week summer project serving the children of migrant families working in a 60-mile area along the Yellowstone River valley, Montana. The program serves approximately 110 students, ages 1-18. Instructors, supervisors, and aides work with nursery, preschool, and elementary-age…

Small, sometimes multi-cultural, rural schools need specialized preservice teacher education programs to prepare teachers. After outlining the classroom, school, and sociocultural characteristics affecting a teacher's success and survival in a rural community, this paper discusses the apparent lack of rural content in teacher preparation programs…

Includes "Perspective on Rural Education" (Miller); "You Want Them to Learn What?" (Jones); "Rural Education" (Baker, Burns); "Metnet" (Frick); "Rural Education and Training in Egypt" (Swan, Aly); "Mentors, Youth at Risk, and Rural Education Programs" (Wingenbach); "Designing…

The purpose of this dissertation was to develop an environmental education master plan for implementing environmental education programs into the schools of Montana. The process used to develop the plan consisted of the following steps: (1) to examine environmental education plans from other states; (2) to determine what Montana educators felt…

School-based early childhood centers are high-quality programs using approaches to instruction based on recognized principles of child development and learning for children 3 to 8 years old. The centers are characterized by the active involvement of parents and the community and by a commitment to smooth transitions from home to school and through…

Designed for use by persons interested in simultaneously initiating a child-care and parent literacy instructional program, this handbook presents a model for the literacy education of families with young children. The handbook begins with definitions of family literacy and discusses the rationale and purpose of a family literacy program. Part 1…

The major purpose of the Title V program, Designing Education for the Future, is to assist educators and lay citizens in the eight participating States in devising a program of educational improvement. This report by the project director presents information on educational changes covered by the program and builds a rationale for effecting these…

This report discusses findings of a study that investigated the resolution of disputes in the field of special education. Information was collected from ten states (Alabama, California, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming) on their current dispute resolution systems and from two additional states…

This study on barriers to online staff development for classroom teachers was conducted as part of the planning activities of a delivery models project designed to develop guidelines for implementing large-scale online staff development programs. The study involved engaging 54 general and special educators in several professional roles from nine…