Action Research on Change in Schools (ARCS) was a two-year collaborative action research project involving two groups of middle/junior high school teachers, one in Michigan and one in New Hampshire. While the purpose of the project for the university researchers was to examine individual change within the framework of collaborative action…

This paper examines the impact of ethnocultural diversity on the process of collaboration. Section 1 shares stories of several different experiences with collaborative efforts, highlighting key assumptions about how people work together and how culture impacts assumptions. Section 2 discusses problems and issues related to collaborating. For…

The Interdisciplinary Teamed Instruction (ITI) Project was a 2-year project aimed at determining the effects of ITI on teaching and learning and at validating the effectiveness of a professional development model to facilitate development, implementation, and evaluation of ITI. Through summer institutes and onsite workshops, project staff provided…

Reflects on a study involving 92 general educators and 114 special educators that examined perceptions of actual and preferred preassessment-related team activities and team members. Discusses commonalities between preassessment and educational reform, provides an overview of the importance of preassessment, and outlines a model for preassessment.…

Explored a teacher's perspective of the implementation of cooperative learning in elementary physical education and students' responses to the implementation into their physical education classes. Data from interviews, observations, field notes, and a teacher journal indicated that the teacher and students held similar perceptions of cooperative…

Explored the journey and progress of elementary teachers conducting action research within science and mathematics, examining their perspectives of teaching, empowerment, research, and professional development through team planning. Data from journals, activities, observations, surveys, and interviews indicated that an initial stumbling block to…

A case study investigated the use of a decision-making model, characterized by partnerships between professionals and learners, in the development of Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for students with learning difficulties in Scotland. The student (age 13) and the teachers agreed that the development of an IEP collectively had been useful.…

This article describes an experience I had as a new professor the first year after receiving my Ph.D. An experiment with an innovative teaching method quickly deteriorated into a disaster. This article describes the emotional toll exacted on me, why my experiment failed, and how it prompted me to develop a personal philosophy of principle-based…

This study examined the development and effects of school-wide student-led conferencing (SLC) at four middle schools across four states, namely California, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. All site administrators, 30 teachers, and 524 middle school students and their parents in 30 classrooms participated in this study. Methodology included student…

This practicum was designed to increase the level of teacher awareness of the concept of empowerment at an elementary school in the rural Southeast. A 12-week program was developed and implemented to train the school's 32 teachers in team building, conflict resolution, communication skills, team dynamics, and facilitative leadership. Weekly…

A team of graduate students and educational administration professors, as part of a field-based doctoral program, discovered the "split and fit" culture during an evaluation of the school's Continuous Progress Primary Program (CPPP). According to Pascale (1990), "split and fit" can work to an organization's benefit. Fit…

This study conducted a literature review concerning the use of teacher collaboration as a problem-solving process intended to provide educational services to students at risk and with disabilities. Various types of resistance to collaborative service delivery were grouped in the following categories: knowledge, skills, and training perceptions of…

An investigation was made of the relationships among teachers' stages of development; their perceptions of school and classroom problems; and their reasons for participating in a collaborative action research project. On the basis of observations, logs, interviews, and introductory questionnaire data, life age/cycle profiles of each of 10 middle…

The school has increasingly become the focus for teacher professional development and school leaders are maximizing teacher learning through restructuring time and meeting structures to create additional opportunities for collegial work within the school day. This research paper is the second part of a three stage research design investigating…

This study described a four-teacher instructional model in operation at an elementary school, noting the perceptions of fourth grade students, parents, and teachers regarding the model. The model encompassed teaming, block scheduling, departmentalization of subjects, integrated/interdisciplinary instruction, and in-depth instruction in each…