Friday, March 13, 2020, was a professional learning day for many school districts in Connecticut. The timing was fortuitous because it gave educators a chance to make plans for the coming weeks. In the previous few days, they had learned that schools were going to be closed for a couple of weeks due to the rising threat from the pandemic that…

Student-centered teaching practices such as active learning continue to gain momentum in college science education. Many instructors committed to these innovative practices transform their classrooms beyond the standard lecture. Nevertheless, widespread implementation of these practices is limited, because the learning benefits for students are…

The theoretical justification for enactivist approaches to learning is just beginning to emerge, and remains largely theoretical. Enactivism conceptualized as play brings us closer to the heart of the question about how play-based social studies might look. Recent research in simulations and games--forms of play--help to reveal some of the…

Researchers have found that middle school students undergo developmental changes that require unique educational structures and support. As a result, experts have suggested a number of specific strategies for organizing middle schools in order to best meet students' needs. This Information Capsule summarizes middle school redesign initiatives that…

Having engaged in interdisciplinary team-teaching in both the two-course cluster format and the single course format, we intend to show how we helped students recognize and find their own integrative insights between the disciplines of history and economics. In the process we not only compare the advantages and disadvantages of each format but…

Principal leadership is one of the most heavily researched topics in the field of education and is a key to increasing school effectiveness and stimulating school change. One of the most important principal roles that have emerged in the literature is the facilitation of a collaborative culture. Teacher collaboration has been linked to a variety…

THE PURPOSE IS TO IMPROVE THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM FOR PUPILS THROUGH CHANGES IN GROUPING PRACTICES, CURRICULUM, AND INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUES, AND THROUGH MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF TEACHER STRENGTHS, INTERESTS, AND TALENTS. THE REDEPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL AND SALARIES POSSIBLE IN THE TEAM ORGANIZATION HELPS TO CREATE NEW TEACHING JOBS WITH INCREASED…

All eight poetry projects described in this volume, made possible by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant through the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, were innovative programs designed either to promote changes in teacher training methods or to provide secondary schools with direct experiences with poets through readings and classroom…

Colleges and universities are adopting learning communities to increase student learning and build cohesion. As learning communities grow in popularity, institutions need to invest in faculty development (Oates, 2001) and understand faculty experiences (Mullen, 2001). The University of Hartford created a program that prepared faculty for…

A brief history of East Ridge Middle School in Connecticut illustrates the strong economic and demographic pressures that can work against a middle school. The principal plays a crucial role in preserving both the structure and the programs of an effective middle school. Points out strategies to protect and develop middle schools in tough economic…

Many members of the mathematics and science education community believe that the integration of mathematics and science enhances students' understanding of both subjects. Despite this belief, attempts to integrate these subjects have frequently been unsuccessful. This study examines the development and implementation of a team-taught integrated…

Hartford's "Intensive Reading Instructional Team" Program has been a demonstration model for teachers, school systems, and college faculties, nationwide. The general objectives of the program were as follows: (1) to raise the level of achievement of pupils who are deficient in the basic skills of language and reading; (2) to improve the…

Three Intensive Reading Instructional Teams (IRIT's) provided a comprehensive half-day program of reading instruction for a period of approximately 11 weeks for 405 third and fourth grade pupils who were in Hartford's validated schools and not achieving up to expectancy. A fourth team, funded by the general budget, provided special reading…

This publication focuses on school and classroom organization for team teaching and provides insights into the solutions of accompanying problems such as clarifying roles, overcoming scheduling difficulties, avoiding rigidity in daily programing, and dealing with communication problems. The booklet also includes a field-oriented description of…

This report of a conference, held under the auspices of the Department of Foreign Languages of the University of Bridgeport, is concerned primarily with improved foreign language teaching and flexible scheduling practices. In the first part of the report, the text of a speech suggests that fundamental changes in curriculum content revision,…