Examined types of work completed by teachers on middle school interdisciplinary teams nationwide. Data from a sample of 159 teachers on 40 teams and their 40 principals indicated no significant differences between teachers' and administrators' perceptions on degree of teacher participation but revealed significant differences within 10 measured…

Evaluated a restructured literacy methods course intended to empower teachers to teach linguistically diverse students, examining the impact of the course redesign and team teaching. Data from observations of student teachers and focus group interviews indicated that participants felt well-prepared to teach second language learners, though they…

Efforts to achieve greater curriculum integration in schools of business have included team teaching, student group projects, multidisciplinary cases, and, more recently, the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Although these approaches are beneficial, they tend to be implemented on an ad hoc basis rather than through curriculum…

Examined how interdisciplinary team practices and classroom instructional practices affected student achievement in high poverty middle schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Found that when the combined effects of family poverty level, teaming and common planning time, and duration of teaming were considered, there was a relationship…

In this article, we explore some of the experiences of student teachers, classroom teachers, science teacher educators, and children in co-teaching contexts in primary schools. The model of co-teaching adopted enabled student teachers (science specialist), classroom teachers, and university tutors to share expertise and work as equals, without…

The most radical and fundamental school reform of all was the creation of the free and universal system of public education in the United States, but there has been a plethora of reform efforts since. This book reviews the history of over 30 reforms since 1960, remarking on how ideas have influenced educational practice and commenting on how poor…

Interdisciplinary learning is most simply defined as the co-teaching of courses by at least two faculty members from different departments in the institution. Interdisciplinary learning in the United States began after World War II with the proposal of a core curriculum covering Western civilization, literary texts, science, and English…

A course entitled "Communicating through Multimedia" was designed as a capstone experience for upperclassmen. It was a team-taught interdisciplinary course in the application of multimedia technology. Students in the course came from three disciplines--speech communication, mass communication, and management information systems. The…

Peer coaching develops from a leadership role on the part of educators of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students, together with an interdisciplinary cooperation between bilingual/English as a Second Language (ESL) and mainstream staff. Peer coaching is a professional development method in which teachers share their expertise and…

Students and Teachers Achieving Results (STAR) is a student-centered learning project developed by Long Beach City College, in California, to increase the success and retention rates of underrepresented students. Through STAR, students are provided with a program of linked courses that develop communication skills, utilize interdisciplinary…

This study evaluated the cost effectiveness of Instructional Support Teams (IST) in Pennsylvania, by comparing IST costs to those of traditional special education programs. An introduction notes pressures for change and the objectives of the prereferral intervention utilized in the IST approach. The study compared costs and program effectiveness…

This paper describes the use of cooperative teaching to teach all students in the general education classroom and the three most promising approaches to implementing cooperative teaching: team teaching, supportive learning activities, and complementary instruction. The first method, team teaching, is defined as having the initial presentation of…

This paper describes Morehead State University's support of the Kentucky Education Reform Act through mini-grants to public school teachers to help them implement state reform mandates and guidelines in the classroom through in-school action research projects. Morehead State University funded 18 mini-grants to 14 different schools in 11 different…

A program developed at West Virginia University trains special education teachers to be collaborative consultants to general educators implementing inclusive education. From 1991 to 1994, 30 special education teachers completed requirements in two areas of specialization for teaching students with mild disabilities. In addition, they completed a…

Children with mildly handicapping conditions spend a considerable amount of their instructional lives receiving instruction from general education teachers. At the preservice level, efforts to assist general education teachers have employed one of two models--the inclusion of special education topics into general education coursework and a…