The Coeur d'Alene (Idaho) school district's staff development program uses in-house expertise. Lead teachers mentor other elementary teachers in language arts while interns cover their classes. Teachers learn new teaching practices in their own classrooms, with their own students and materials, during the regular school day. A sidebar describes…

At a Portland (Oregon) weeklong summer workshop, K-12 teachers connect with their peers, learn from professional writers, and develop skills for teaching writing. As follow-up, participants get four guest writers for weeklong classroom residencies, $400 for books, and additional meetings with fellow participants. The program has improved teaching…

Describes summer experiences for teachers that provide new ideas and renewed excitement for teaching. Science teachers take part in the Teacher at Sea program and National Science Foundation field projects and expeditions. A Washington elementary school sends teachers to Mexico to increase their Spanish skills and understanding of their Hispanic…

An interview with educator and author Alfie Kohn discusses the need to stop confusing better learning with higher test scores; how progressive education helps children learn to think for themselves; professional development that appeals to teachers' long-term goals for their students; and restructuring education so teachers can ask for help,…

Provides an overview of efforts to change and revitalize physical education programs, needed to counter widespread childhood obesity and teach attitudes and skills for lifetime health and fitness. Lists objectives, recommended program characteristics, and current practices in five northwestern states. Profiles three high school programs that offer…

Schools in the Seattle (Washington) area are leaders in a trend toward a new "success-oriented" physical education. Schools offer a wide variety of activities that provide opportunities for participation, success, and fun for every student; teach cooperation and problem solving in addition to skills; and promote attitudes and habits that lead to…

Adapted physical education (APE) makes whatever adjustments are needed to allow students with disabilities to participate in regular physical education classes. APE at Beaverton School District (Oregon) is described, as well as the individualized special physical education classes provided to children with severe disabilities. (SV)

Movement is essential to the physical and cognitive development of young children. Developmentally appropriate dance and movement activities at preschools and elementary schools in Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska are described, along with connections between movement and literacy and numeracy instruction. (SV)

In the early 1990s, budget cuts, massive teacher layoffs, and an academic focus on school reform triggered the decline of physical education in Oregon schools. In the late 1990s, health and physical education advocates mobilized a grassroots effort that resulted in inclusion of physical education in new state standards. (SV)

Professor Terry Wood of Oregon State University helped to craft national physical education standards released in 1995. An interview with Wood discusses how physical education has changed in emphasis and purpose, Oregon's inclusion of physical education as a content area in state standards, assessment and accountability for physical education…

Volume 4 of "Northwest Education" contains four issues. Each issue has a theme and typically consists of an opening review article on current trends and research related to the theme, followed by articles on exemplary schools or programs in the Northwest, promising practices, outstanding teachers, or suggestions for program implementation or staff…

Federal legislation passed in 1994 and the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration program (CSRD) encourage high-poverty Title I schools to adopt prepackaged research-based models of schoolwide reform. The nine components of CSRD and key ingredients for its implementation are discussed. Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School (Vancouver, Washington)…

Describes reforms at Berniss Elementary School (Spokane, Washington) from 1992 to 1999. A Title I school serving poor and immigrant neighborhoods, Berniss showed dramatic improvements in standardized test scores. Reform strategies included hiring four facilitators as peer coaches to encourage reform, changing teaching methods to promote active…

Daniel A. Grout School in southeast Portland, Oregon, built a unified literacy program that sparked change across the school. The "literacy block" program, which focuses on teacher collaboration, early intervention, and higher-order thinking skills, began in 1996 as a Title I Schoolwide program. In 1998, Grout staff received "early bird" funding…

Interview with Chris Rhines, who oversees the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program in Oregon, discusses the process used to select schools for CSRD, the critical role of principals as leaders of change, the importance of a school's ability to do a needs assessment and apply the findings, and common implementation problems. (CDS)