One of the main professional-development challenges social studies teachers face involves adjusting content and instruction to accommodate the surging population of English Language Learners (ELLs). Between the 1993-1994 and 2004-2005 school years, ELL school populations increased 68 percent to more than 5.1 million, compared to a 7.8 percent…

Middle school students are naturally curious about their expanding possibilities. This stage of their lives is a time of transition, of figuring out who they are and where they belong in the world. Many students also think that the world they look at through the classroom window is distant and unconnected to the world of chalkboards and pop…

Increasingly, educational reform is linked to the concept of professional learning communities (PLCs). Definitions of PLCs vary, but generally the concept refers to a group of educators who "continuously seek and share learning, and act on their learning" (Hord 1997, 6). Stoll and her colleagues, concluding their review of the current state of…

This commentary discusses Ron Wolk's essay "Think the Unthinkable." The need for variation in curriculum and approach to meet all students' needs is emphasized. The need for variation in what schools are, how they are organized, and what they present to and ask of students is an important theme in Ron's essay, as it is in much of the literature…

In the early 1980s, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) revised its policies on reading instruction. A new transactional definition of reading shifted the emphasis from discrete reading skills to comprehension and set out objectives consistent with that new definition. Policymakers also revised the state?s reading-evaluation instruments,…

Relatively few universities are redesigning preparation for educational leaders. Most curriculum, faculty activities, and attitudes remain constant. Signs of change include emphasis on foundations of education, ethics, and student-centered approaches, and more women in educational leadership faculty. (SK)

A model for developing leadership in elementary-secondary education includes infusion of leadership skills and concepts into curricula, training of teachers in the leadership development of youth, and providing mentoring experiences with community leaders. (SK)

In a Canadian project, elementary teachers and professional artists collaborated to integrate artists' work into the curriculum. Teachers had opportunities to share ideas and concerns in learning communities and to develop leadership skills for arts education. (SK)

Four options for state standards are advising curriculum and instruction, measuring accountability, prescribing curriculum and instruction, and assessing construction of artifacts. The fourth option may be the best way to accommodate state influence while allowing teacher creativity and autonomy. (SK)

Assesses the meaning and possible consequences of national standards, including content, Opportunity for Learning, and performance standards. States that multicultural literacy is the missing standard. (SK)

Teachers must play a significant role in reforming the schools and developing curriculum. A developmental process for establishing an effective learning community starts with collaboration, vision, ongoing development, and an ethos that supports the mission. (JOW)

Describes how education came to adopt the textbook approach and reviews various educational reform movements. Suggests that more attention must be paid to the processes whereby educators take the lead in the development of reflection that leads to changes in schools and the attitudes of the general public. (Author/JOW)

Describes four curriculum perspectives: intellectual traditionalist, social behavioralist, experientialist, and critical reconstructionist. Gives examples of how each perspective would restructure curriculum. (JOW)

In a large urban school district where almost 80% of the students had not been previously successful in school, students were actively recruited for an English class and the teacher began correspondence with them before classes began. These letters became central to the work required in classes. (JOW)