Students participating in the technology-rich Schools for Thought program learn to acquire, evaluate, organize, and interpret information and communicate findings to their peers and to an adult, questioning audience. Evolving from three research-based programs, Schools For Thought features a rigorous, standards-based curriculum; careful…

According to 1995 National Science Education Standards, "inquiry into authentic questions generated from student experiences is the central strategy for teaching science." Effective classroom questions promote relevance, encourage ownership, help students interpret their observations, and link new learning to what students already know. Two…

Teachers in Highland Park, Michigan, conducted research and began an interactive reading-instruction program for students who were not succeeding in school. Reciprocal teaching, which trains students to use four strategies (generating questions, summarizing, clarifying, and predicting) for improving reading comprehension, raised hopes,…

Storypath, which originated in Scotland, is a powerful tool for helping students acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions needed to become responsible citizens. Storypath uses basic story components (setting, characters, and plot) to organize the social-studies curriculum into meaningful, memorable learning experiences. Storypath…

Debunks five misconceptions about improving creative thinking. To encourage students to think creatively, instructional techniques should reflect an integrated set of mental skills, use materials mimicking real-life situations, consider students' beliefs and tendencies toward creative thinking, show metacognitive sensibility, and foster a creative…

Being truly literate means being able to navigate the multiple sign systems of our world--to respond appropriately to an e-mail message or to convey meaning to others through images and text. Instead of relying on written narrative texts, teachers must develop inquiry-based methods, using experiential learning projects, oral storytelling, film and…

Responding to articles in the February 1997 "Educational Leadership" on "Rethinking the Purpose of Education," this article deplores worsening social inequalities and upholds the importance of the third sector and service learning in societal transformation. A simple checklist (the PECTS system) shows how politics, the economy, culture, and the…

Mike Rose wrote "Possible Lives: the Promise of Public Education in America" (1995) to enrich the conversation about public education's alleged shortcomings. The nation's "best" classrooms vary considerably, but all are respectful, physically and emotionally safe, and intellectually and socially vibrant places. Parents and teachers must speak out…

According to Fordham University's 1996 "Index of Social Health," our society's overall well-being is decreasing significantly. Today's children are not sufficiently shielded from adult economic, political, and sexual forces. Children's social world has become poisonous, due to escalating violence, the potentially lethal consequences of sex,…

Underachievers generally lack internal locus of control, compete poorly, and undervalue effort. Many underachieving children who have adopted dependent or dominant defense mechanisms can be reached using the Family Achievement Clinic's Trifocal method. This multi-step process features assessment, parent-child communication, identification of the…

Children react to divorce and custody battles with powerful emotions. Schools can mitigate classroom effects of family breakups by recognizing and responding to children's feelings and by involving both parents in a child's school life via newsletters, conferences, and progress reports. Principals should form coalitions with community groups, lure…

Foster children's most common problems are falling behind academically, failing to do homework, disrupting class, failing courses, being picked on, cheating and lying, fearing school, and engaging in truancy. Teachers and other school staff members can help by developing reasonable expectations, becoming advocates, involving foster families, and…

Teachers possessing a thorough knowledge of their students are better able to engage them in formal learning. To facilitate this process, staff at Research for Better Schools developed the Urban Learner Framework, which envisions urban learners as capable, motivated, resilient learners able to build on their cultural strengths. Steps for…

Chicago's Recovering the Gifted Child Academy is a small, grant-maintained middle school serving 45 disadvantaged, underachieving urban students. Led by Corla Hawkings, the school has extended class hours, Saturday classes, and a business-like ambience. It features business dress, time cards, paychecks with school money, student-run businesses,…

An El Paso principal recounts her experience serving newly arrived Hispanic families and their children. Although highly motivated, recent immigrants may face special challenges that can affect their children's academic success. Principals can lesson intimidation by warmly welcoming families and can remove language/cultural barriers by providing…