In 1999, investigators from Florida's Regal Swan Project researched the care of captive swans in hotels, resorts, educational settings, and municipalities. This led to a vaccine to mitigate swan deaths from botulism and a book with standards and guidelines for swan keepers worldwide. Research was shared through a science and reading curriculum…

Memphis established school-based decision making (SBDM) during a systemwide reform. The paper discusses teacher empowerment to make school level decisions, presenting case vignettes from Memphis to highlight differential rates of teacher involvement. It describes beginning expectations of teachers and principals, noting factors associated with…

School effectiveness depends, in part, on committed teachers exercising positive followership skills transactionally with dedicated leaders. The paper recommends that teacher education programs help students develop followership skills necessary for effective teaching, noting that leaders come from the ranks of followers. (SM)

Study compared the learning styles of education majors to those of other majors. Students from six majors completed the Learning Styles Inventory and Student Demographic Questionnaire. Results indicated education majors had different learning styles from mathematics and humanities majors but similar styles to business, science, and social science…

The article addresses structural, personnel, and pedagogical considerations pertaining to the development of beginning teacher mentoring programs in the context of restructured elementary schools. Research indicates restructured schools provide a natural environment for fostering successful mentoring experiences because of their empowered…

Discusses restructuring of in-service and preservice mathematics teacher preparation, noting recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and National Research Council. The paper examines three standards for professional education: assessing students' mathematics understanding, knowing mathematics, and knowing mathematical…

U.S. minority public school population is rapidly becoming the majority. The teaching force must reflect the changing population. There is an urgent need to recruit minority teachers into education. The article discusses ideas for attracting minority preservice teachers, presenting examples from successful programs. (SM)

Examines factors which enhance teacher empowerment, noting that site-based management is often discussed concurrently with empowerment; describes successes with teacher empowerment via interdisciplinary teams of students and faculty at the Virginia Governor's School for the Gifted in the Humanities and in the Visual and Performing Arts. (SM)