This article discusses how issues of diversity and equity are addressed in the preparation of science teachers who are charged with teaching diverse students in schools. Highlighting examples from my own teaching and research and other studies in education, I frame this article in terms of a broad application of theory in science teacher…

As US classrooms approach a decade of response to No Child Left Behind, many questions and concerns remain around the education of those labeled as English language learners, in mainstream, English as a Second Language, and bilingual education classrooms. A national policy context where standardized tests dominate curriculum and instruction, and…

Person-centered instruction recognizes the importance of internal motivation in learning. It is difficult, however, for many teachers to hold on to their early visions of interacting in classrooms filled with internally motivated students. This may be due to escalating demands for test score accountability. It may be due to reliance on packaged…

In recent years, increasing numbers of professional development programs have dealt with assessment literacy for teachers and/or administrators. Is assessment literacy merely a fashionable focus for today's professional developers or, in contrast, should it be regarded as a significant area of professional development interest for many years to…

This article describes an effort to create a teacher learning community in which university and local school teachers worked together to improve the teaching of writing at elementary and secondary levels. I describe how a university's National Writing Project (NWP) engaged in developing a cadre of selected teachers to share understandings about…

This article explores the leadership of school principals with respect to faculty study group development as a key element of the professional learning community. Questions asked concern the approaches that principals use to facilitate study group processes that, in turn. foster teacher learning and student achievement, and ways in which…

Identifies strengths and weaknesses of peer mediation, suggesting flexible guidelines for locally developed, comprehensive approaches to managing complex conflict in schools. The paper examines the background of school conflict programs (providing examples) and outlines approaches that expand the scope of problems concerned educators can manage.…

This paper emphasizes the relationships between middle school science, social studies, and service learning, showing how service learning supports many national science and social studies content standards. Positive results from research on the National Science Foundation service learning project are included. (SM)

Proposes changes in preservice teacher education and inservice programs that would prepare teachers to support inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education. Describes four programs that exemplify such changes and notes the need to develop a new collaborative relationship between local education agencies, school districts, and…

This article explores some of the relevant features of the integration of technological tools into both regular and special education, seeking to determine those positive and negative features that would impact the usefulness of new technologies as aids to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes. (SM)

To meet the challenges of a pluralistic world, educational supervisors must (1) make multi-cultural relations a dominant aspect of supervising practice, (2) find ways to reduce political influences and increase instructional considerations, (3) aid in staff retraining to promote creative teaching for cultural pluralism, and (4) develop curriculum…

The Commissioner of Education reviews trends in vocational education and reports findings of government inservice education programs for vocational education teachers. (GW)

A model of inservice education programs for vocational education teachers is presented that consists primarily of the following components: the research foundation; the experimental or practical foundation; the communication base; a systems approach; and a cooperative framework. (GW)

Ways in which student teaching and inservice and preservice teacher education can be made into a continuum of teacher education services, especially for vocational education teachers, are explained. (GW)

Testing, staffing, and educational objectives of performance-based teacher education programs are discussed. (GW)