During the 1992-93 school year, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory conducted study of rural schools in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas that were using one kind of telecommunications technology: full-motion interactive video. Many schools were at risk of being closed because they could not provide education comparable to that available in…

Illustrates trends and issues associated with public policies promoting early childhood program accreditation. Describes differential rate policies in Florida, New Mexico, Kentucky, Mississippi, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Oklahoma; support provided for accreditation in Arizona, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Texas, and Wisconsin; and linking…

Ninety percent of the 185 Bureau of Indian Affairs' schools have at least one serious environmental problem. Two-thirds of schools lack infrastructure to connect to the Internet. Tribes and states need to lobby the Senate Appropriations Committee for funding. Sidebar tells of successes, despite the problems, at Santa Fe Indian School (New Mexico)…

New Mexico's Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development has survived major loss of federal funding and subsequent retrenchment, watched enrollment rise, and begun construction of a new campus. The institute is dedicated to study, creative application, preservation, and care of Indian arts and culture, and houses…

Presents an interview with Jeff Bingaman, senator from New Mexico, who has been instrumental in providing incentives to increase the number of low-income students eligible for Advanced Placement test fee waivers and has supported innovative projects in educational technology and institution of voluntary national tests. He has also encouraged…

Proceedings of the conference on improving the social responsiveness of medical schools include papers on the role of medical schools in relation to societal needs, the missions of medical schools (from North American, European, African, and Asian perspectives), measuring social responsiveness (perspective of the United Kingdom, standard-setting,…

New Mexico middle and high school counselors from small rural school districts perceived less substance use, gang-related violence, high-risk sexual activity, and sensation seeking among students than did counselors from urban and large rural districts and spent more time on administrative responsibilities than their counterparts. However,…

Describes Crownpoint Institute of Technology's (CIT's) (New Mexico) veterinary technology program. CIT veterinary students earn veterinary associate's degrees and job skills while working with their hands on the animals. Discusses CIT's hopes of becoming a national leader in elk management and its focus on delivering technology and modern skills…

Reports on a long-term, large-scale study of a one-semester, conceptually-based, introductory astronomy course with data from more than 400 students over three semesters at the University of New Mexico. Finds that novice students show large, positive gains on assessments of conceptual understanding and connected understanding of the knowledge…

Spiders and insects are studied in both Navajo Studies and science classes at a middle school in New Mexico. In Navajo Studies, students learn the names of ground-dwelling insects and the connection between those names and traditional Navajo stories. In science class, students study arthropods to illustrate taxonomy of life, trophic and biological…

On the Fajada Butte in New Mexico, 11th-century Anasazi constructed a site that marks the high and low points of the orbits of the sun and the moon. This unit on astronomy challenges students to think differently about the moon and about the ability of native people to understand the natural world. Includes resources for further study. (PVD)

Presents a case study of an educational partnership between an Albuquerque magnet elementary school and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Descriptions of the school and museum are provided as well as the program's goals, current activities and products, outcomes, and future directions. The Proyecto Futuro program, a multiyear…

Presents the state action goals for developing and implementing chapters and regional affiliate networks of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME), and feedback from members about the NAME Leadership Institute's New Mexico conference. Other reports examine the process of leadership and the lessons on leadership that can be…

Describes the Imagining Nature Project at Deakin University in Australia, and the Native Eyes Project at the Institute of American Indian Art in New Mexico. Both projects entail the teaching of science and technology to non-science majors of highly diverse cultural origin. They also incorporate innovative strategies to make science and technology…

Describes the Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico Rural Systemic Initiative (UCAN RSI), which aims to improve and integrate science, mathematics, and technology education for the primarily Native American and Hispanic students of the Four Corners region. Discusses UCAN RSI's focus on community engagement, cultural sensitivity and relevance, and…