Past educational reforms have failed because they didn't meet teachers where they were. They expected major changes in practices that may have been unrealistic for many teachers even under ideal professional learning conditions. Instead of promoting broad scale changes, improvement may be more likely if they are composed of small yet powerful…

The variety of teacher preparation programs in the United States provides an opportunity to develop better ways of preparing teachers. There are three key areas in which teacher preparation must improve, including the content teachers will teach, the curriculum of practice essential for beginning teaching, and the approaches and settings best…

The usual view is that truants are lost and troubled juveniles with psychological problems. While the authors agree that many well-known sociological and environmental factors promote truancy, they also confront more disconcerting causes: curriculum and pedagogy. Truancy is much too widespread to continue classifying it as the behavior of social…

The Mitchell Scarlett Teaching and Learning Collaborative (MSTLC) is a vigorous, six-year-old partnership between two Title I schools--Mitchell Elementary School and Scarlett Middle School in Ann Arbor, Mich.--and the teacher education program at the University of Michigan. MSTLC was formed between educators who had related but quite different…

The authors propose and discuss their Playshop curricular model, which they developed with teachers. Their studies suggest a playful approach supports even more rigor than the Common Core State Standards require for preschool and early grade children. Children keep their attention longer when learning comes in the form of something they can play…

Describes several projects that have enabled teachers to leave the isolation of their own classrooms and think together about student work in the broader contexts of school improvement and professional development. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/MLF)

Teaching should be thought of not as a science but as a performing art. Teachers should learn their craft through classroom apprenticeships in teaching studios/schools under the supervision of master teachers coupled with the study of pedagogical theory. Rewards should correspond to the quality of performance. (JBM)

After "A Nation at Risk" was released, the state of American education was widely discussed, and not just by educators. The 1980s produced a number of reports on the status of science education that complained of declining science and mathematics achievement, falling enrollment in the subjects, and a shortage of qualified teachers. All the…

Considers the sociocultural factors that discourage the appropriate teaching of reading and writing. Discusses how the lay community would have to be involved in an improved language arts curriculum that individualized learning tasks, encouraged developmental interaction among individuals, and integrated learning across subjects, media, and types…

When efforts to improve student learning fail, teachers often end up being blamed. Teachers were resistant to new ideas, say the leaders who were working with them. Rather than blame teachers and ask, "Why do teachers resist?" perhaps those who lead change should ask, "What can we do to makes it easier for teachers to implement new practices?" In…