PREMIER (Preparation of Minority Educators Partnership Program) is designed to find ways to attract and retain more minority teachers in Florida schools. It is a collaborative effort among an urban school district (Duval County Public Schools), a local community college (Florida Community College at Jacksonville), and an urban college of education…

Fifteen innovative college science programs based on survey results about perceptions of excellence in college science teaching are presented. The goals, program origins, special features of the programs, evaluations, and conclusions are described for each. Discussed are the commonalities among this collection of 15 college science programs and…

Academic socialization is a process whereby students acquire the competencies necessary to function in the classroom. Academic competencies include not only a high level of proficiency in English, critical thinking skills, and the ability to control the relationship between language and logic, but also social and cultural skills. Although academic…

This guidebook is designed for use by teachers implementing a mentor-protege job-site visitation program to help vocational students, particularly nontraditional students, understand and gain more knowledge about selected vocational fields. The first section of the guide reports on the job site visitation program implemented in the Ysleta…

The Ysleta Schools Vocational Equity Project was implemented to develop and test methods to link education and industry in preparing students for nontraditional jobs. Both factual and attitudinal data were collected from educators, students, employers, and employees to accomplish the following project objectives: identify successful role models to…

A project was conducted to provide descriptive data regarding mid-career women in administration and to develop program materials based on these data. Specific project objectives were (1) to provide descriptive data identifying areas of concern for mid-career women in adminstration; (2) to review selected literature in the fields of the psychology…

This document contains two papers on excellence in business and education leadership. "Corporate Leadership in Improving Student Achievement" (Edward B. Rust, Jr.) explains why business must remain involved in education and discusses the following efforts of the State Farm Insurance Company to assume a leadership role in educational…

In this book, beginning teachers from around the country share their favorite chapters from the National Education Association's "Teacher-to-Teacher" books. Each story illustrates step-by-step how teachers tackle a specific restructuring challenge, describing what worked and what did not work in the process. Each chapter includes diagrams,…

"Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development: Lessons and Voices from the Field," published by the Forum in partnership with the Urban Libraries Council, captures key challenges and lessons learned from an innovative, four-year initiative sponsored by the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds that awarded six million dollars to nine…

Drawn from the experiences of the Cornell Youth and Work Program, a 4-year demonstration project that adapted elements of European apprenticeship in the United States and emphasized opportunities for youth to learn at work, this guide is written for people in workplaces and schools who plan, direct, or evaluate work-based learning opportunities…

Yakima Valley Community College (Washignton) developed "A Living-Learning Community" in the Student Residence Center to create an intellectually stimulating and socially exciting environment for both resident and commuting students. The project strived to enhance the students' collegiate experience by providing them with a learning…

The National School-to-Work Office in collaboration with the National Association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, the Association for the Gifted, and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted have identified 11 gifted education/school-to-work (GT/STW) models that are either best practices or unique…

This report discusses the activities and outcomes of Project Coach Outreach, a project to encourage the use of best practices in early intervention for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and to increase family-centered service options in Mississippi. Specifically, the project focused on the use of natural environments to include…

This book is designed to help department chairs with three stages of junior faculty socialization: recruitment and hiring; the critical first year; and evaluating the performance of new faculty. The book is organized in three parts with 15 chapters. Chapters in Part 1, "Managing the Recruitment and Selection of New Faculty," include: (1)…

These guidelines are derived from the five basic National Commission on Teaching and America's Future recommendations presented in "What Matters Most: Teaching and America's Future," a research-based proclamation that improving the quality of classroom instruction is the most important, direct, and cost-effective route to improving…