Search

The Continental Project is a school-to-work transition program for students with disabilities. The 6-year old program, which is located at a country club and golf course, serves more than 20 students per year and has successfully transitioned 45 young adults with moderate to severe handicaps into the workforce. The program is a cooperative effort of the Continental Country Club, Flagstaff Public Schools, Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and Mountain Linen Company. Students receive on-the-job training in paid positions. The program's paid work experiences integrate training in work skills, social competence, and life skills. The program also includes job coaches who provide continued support for students once they have been placed in competitive employment and a van to transport students to the job site. Participating students rotate through various assignments, including food and beverage preparation, handling reservations, assembling mailings of newsletters, landscaping, general maintenance, working in the laundry area, and repairing linens. Students work at their job site 4 hours each morning and spend their afternoons in a classroom on the clubhouse's second floor. Students stay in the program until they acquire the skills needed to succeed in competitive employment or until they turn 22. The program serves a mix of Native American, Mexican American, White, and African American students. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)

The learner centered approach to university teaching could be a powerful and meaningful approach to course offerings, although never the only possible approach to college teaching. However, learner centered instruction is powerful and could alter retention rates, increase attendance, and change some discontent with present practices. Moving beyond lecture to learner centered instruction is difficult and requires hard work and strength on the part of the professor. Community building is required, especially in this era of ready information in which students can find so much from the Internet, and professors recognize that disseminating information is not the critical mission of higher education. The challenge of teaching is not in building a knowledge base, but in building people as practitioners of life and society. (Contains 40 references.) (SLD)

This study analyzed the impact of the Developmental Discipline Management System (DD) on teaching effectiveness and student achievement in special needs classrooms. DD was developed as a human centered, systems approach to education. Its core philosophy was to help each child achieve self mastery and mastery of subjects and to help teachers feel the importance and dignity of working with children. The population for the study consisted of all certified Chapter One teachers and their assigned students in the primary grades of an inner city Arizona school district. Teachers received 15 hours of training in DD. The teachers in this inner-city district who chose to use the program in their second and third grade classes during the school year were the experimental group. The control group consisted of teachers who chose not to use the program. Student learning was assessed using the California Achievement Test as a pretest and a post-test administered to the children in each of the 31 classrooms. Academic achievement in the classrooms using DD significantly increased over that of the control group. Results of a teacher confidence survey showed expression of confidence and satisfaction with DD and a belief that the program had significantly improved their teaching. At the end of the year the district administrator rated each of the teachers with a competency evaluation tool. The 18 DD teachers received significantly higher ratings in 5 areas. The teacher assessment tool is appended. (Contains 17 references.) (JB)

Using the example of a Navajo student teacher late for the first day of mentoring, steps are presented that enable parties with divergent perspectives to prevent or resolve conflicts by gaining second-person perspective, establishing a calm reflective ambiance, and seeking points of convergence. Presents 10 elements for reaching higher ground in the case of deep divisions. (TD)