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Drawing on the work of Eleanor Duckworth, this volume examines Critical Exploration in the Classroom (CEC)--a "learning-teaching research" practice that positions teachers as researchers of their students' sense-making and learners as theorizers and investigators. By integrating CEC into their teacher education classrooms, chapter authors have found that they can reliably unsettle their teacher candidates' understandings about the nature of teaching and learning and recenter their attention on the intellectual originality and creativity of "all" young people. In this way, CEC provides valuable tools in the work of creating more equitable and democratic classrooms. Such tools are needed in a broader environment that overvalues instrumental approaches to achieving specified learning outcomes. Readers will find practices that empower and sustain the deep intellectual engagement of all learners. Integrating classroom narratives and other forms of documentation, this resource illustrates the kinds of profound changes in understanding that have occurred for teacher candidates as a result of working with CEC. Book Features: (1) Opens both the teacher educator and teacher candidates to new ways of teaching, learning, and being in classrooms; (2) Demonstrates how the practice works to counter deficit thinking by revealing students' brilliance; (3) Uses narratives and other forms of documentation to characterize the potential of CEC within a diverse array of teacher education classrooms; (4) Portrays the many ways in which CEC has been integrated into different disciplinary and institutional settings, illustrating the common intellectual and interpersonal dynamics at work; and (5) Chapter authors all studied Critical Exploration in the Classroom (CEC) with its originator, Eleanor Duckworth.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the latest research on learning and instruction with computer games. Unlike other books on the topic, which emphasize game development or best practices, Handbook of Game-Based Learning is based on empirical findings and grounded in psychological and learning sciences theory. The contributors, all leading researchers in the field, offer a range of perspectives, including cognitive, motivational, affective, and sociocultural. They explore research on whether (and how) computer games can help students learn educational content and academic skills; which game features (including feedback, incentives, adaptivity, narrative theme, and game mechanics) can improve the instructional effectiveness of these games; and applications, including games for learning in STEM disciplines, for training cognitive skills, for workforce learning, and for assessment. The "Handbook" offers an indispensable reference both for readers with practical interests in designing or selecting effective game-based learning environments and for scholars who conduct or evaluate research in the field. It can also be used in courses related to play, cognition, motivation, affect, instruction, and technology. [Contributors of the book include: Roger Azevedo, Ryan S. Baker, Daphne Bavelier, Amanda E. Bradbury, Ruth C. Clark, Michele D. Dickey, Hamadi Henderson, Bruce D. Homer, Fengfeng Ke, Younsu Kim, Charles E. Kinzer, Eric Klopfer, James C. Lester, Kristina Loderer, Richard E. Mayer, Bradford W. Mott, Nicholas V. Mudrick, Brian Nelson, Frank Nguyen, V. Elizabeth Owen, Shashank Pawar, Reinhard Pekrun, Jan L. Plass, Charles Raffale, Jonathon Reinhardt, C. Scott Rigby, Jonathan P. Rowe, Richard M. Ryan, Ruth N. Schwartz, Quinnipiac Valerie J. Shute, Randall D. Spain, Constance Steinkuehler, Frankie Tam, Michelle Taub, Meredith Thompson, Steven L. Thorne, and A. M. Tsaasan.]

This timely book presents a data-driven approach to preventing and responding to school violence. As school violence receives increasing attention across the nation, the application of scientific knowledge is critical. For maximum effectiveness, transdisciplinary teams should use school data, logic models, and theories of change to design, implement, and evaluate interventions. Collaboration among key stakeholders is also necessary to address both structural and systemic barriers to success with violence prevention. With concrete methods for promoting safety in primary and secondary educational settings, this book will engage and enable school faculty, counselors, administrators, and other partners to better understand areas of common interest and learn how to work together more effectively. This book is divided into two parts: (1) Understanding Foundational Issues; and (2) Working on Effective Change. The book contains the following chapters: (1) The Importance of School Safety and Violence Prevention (Matthew J. Mayer and Shane R. Jimerson); (2) Conceptual Foundations and Ecological Influences of School Violence, Bullying, and Safety (Rami Benbenishty and Ron Avi Astor); (3) School Climate, Bullying, and School Violence (Dorothy L. Espelage and Jun Sung Hong); (4) Models of Health Promotion and Preventive Intervention (Jessika H. Bottiani, Anna Heilbrun, and Catherine P. Bradshaw); (5) Mechanisms for Promoting and Integrating Schoolwide Discipline Approaches (Jeffrey R. Sprague, Sara A. Whitcomb, and George G. Bear); (6) Supporting At-Risk and Marginalized Students (Tracey Scherr and Matthew J. Mayer); (7) Collecting and Analyzing Local School Safety and Climate Data (Dewey Cornell and Francis Huang); (8) Using Actionable Models to Leverage Local School Data (Jason Katz, Allison B. Dymnicki, David M. Osher, Sandra Williamson, and Evgeny Klochikhin); (9) Designing Local Programming: Tools and Models (Jill Sharkey, Danielle Dougherty, Erika Felix, and Erin Dowdy); (10) School Crisis Prevention, Response, and Recovery (Amanda Nickerson and Dewey Cornell); (11) Promoting Collaboration Among Education Professionals to Enhance School Safety (Lindsey O'Brennan, Michael J. Furlong, and Chunyan Yang); (12) School-Community Collaborations to Promote School Safety (Maury Nation, Joni W. Splett, Adam Voight, and Mark Weist); and (13) Evaluating School-Based Violence Prevention Programs: Challenges and Opportunities Now and Into the Future (Daniel J. Flannery and Albert D. Farrell). Contains an index and a section about the editors.

This volume of 16 chapters by 15 contributing authors was conceived as a means of drawing together a body of basic information about the Great Lakes that is up to date, based on sound research, and interpreted by experts in the scientific, historical, environmental and political value of the Great Lakes to North America and the world. Chapters include: (1) "These are the Sweetwater Seas" (Lee Botts); (2) "The Geological Setting of the Great Lakes" (Jane L. Forsyth); (3) "Vegetation and Plant Geography of the Lake Erie Basin" (John J. Furlong); (4) "The Effect of Lake Erie on Climate" (Val L. Eichenlaub); (5) "Coastal Processes on the Great Lakes" (Charles H. Carter); (6) "Early Struggles for Peace on Lake Erie" (Gerard T. Altoff); (7) "Opening the Region to Prosperity" (Gerard T. Altoff); (8) "The History of Great Lakes Shipping" (Alexander C. Meakin); (9) "Condition of Shipping on the Great Lakes" (Jeffery A. Bryant); (10) "Lake Erie Coastal Uses" (Richard Bartz); (11) "Water Level Fluctuations on the Great Lakes" (Thomas E. Croley II); (12) "Effect of Human Activities on the Ecology of Lake Erie" (Elliot J. Tramer); (13) "History of Changes in the Lake Erie Fishery" (Andrew M. White); (14) "Recovering from Phosphorus Enrichment" (Charles E. Herdendorf); (15) "Toxics in Lake Eric" (Clayton J. Edwards); and (16) "Governing the Great Lakes Basin" (Kathleen L. Barber). Information about the authors is provided. (MDH)

This book provides practitioners and scholars with a number of practical tools for studying and implementing democratic learning processes within schools, and theorizes these tools in relation to current developmental learning and democratic theory. Three dimensions of knowledge are framed--foundational, expert, and personal--and the place of each in the construction of democratic classroom understandings is explored. Based on a two-part analysis of the roles students played in a number of pedagogically diverse classroom discussions, three different forms of learning experience are then presented--teacher-led, student-led, and co-led learning. While all three forms of learning experience are seen as valuable to a fully realized democratic pedagogy, each form is shown to possess a distinctive set of affordances and constraints in relation to the many varied challenges involved in fostering children's academic growth and learning.

Veteran school board member, Richard E. Mayer, takes a humorous but substantive approach to the serious relationship between school administrators and board members. While the overwhelming majority of school board members have good motives, even people who mean well can make bad moves. This book shows how to prevent good intentions from creating bad outcomes. Each chapter presents a negative school board scenario, offers alternatives, and provides win-win solutions. Key features include: (1) 28 brief case studies; (2) Lessons learned for board members; and (3) Lessons learned for administrators. In addition to highlighting typical traps, the case studies light the path to positive collaboration and shared decision making between superintendents and school boards. Whether you are a school board member or an administrator who is trying to figure out what goes on in school board members' heads, "How Not to Be a Terrible School Board Member" provides clear direction in a realistic and memorable way.

Rundown, vermin-infested buildings. Rigid, slow-to-react bureaucratic systems. Children from broken homes and declining communities. How can a teacher succeed? How does a student not only survive but also come to thrive? It can happen, and "As Bad as They Say?" tells the heroic stories of Janet Mayer's students during her 33-year tenure as a Bronx high school teacher. In 1995, Janet Mayer's students began a pen-pal exchange with South African teenagers who, under apartheid, had been denied an education; almost uniformly, the South Africans asked, Is the Bronx as bad as they say? This dedicated teacher promised those students and all future ones that she would write a book to help change the stereotypical image of Bronx students and show that, in spite of overwhelming obstacles, they are outstanding young people, capable of the highest achievements.She walks the reader through the decrepit school building, describing in graphic detail the deplorable physical conditions that students and faculty navigate daily. Then, in eight chapters we meet eight amazing young people, a small sample of the more than 14,000 students the writer has felt honored to teach.She describes her own Bronx roots and the powerful influences that made her such a determined teacher. Finally, the veteran teacher sounds the alarm to stop the corruption and degradation of public education in the guise of what are euphemistically labeled reforms (No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top). She also expresses optimism that public education and our democracy can still be saved, urgently calling on all to become involved and help save our schools.

For hundreds of years verbal messages such as lectures and printed lessons have been the primary means of explaining ideas to learners. Although verbal learning offers a powerful tool, this book explores ways of going beyond the purely verbal. Recent advances in graphics technology and information technology have prompted new efforts to understand the potential of multimedia learning as a means of promoting human understanding. In "Multimedia Learning, Second Edition," Richard E. Mayer examines whether people learn more deeply when ideas are expressed in words and pictures rather than in words alone. He reviews 12 principles of instructional design that are based on experimental research studies and grounded in a theory of how people learn from words and pictures. The result is what Mayer calls the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, a theory first developed in the first edition of Multimedia Learning and further developed in The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. The book is divided into five parts: (1) Introduction to Multimedia Learning; (2) Principles for Reducing Extraneous Processing in Multimedia Learning; (3) Principles for Managing Essential Processing in Multimedia Learning; (4) Principles for Fostering Generative Processing; and (5) Conclusion. (Contains 49 tables.)

In this multi-faceted exploratory study, administrative data were used to examine trends in residential care utilization by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and youth outcomes from 1993 to 2003. Multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the factors associated with entry to residential care and discharge/post-discharge placement outcomes. We examined case records and conducted interviews with key informants to understand the decisions-making processes surrounding placement in residential care. This study found that statewide utilization of residential care declined sharply between 1995 and 2003 and that residential care is now used primarily as the placement of last resort--only after youth have experienced multiple failed placements or have been placed in locked settings. It showed that as residential care utilization declined, the composition of youth in residential care changed. On average, analysis revealed that residential care programs now serve more troubled youth than in previous years. Almost 60 percent of youth who entered residential care in 2002 experienced negative discharge outcomes. Many youth who left residential care for foster care or potentially permanent family settings eventually returned to higher levels of care and youth who experienced more placements prior to entering residential care were more likely to have negative discharge and post-discharge outcomes. Boys were at higher risk than girls of entering residential care and of experiencing negative residential care discharge and post-discharge outcomes. The findings highlight the need to improve supportive and therapeutic services at multiple points in time: when children first enter foster care, during residential care, and after discharge from residential care.

This book expands on the argument for a new type of science curriculum for secondary schools. Instead of being based on each of the major disciplines as are almost all current science curricula, it is suggested that curricula should be conceptually organized around the Earth system, including the science methodology of the system sciences, and capitalize on the cross-cultural characteristics of science to establish greater understanding of the contributions of all cultures. The first several chapters of the book add additional support to Global Science Literacy (GSL) as a viable international basis for science curricula. The chapters describe the characteristics of Chinese culture and compare them to GSL characteristics, discuss research on science in an indigenous culture and the implications for GSL, and summarize research on science teaching in the field and its implications for GSL. Additional chapters describe the national science curricula of Taiwan, the People of the Republic of China, Singapore, Korea, Germany, and Spain and the conditions for implementing GSL in those countries. The last several chapters discuss experiences and programs for developing teachers of Earth Systems Education curricula and those based on GSL. (KHR)

This book examines the effects of learning on income and other life outcomes. It focuses on particular aspects of schooling that influence the way a child learns, such as age at entry, classroom size, and curriculum, as well as the effectiveness of structural reforms, like national or statewide exams or school choice. Of particular interest is the relationship between cognitive test scores and economic success. The 13 chapters are divided into two parts. Part 1, "Schooling, Cognitive Skills, and Future Earnings," features articles on aptitude and achievement and the ability of test scores to predict educational attainment and earnings, economic success and the evolution of schooling and mental ability, and whether the timing of school affects how much children learn. Part 2,"Improving Schooling," centers on school reforms and how much they matter in the schooling/earnings debate. These chapters discuss the impact of class size on school achievement, the effects of math and math-related courses in high school, whether hard courses and good grades enhance cognitive skills, incentives and learning, the effects of school choice on curriculum and educational environment, the effects of school choice in New York City, and the costs and benefits of school reform. (Contains an index and approximately 320 references.) (RJM)

This biography reviews the life of Robert Maynard Hutchins, a leader in higher education in the 20th century, by a long-time friend and colleague. The biography first follows Hutchins' story from his origins as a preacher's son in rural Ohio to Oberlin College, through early success at the Yale Law school where he reformed legal education and influenced the practice of law. Most of the book is about his long tenure as president of the University of Chicago which encompassed university educational reform, establishment of the "Great Books" curriculum and a national Great Books enthusiasm, the McCarthy hearings on communists, World War II, and the development of the atomic bomb. The book then documents Hutchins' activities following the war which emphasized working for peace and social change and a world community. Later in life he settled in Santa Barbara, California and started the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. The narrative focuses throughout on Hutchins as a personality, a reformer and a thinker. His broad influence on various aspects of university and public life are emphasized and his shortcomings, failures and obstacles are also included. Notes accompany each chapter. An index is also included. (JB)

The Teacher Follow-up Survey findings reported in "What Happens in Classrooms?" provide important information about the instructional practices being used throughout the United States, furthering the opportunity to improve the understanding of how to use surveys to measure instructional practice. (SLD)

Today's citizens expect to be informed. This book has been written to serve as a guideline for those school officials who want to develop a planned public relations program. Such a program requires the efforts of all those involved in a school operation. Therefore, the book includes ideas and suggestions for students, central office staff members, board of education members, and community leaders. The book is light on theory but heavy on the everday techniques and practices involved in an effective public relations program. (Author)

This book examines the current state of residential group care for dependent, neglected and emotionally disturbed children in the United States and Canada. A result of the Group Care Project of the Child Welfare League of America, the book is divided into four parts. Part I describes the project, puts group care into historical and sociological perspective, and enumerates the major questions raised during the course of the project. Part II discusses services and settings and examines what type of child is being served in what kind of facility. Part III examines the role of group care within the social service system, focusing particularly on the relationship between the public and voluntary sectors. Part IV draws some conclusions from the project's findings. In addition to surveying much of the literature of the past ten years, the project selected eight states and one Canadian province for intensive study, with one city in each state chosen for a staff-member visit. Interviews with administrators and other personnel and questionnaires addressed to group care providers were supplemented by consultations with a wide range of specialists in child care and treatment. Major issues considered include the need for group care, types of care, licensing procedures, the linkage system, voluntary agencies and the public sector, costs of group care, emergency care, parent role and children's rights. (BF)

This publication contains nine articles intended to enhance teachers' understanding of urban geography. The articles are reprinted from issues of the 1969 volume of the Journal of Geography. Urban studies has been one of the most rapidly developing fields of geography during the post World War II generation. There has been extensive research and interest in the phenomena of cities and metropolitan areas. In this, geography has shared with other social sciences many common concepts and methods, but has contributed a distinctive set of viewpoints and a unique focus: the organization of man's use of space and resources in the developing and functioning of urban settlements. Research in urban geography has contributed to man's understanding of the complex of interrelated urban phenomena. In addition, geographic concepts and viewpoints have had substantial practical application in city and metropolitan planning. Some of these geographic concepts and contributions to urban studies are examined in articles focusing on external relations of cities, form and structure of cities, land use and density patterns of cities, origin and pattern of development of urban black social areas, transportation, and the future and planning of cities. (Author/RM)

This resource paper on urban geography is part of a series designed to supplement undergraduate geography courses. It sets forth some of the principles of urban geography with special reference to form development and land uses within cities. Chapter one examines the legal, administrative, population, dentistry, and functional definitions of a city. Chapter two describes world patterns of urban growth throughout history and in the United States. Chapter three examines theories of urban centralization and decentralization including the gravity and potential models, concentric zonal model, wedge or sector model, multiple nuclei model, and site rentals and transport costs theories. Chapter four reviews the changing patterns of urban growth including the era of mass transportation dominance, the era of the automobile, and the spatial forms of urban growth. Chapter five examines theories behind metropolitan expansion, intermetropolitan coalescence, and urban regional planning. Chapter six reviews the spatial patterns of integration and segregation in the inner city emphasizing the neighborhood school, mobility, and processes of integration. (Author/DE)

Cootes Paradise is a coastal wetland, adjacent to Hamilton Harbour at the western tip of Lake Ontario. The marsh has been considerably degraded due to the excessive sediment and nutrient input from sewage treatment plants (STPs), marsh tributaries and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). Although there has been reduction in nutrient loadings from external sources, high nutrient levels, and a prolific algal growth remain a problem in Cootes Paradise. To assess the importance of external versus internal nutrient loadings to the marsh, nutrient fluxes from sediments were estimated using porewater profiles at three locations from 2001 and five additional sites from 2002. The fluxes varied between 0.27 and 5.25 mg P m−2 day−1, with sites receiving outfalls of STP and CSO having highest fluxes (∼5 mg Pm−2 day−1). Mean phosphorus release rate of 2.02 mg P m−2 day−1 was calculated from the spatial distribution of the non-apatite inorganic phosphorus (NAI-P) in sediments, employing a relationship between the NAI-P and P fluxes. The results confirm that sediment P geochemistry is important in regulating the P pool in porewater which, consequently, governs the P fluxes from sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]