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The study took place in a laboratory school located in a Midwestern community with a population of about 100,000. The laboratory school was located on the campus of a comprehensive 4-year university. A university faculty member who was school-based taught a teacher education class within the laboratory school building. The impact of the course was examined through surveys administered to the laboratory school faculty who served as guest speakers, the university students enrolled in the course, and the laboratory school children who were involved in student teacher lessons. Data were analyzed using qualitative methodology. Results and implications for practice are discussed. The following are appended: (1) Survey for Primary Grade Students; (2) Survey for Intermediate Students; (3) Survey for University Students; (4) Survey for Faculty; and (5) Unitized Survey Results From PLS Faculty. [This article was published in: "The National Association of Laboratory Schools Journal" v30 p22-30 2006.]

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter describes a project at the ECDC to develop standards for the integration of technology into the school curriculum. The standards were synthesized from teacher concerns, examination of instructional materials, and review of national and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) state standards. The project resulted in several products, including a set of tables describing each TEKS technology strand, corresponding performance objectives or tasks for each grade level, suggested student activities from thematic units, and required software. (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter describes the ECDC's Learning through Drama program, in which children explore weekly concepts through movement and drama. Examples include movement and drama activities related to children's books, mime, field trips, geography, movies, and math, language, and science skills. The chapter includes a list of children's books. (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. Asserting that bibliotherapy, the therapeutic use of books, can play an instrumental role in comprehensive school guidance programs, this chapter describes how ECDC school counselors promoted health care literacy using children's literature as part of a comprehensive developmental guidance program for very young children. Children's stories were used to promote a more positive sense of self, to help children learn about the world, and to help children cope with stress, as well as to provide insight into problems, affirm thoughts and feelings, stimulate discussion about problems, create an awareness that others have similar problems, provide solutions to problems, communicate new values and attitudes, and to help children find meaning in life. The chapter defines comprehensive developmental school guidance programs and emphasizes practical school counseling applications for engaging children and families in health care literacy. The chapter includes a 25-item annotated bibliography of children's books, 28 references, and appendices with lesson plans for "Oh, the Places You'll Go,""The Rainbow Fish," and "Pig Will and Pig Won't." (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter details development of a wellness model for children enrolled in the ECDC. Specifically, the study implemented a screening program that included physical assessment, diet evaluation, personal histories, biochemical tests, and anthropometrics; and designed, implemented, and evaluated a series of educational presentations for children and parents. Preliminary findings included detailed health statistics for participating children and parents. A nutrition and exercise camp was conducted, and the health status of 43 students will be tracked. (EV)

This chapter is a part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter describes a curriculum model tested during a summer "discovery camp" for 3- and 4-year-olds at the ECDC. The chapter aims to illustrate key components of a developmentally appropriate and need- satisfying early childhood science curriculum model. The chapter discusses the curriculum's objectives, content, scope and sequence, and assessment. The chapter also describes evaluation of the curriculum, which revealed that the children benefitted from the opportunity to explore the natural world, and that teachers developed a greater awareness of the benefits of an inquiry-based science program. (Contains 12 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter briefly discusses multicultural children's literature and provides criteria for selecting high-quality multicultural children's literature. The chapter also discusses ECDC's commitment to selecting and using high-quality multicultural literature, particularly Latino and Spanish-language literature, in the classroom environment. (Contains 25 references and lists 5 children's books.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter details a study, involving parents and grandparents of children at the ECDC and another district school (Zavala Elementary), which examined the effect of parent literature choices on the second-language literacy learning of children involved in dual-language and immersion programs. Findings showed that parents at both the more Spanish-dominant Zavala school and the ECDC selected English-language books to read to their children, although their reasons differed. Zavala parents valued the academic and economic role of English, while ECDC parents often could not read Spanish-language books. (Contains 8 references and lists 13 children's books.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter details a study providing a descriptive account of practices in five early elementary classrooms in the ECDC wherein developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) principles have been the focus of curriculum development and teacher inservice training. Three specific prescriptive components of DAP were explored in the study: age appropriateness, individual appropriateness, and center-based instruction. The extent to which these three prescriptive practices were a part of the daily reality in the observed classrooms was assessed through non-obtrusive observational methods. Findings revealed that even within a setting specifically designed to facilitate developmentally appropriate education, there was substantial variation surrounding major themes and teaching strategies. A lack of understanding about the specific tools for promoting developmentally appropriate environments remains the major challenge for teacher education programs. (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. This chapter describes how the ECDC has successfully implemented its dual Spanish-English curriculum through: (1) defining the model to be used; (2) gradually phasing in the program; (3) developing instruction that reflects the population of the classroom; (4) using high-quality materials in each language of instruction; (5) having teachers committed to attaining bilingual education training; (6) employing dedicated administrators with a clear understanding of research as well as community needs; and (7) defining the role of elicited response in classroom communication using the second language. The chapter concludes with a discussion of student test scores. (Contains 30 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter details an evaluation of a pilot model for reading tutoring, which was based on America Reads monies, incorporated aspects of Reading Recovery, and used some of the materials developed under the Right to Read program. Evaluation of the pilot program found it to be very successful based on students' reading scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Recommendations for tutor selection and training, format for tutoring sessions, and ongoing tutor support were also developed.(Contains 25 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. This chapter focuses on the process of collaboration between faculty at the ECDC and the Zavala Special Emphasis School (SES). The collaboration was an effort to replicate the regular education 3-year-old program at the ECDC and expand early start opportunities to an additional 44 low-income children in the school district. More specifically, the chapter addresses how collaboration served to develop and implement an early childhood program, the Zavala Early Childhood Development Center, to: (1) advance early childhood education through comprehensive high-quality teaching and research efforts specifically designed to meet the needs of 3-year-old children in the Zavala SES attendance zone; (2) provide professional development opportunities for inservice and preservice teachers; (3) promote literacy and community health initiatives; and (4) promote dual-language literacy development. (Contains 26 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter describes and evaluates an ECDC pedagogy renewal project on phonics instruction, involving interactions between graduate students, university faculty, and children entering first and second grades. The project entailed three components: (1) a subject area focus, which provided an in-depth examination of phonics; (2) a professional growth component, which promoted the habit of teacher reflection on literacy teaching and learning, and awareness of the many perspectives directly and indirectly affecting public school teaching and learning; and (3) an organizational component, which developed positive learning environments without the normal constraints of public school rules and regulations, and created collaborative learning experiences for students of all levels. Program evaluation showed positive results for adult learners, although effects on children's phonics learning were inconclusive. (Contains 20 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the dual-language ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university, with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter describes and evaluates The Literacy Connection, an ECDC program designed to improve parents' literacy skills so that their children's literacy skills, in turn, will improve. The program involves one-on-one tutoring for parents by university graduate assistants, with special emphasis on parents of 3- and 4-year-olds. The project implementation involved several stages: (1) promoting awareness of the project within the university, the Corpus Christi Independent School District, and the educational community outside the university; (2) recruiting parents who wanted to increase their literacy and English language skills and develop basic computer skills; (3) soliciting support for materials and incentives from community representatives; (4) conducting the tutoring sessions; (5) presenting a parent workshop; (6) recognizing the success of the parents; and (7) evaluating the results. The evaluation found that learners were satisfied, and that the program had a high retention rate. (Contains 11 references.) (EV)

This chapter is part of a book that recounts the year's work at the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) at Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. Rather than an "elitist" laboratory school for the children of university faculty, the ECDC is a collaboration between the Corpus Christi Independent School District and the university with an enrollment representative of Corpus Christi's population. The chapter delineates the rise and fall of university laboratory schools in the United States and then describes the ECDC, including its facility, school population, faculty, principal/director, dual-language curriculum, health center, counseling center, training mission, and positive student results on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). The chapter suggests that the ECDC addresses some of the problems of older campus laboratory schools, and at the same time, grapples with some of the major concerns of educators and legislators in the 21st century. (Contains 24 references.) (EV)

This paper describes the development of comprehensive psycho-educational groups for students in a secondary school attached to a Japanese university. Although deliberate application of psychological knowledge to self-empowerment has been a central component of counseling programs in the United States, such practice is only now emerging in Japan. This project was operated from two sites: one at the University of Tokyo and other at the University of Georgia. The objective was to help students learn new behaviors through a program of active participation of both mind and body. The groups also served to stimulate students' independence and growth, and provided a place for students and teachers to collaborate and address problems. The program served as a model to show the real world practice of counselors in schools. The class was found useful and interesting to a large proportion of the students. Students also reported that their concentration improved and they were less nervous or anxious. Recommendations for the future include the need for the program to continue to refine the curriculum and to test for anticipated changes in student development. The goal is to introduce the group work approach to local schools. (Contains 1 addendum, 1 table, 3 figures, and 78 references.) (JDM)

This paper presents common design features of 4 elementary laboratory school classes implementing knowledge building over 1 year. It also explains that the specification and improvement of educational innovations, embedded in the design experiments methodology, is the kind of practice-based research laboratory schools should use in order to make contributions to educational reform. The paper describes the first year of a 3-year study on the support of new knowledge building schools and the development of a set of norms for successful knowledge building. During the first year, the focus was on establishing successful knowledge building communities in each classroom and recording the features of these classrooms and how they related to the underlying principles of knowledge building. Descriptive data are drawn from the Knowledge Forum databases, teacher journals, and researcher observations. The design experiments methodology is proposed for study years 2 and 3, during which time researchers can study iterative improvements being made in these classrooms as related to first year observations. The suitability of the design experiments methodology to the laboratory school environment and the laboratory school environment to the specification and improvement of educational innovations is discussed, along with use of videotape recordings to communicate these design specifications. (Contains 48 references.)(SM)

This paper offers reflections on the collaborative development of a school/university partnership so as to provide insights into the inherent challenges and successes of such work. It focuses on The Learning Connections Lab (LCL), which began in 1997. The LCL was a partnership between St. Cloud State University and two elementary school sites. To measure the effects of the collaboration, a qualitative case-study methodology was used. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, teacher journals, and surveys. Results show that, overall, the elementary school teachers and university faculty were positive about the collaborative nature of the LCL. They appreciated the opportunity to get to know colleagues and felt that collaboration aided their thinking. Teachers also felt more empowered throughout the collaboration process. However, the collaboration continued at just one of the sites. Whereas the successful site saw a strengthening of prior relationships with the university, the failed site featured strong personalities, inadequate personal boundaries, inflexible attitudes, unclear roles, a lack of trust, and a lack of respect. Findings underscore the importance of basing collaborations on honest, trusting relationships, and it is recommended that future collaborations begin with partners taking time to build relationships, establish a shared vision, and define their goals. (Contains 13 references.) (RJM)

This paper explores the character of the teaching communities that have emerged in Michigan's charter and professional-development schools (PDS). It focuses on rhetorical constructions of what a teaching community is and how it is understood by those who are a part of it, with the assumption that teachers are subject to the cultural perceptions of the organizations in which they function. Three questions guided the investigation: (1) How can different teaching communities be characterized, either formally or informally? (2) How does the formally constructed work environment influence or impact the nature of a teaching community? and (3) In what ways do approaches to building a teaching community differ between charter and PDS? An examination of the various teaching communities in Michigan public schools reveals important insights about the nature of schools as institutions as well as efforts to reform them. Therefore, the researchers' goal was to develop a framework for investigating teaching communities and to illuminate the impact the two reform strategies (charter and PDS schools) may have on teachers' work. The work was drawn on teacher qualitative data including administrator and focus group interviews, classroom observations of whole school events, as well as text and artifacts collected over a three year period. A total of eight urban elementary charter and professional development schools in Michigan were studied. The purpose of the study is to show that there is just as much variation within as well as between the teaching community. The findings conclude that while the researchers expected to see similarities and contrast between PDS and charter schools, a pattern was not found. Suggestions for developing and sustaining a framework for investigating charters and PDSs, opportunities for staff development, faculty stability and hiring procedures, supervision and leadership, and faculty commitment to a vision/design are all explored. Future uses of this framework are outlined. (Contains 27 references.) (AA)

This report describes the school-business partnerships that have contributed to the success of the Galileo Center at Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek, Alberta, in its first full year of operation. It summarizes partnership activities and initiatives that have been implemented in the school and suggests directions for future linkages. The need for joint evaluation of the outcomes of an educational partnership are discussed, as well as ways in which educators and stakeholders can work together for the assessment of partnerships. The Galileo Center stresses the advancement of teaching practices by providing a working professional development school as a site for educational innovation, research, and technology. The center works to improve student learning and cultivate excellence in teaching by: (1) establishing a safe, caring community of inquiry; (2) encouraging teachers to develop innovative practices, share expertise, and collaborate with others; (3) conducting research and applying research; and (4) by fully realizing the leverage of technology on education. (Contains 12 references.) (DFR)

To investigate the interactional behaviors of minorities when placed in a mostly white educational setting, this study focused on examining the meaning held by particular students in regard to acceptance, inclusion, and invitation into a larger group, in this case, the seventh grade at a university laboratory school in Louisiana. Of the 28 students, five were judged to be minorities. Participant observations, unstructured interviews, member checks, key informants, survey responses, and photography were employed to gather the needed data. Analysis of the data indicated that the minority students appeared to maintain a certain "distance" from their white peers, with a few exceptions. This is not to say that the minority students "initiated" this process, or that they "prefer this distance." There are several indications that the minorities themselves have attempted to integrate with their white classmates. There was no tendency on the part of the white students to invite a minority student into a white social setting, nor was there an instance of "blooming friendships" between students of separate races. Follow-up research needs to examine consider cross-grade factors and the teacher's role in race-related inclusion. (BT)

The Laboratory School for the Academically Gifted of the Chesapeake Public School Division (Virginia) is a pull-out program for students in grades 5 and 6. Identified students in these grades attend the Lab School one day each week to receive instruction in mathematics, applied science, writing, computer education/applications, and humanities. In 1996-97, 6 teachers in teams of 2 instructed approximately 407 students in the Lab School. Interviews with the Lab School teachers, its administrator and 51 students, and surveys completed by 91% of the principals from the students' home schools, home school teachers (65% of the 50% sampled), and parents (55% of the 50% sampled) provided evaluation information. The Lab School curriculum was reviewed by a consultant from the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary (Virginia). The educational literature and the findings of the evaluation support the view that the Lab School pull-out program is an appropriate approach to serving gifted children as long as the instructional program is of high quality. The Lab School was considered cost-effective, and was rated highly by the outside consultant for the individual curriculum units. A lack of coordination with the core curriculum was noted, but the responses of all groups indicated that Lab School students were not placed at a disadvantage in the home school because of the day missed each week. Recommendations are made for the continuation of the Lab School as a pull-out program with some curricular improvements and enhanced staff development for Lab School and home school teachers. Eight appendixes contain background information and documents for the evaluation. (Contains nine charts.) (SLD)

As head of the Department of Pedagogy at the University of Chicago, John Dewey established an elementary school where a new curriculum could be put into practice, evaluated, and refined. This paper discusses how the activities of the school put Dewey's theories into practice generally, and particularly how they were applied to music education. Dewey's published works and the contemporaneous notebooks of teachers at the Chicago Laboratory School are the main sources for this analysis. Following Dewey's theories, teachers used constructive activities as the medium for cultivation of the children's imagination; children were encouraged to express their ideas through various modes. Dewey found evidence for stages in mental development in young children beginning with an early imaginative stage, later becoming experimental, reflective thinking. Children's musical intelligence was seen as developing through their ability to form and express mental images of musical wholes. Images then became the tool of instruction. Once simple melodies and words were grasped as thought expressed in musical form, then ideas could be expanded into their essential elements: melody, rhythm, and harmony, moving from simple to complex. Group composition was encouraged as it combined action and reflected the children as social individuals. Young children were encouraged to express their ideas in multiple ways, to question, and to try new learning experiences. (Contains 39 references.) (JLS)

A 5-day workshop for staff of an inner city school addressed the teaching approach of the Lab School of Washington (District of Columbia) and covered the nature of learning disabilities (LDs), tools to identify unique learning styles of students, and innovative teaching methods for all students with and without LDs. Eighteen elementary mainstream teachers from Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School (Washington, D.C.) and 2 administrators attended a 1-week workshop focusing on the application of teaching techniques designed for students with severe LDs to students who do not have a specific LD but might be academically unsuccessful because of lack of motivation and a history of failures. Special emphasis was placed on teaching content through multisensory methods, a holistic approach to language arts, infusing a wide range of art activities into the teaching of academic subjects, and understanding the model of multiple intelligences developed by Howard Gardner. Teachers had opportunities to observe summer classes for learning disabled and the "Academic Club" approach pioneered by Sally Smith. The teachers expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the workshop and interest in continued association with the Lab School and more workshops during the academic year, specifically additional instruction on the concepts of task analysis and diagnostic-prescriptive teaching. Appendices include: workshop topics, a teacher role questionnaire, and the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile. (SW)