You can enhance the following activities from the Instructor's Resource Manual by incorporating the resources available on the World Wide Web.

Reasons for Improving Schools

The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests:
Have students read an article or a book on a school-reform topic and then summarize and analyze the content. Are there any reforms from their readings that they have witnessed in their own schooling or during their field experiences? Have them identify points of agreement and disagreement with their own personal views.

Students can find articles on reform topics in a number of journals and periodicals:

Newslink
This site, associated with the American Journalism Review, provides links to newspapers, magazines, and television stations all over the world.

Journals and Periodicals
This is a linked list of education-related publications, created at the University of Missouri.

Effective Teaching and Instruction

The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests:

• Assign students to select one of the effective teaching and instruction approaches highlighted in the chapter. Prepare a summary report about the approach after examining additional references.
• Discuss the role of classroom management in effective teaching and learning. Outline research-based guidelines for helping teachers effectively manage student behavior and instruction.
• Students should develop a "Taking Issue" page with the pros and cons of the tracking issue.

Students can find more information about the reform approaches highlighted in the chapter in this chapter of the student part of this web site. They can find out more about classroom management and tracking from a number of web sites. Some good starting points for further surfing:

Classroom Management
AskERIC offers a small compilation of links to more information about classroom management.

Discipline as a New Teacher
Students may enjoy this practical advice from the I Love Teaching site for new teachers.

Tracking
Education week offers a "hot topic" summary of the tracking controversy, with links to articles and more information.

Effective Schools

The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests:

• A number of books and articles have been published that describe unusually effective schools at various grade levels, as well as projects that have not fully succeeded. Select one or two of these (or develop case studies of hypothetical schools that reflect the lessons or reform described in the literature) and examine them with the students. What seem to be the critical factors that contributed to success or failure in these reform efforts?
• Examine the information about increasing the effectiveness of schools and outline key actions or policies that seem to have a positive effect on the success of any school improvement program.

This chapter of the student part of the web site includes a list of several sites where students can learn more about exemplary Title 1 schools:

Case Studies from the National Study of High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools
This is part of a site from the STAR center, support academic reform in the state of Texas.

Lessons from High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools
This is from a project sponsored by the National Heritage Foundation.

New American High School Showcase Sites
Presented by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education.

Schools to Watch
Presented by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform.

Stories of Higher-Success and Lower-Success Elementary Schools
This is part of a larger project on school improvement in the state of Maryland.

Rural Education
The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests:
Discuss the unique characteristics and needs of rural education. Consider how efforts toward school effectiveness and reform may be helped or hindered by these characteristics.

To help with this discussion, you may wish to direct students to visit some web sites about rural education. A good collection of them has been compiled at AskERIC, and is also listed in this chapter on the student part of this web site.
Rural Education
AskERIC, the gateway to the Education Resources Information Center, has created this handy collection of links to helpful sites where you can learn more about rural schools.

School Choice

The Instructor's Resource Manual suggests that you assign students to:
Distinguish among vouchers, tuition tax credits, and open attendance options. Provide examples where each of the approaches has been implemented. Conduct a search of local newspapers to determine the extent of implementation of any of these three approaches.

They can link to news outlets via the Newslink site. Education Week and AskERIC also provide some simple summaries of school choice terminology, with links for further exploration:

Newslink
This site, associated with the American Journalism Review, provides links to newspapers, magazines, and television stations all over the world.

Education Week

Find "hot topic" article summaries on:
Choice: http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=43
Charter Schools: http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=42
Vouchers: http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=30
Privatization: http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=15

AskERIC
AskERIC's list of resources on education reform includes the topics of school choice, vouchers, charter schools, and more.