Cultivating Curious and Creative Minds presents a plethora of approaches to developing human potential in areas not conventionally addressed. Organized in two parts, this international collection of essays provides viable educational alternatives to those currently holding sway in an era of high-stakes accountability. Taken together, the chapters in Part I of Cultivating Curious and Creative Minds provide a sampling of what the cultivation of curious and creative minds entails. The contributing authors shed light on how curiosity and creativity can be approached in the teaching domain and discuss specific ideas concerning how it plays out in particular situations and contexts.

Presents anecdotes by students, teachers, and parents on what makes their school unique and how the school supports the students' best interests.

As a field, education has focused on changing teachers' instructional knowledge and skills and the content that students learn. Yet, our education system is not reliably delivering quality learning experiences and outcomes for nearly enough people and communities. In The Next Education Workforce: How Team-Based Staffing Models Can Support Equity and Improve Learning Outcomes, Carole G. Basile, Brent W. Maddin, and R. Lennon Audrain argue that we need to redesign how schools organize educators and learners. The authors highlight how the normative one-teacher, one-classroom model underserves both learners and educators. They then make the case that, to achieve more equitable learning outcomes for students and better working conditions for teachers, schools should create teams of educators with distributed expertise that can deliver deeper and more personalized learning experiences for students. This book then addresses practical steps for school and system leaders to take by outlining core elements of Next Education Workforce models, including new ways for educators to specialize and advance in the profession; offering concrete actions to help leaders navigate and facilitate sustainable systems change; and offering a provocative prescription of how teacher preparation, professional learning, and human resource systems will need to change to support team-based models.

As a field, education has focused on changing teachers' instructional knowledge and skills and the content that students learn. Yet, our education system is not reliably delivering quality learning experiences and outcomes for nearly enough people and communities. In The Next Education Workforce: How Team-Based Staffing Models Can Support Equity and Improve Learning Outcomes, Carole G. Basile, Brent W. Maddin, and R. Lennon Audrain argue that we need to redesign how schools organize educators and learners. The authors highlight how the normative one-teacher, one-classroom model underserves both learners and educators. They then make the case that, to achieve more equitable learning outcomes for students and better working conditions for teachers, schools should create teams of educators with distributed expertise that can deliver deeper and more personalized learning experiences for students. This book then addresses practical steps for school and system leaders to take by outlining core elements of Next Education Workforce models, including new ways for educators to specialize and advance in the profession; offering concrete actions to help leaders navigate and facilitate sustainable systems change; and offering a provocative prescription of how teacher preparation, professional learning, and human resource systems will need to change to support team-based models.

Cultivating Curious and Creative Minds presents a plethora of approaches to developing human potential in areas not conventionally addressed. Organized in two parts, this international collection of essays provides viable educational alternatives to those currently holding sway in an era of high-stakes accountability. Taken together, the chapters in Part I of Cultivating Curious and Creative Minds provide a sampling of what the cultivation of curious and creative minds entails. The contributing authors shed light on how curiosity and creativity can be approached in the teaching domain and discuss specific ideas concerning how it plays out in particular situations and contexts.

Using the scientific method as a tool for learning and discovery, children explore such topics as birds, habitats, and biodiversity and are led into the study of all major areas of ecology. Students formulate hypotheses, collect observational data, draw conclusions, and analyze their data using a variety of mathematical representations. Opportunities for language arts, visual arts, social studies, parent involvement, and authentic assessment have been integrated for further development of student skills. This is a complete resource that includes background information and reproducibles. Grades K-3 (adaptable for higher levels).