Product Description:
#33929 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Digging History: A Classroom in the Trenches (Run time 14 min.) DVD $39.95
In this engaging video, high school teacher Robin Barker James uses World War I military reenactments and historical impersonations to drive home his history lessons. Students wear uniforms, learn command structure, study weaponry and strategy, and even bury their "dead" on the battlefield. The results are visibly positive: not only was Barker James a finalist for one of Canada's most prestigious teaching awards, but the video clearly shows his students learning with enthusiasm-and growing to understand the sobering realities of war. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (14 minutes)
#3115 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Improving Comprehension: The Pursuit of Ideas (Run time 47 min.) DVD $49.95
This program illustrates how teachers structure learning activities that foster independent learning around a central concept; identifies student-centered activities that make learning interesting, purposeful, and meaningful; models ways for teachers to guide students as they construct meaning and develop strategies for independent learning; and provides examples of how students can work together to develop real satisfaction through real learning. The program shows what teachers can do to help students develop an information base of both content and process for future learning, and how they can do it: make thoughtful decisions about curriculum, design lessons that encourage construction of meaning, stress process as well as content knowledge, create a supportive and nonjudgmental learning environment, and emphasize factors for success. (47 minutes)
#3116 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Cognitive Coaching: A Process for Teaching and Learning (Run time 39 min.) DVD $49.95
This program describes and demonstrates specific examples of instructional conversation and other types of cognitive coaching; identifies instructional arrangements that are used to promote active learning by students; models questioning techniques and student interactions, including the ways in which cognitive coaches keep student discussion focused and productive; and considers the role that authentic and ongoing assessment plays in cognitive coaching. Good teaching, like good coaching, depends on instructional conversations in which the participants exchange ideas, build motivation, and develop strategies for improvement. The program shows how teachers can encourage students to employ strategies for success by providing cognitive coaching or "active teaching": by communicating with their students, focusing on development, motivating their students, and sharing in their students' performance. (39 minutes)
#3117 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Comprehending, Composing, and Communicating (Run time 37 min.) DVD $49.95
This program models the use of instructional conversations among students and between students and teachers; identifies the skills that students develop independently in an instructional environment; demonstrates how cognitive maps are used to present, organize, and record information; and shows how authentic assessment is used to determine the direction of learning activities. Reading comprehension is largely viewed as a process of discovery; teachers can help students proceed effectively through this process by helping them master the conventions of comprehending, composing, and communicating ideas, or reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The program shows how teachers can actively value clarity, provide a variety of resources beyond the single text, and help students learn to learn as we all learn in the world outside of school. (37 minutes)
#3118 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Integrating Instruction and Assessment (Run time 42 min.) DVD $49.95
This program explores the nature of authentic assessment and its impact on curriculum and instruction; identifies the economic and political pressures for accountability, which have driven school systems to adopt inadequate approaches to assessment; and highlights alternative assessment strategies and tools-those that help teachers make good instructional decisions, as well as those that help students develop self-monitoring and self-assessment strategies of their own. Many standardized tests currently in use are administratively efficient and psychometrically accurate, but for a variety of reasons have served to distort instruction and the definition of the achieving student. This program addresses the need for alternative instruments of assessment-assessment that is multidimensional and longitudinal, involves use of educational resources, addresses possibilities for improvement, reflects good classroom practice, and demonstrates clear standards shared by teachers and students. (42 minutes)
#3119 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Integrating Thinking, Reading, and Writing Across the Curriculum (Run time 80 min.) DVD $49.95
This teleconference for teachers, administrators, and parents addresses the issues of improving comprehension; cognitive coaching; the link between thinking, reading, and writing; and the integration of instruction and assessment. The program features Syracuse University Professor Harold Herber, Professor Dorothy Strickland of Rutgers University, Robert Peterkin of Harvard University's Urban Superintendents' Program, Fairfax County (Virginia) teacher Diane Flemming, and Ann McCallum, a member of the IRA Board of Directors; the moderator is Paul Anthony. (80 minutes)
#3163 Teaching Assessment & Methods - A Cry from the Edge (Run time 58 min.) DVD $49.95
This program examines what stands between our children becoming literate adults or school dropouts. It explores the experiences of students on the edge of success or failure in school, shares the feelings of students who fail and those who triumph, visits classrooms around the country where teachers encourage literacy across content areas and promote cognitive development for all their students, and-above all-provides hope that the literacy crisis facing our schools can be solved. (58 minutes)
#34583 Technology & Education - Integrating Media into the Classroom: Theory and Research (Run time 28 min.) DVD $49.95
"To be able to integrate as many of the multiple intelligences as possible into a single codified approach is extremely powerful and beneficial," says media theoretician Lou Fournier Marzeles. In this video, he and other recognized experts review the history of educational media and then clearly state the case for media as a powerful-and highly effective-classroom tool. "By using a lot of images in the classroom, are we really going to raise our test scores?" asks Dr. Lynell Burmark, author of Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn. "The answer to that is unequivocally Yes." Program segments include "History and Context," "Supporting Research," "Delivery Modes and Methods," "What Media Can Do for My Students," and "The Future of Media in the Classroom." A viewable/printable viewing guide is available online. Correlates to National Education Technology Standards for Teachers from the International Society of Technology Education. A Cambridge Educational Production. (28 minutes)
#34584 Technology & Education - Integrating Media into the Classroom: Practice and Case Studies (Run time 30 min.) DVD $49.95
Welcome to the multimedia learning environment! In this video, middle school, high school, and college media specialists and instructors invite viewers into the classroom to see for themselves how colleagues are tapping into the power of media to improve teaching and enhance learning. Drawing on their direct experience, they offer practical advice, tips, and examples to show how to use media to support instructional strategies, develop ideas on teaching, and engage students. Program segments include "Why Use Media," "Choosing Media," "Preparing Media for the Classroom," "During and After," and "Case Studies"-footage of real educators who are really putting theory into practice. A viewable/printable viewing guide is available online. Correlates to National Education Technology Standards for Teachers from the International Society of Technology Education. A Cambridge Educational Production. (30 minutes)
#34202 Issues In Education - Back to School in Afghanistan (Run time 14 min.) DVD $59.95
This program explores the precarious condition of Afghanistan's schools after years of mujahideen and Taliban control. Focusing on poor enrollment, past exclusion of girls, and primary grade curriculum issues-especially the use of war and killing in textbook lessons-the program clearly links American anti-Soviet efforts with the militarization of Afghan culture and education. Interviews with teachers, education ministry officials, and young students clarify Afghanistan's need to make education the bedrock of a peaceful future. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (14 minutes)
#36173 Classroom Management - Communicating Social Support (Run time 13 min.) DVD $69.95
Beginning teachers often don't anticipate the challenges that high-needs students present. This video provides supportive strategies that boost the success of special needs learners. Exploring verbal and nonverbal communication through immediacy behaviors, the program shows how teachers can reduce the psychological distance between themselves and challenged students, with tangible benefits in student performance. The power of humor, praise, inclusiveness, listening to student feedback, and other strategies are discussed, as well as self-awareness points like speech tempo, tone of voice, and body language. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (13 minutes)
#10606 Issues In Education - Freedom Writers: Fighting Hatred with Language Arts (Run time 15 min.) DVD $69.95
When a racial incident occurred in her classroom, 23-year-old English teacher Erin Gruwell spun it into an ongoing dialogue that ultimately changed the lives of 150 inner-city students. In this program, ABC News correspondent Connie Chung documents the story of the group that came to be known as the Freedom Writers and their exemplary teacher. Challenging them to confront hatred through writing, Ms. Gruwell led her students to publish a nationally acclaimed book about their own experiences of violence and despair. "To feel hopeless at 16 is such a tragedy. And so many kids do," she says. (15 minutes)
#7079 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Strategic Learning (Run time 10 min.) DVD $69.95
This program outlines a concise three-step process for understanding and retaining information. The steps include exposure, review, and practice. Class attendance is stressed for maximum exposure to material. Valuable advice is provided on how to distill weekly lecture notes into a meaningful study guide. Methods for retrieving information learned include recitation and group study. (10 minutes)
#7080 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Notetaking (Run time 9 min.) DVD $69.95
The skills students need to effectively record and learn information presented in class are outlined in this program. Featured is the Cornell Notetaking Method, which stresses organization and prompt review. A notebook page format that divides information into actual notes and student comments is central to both accurate notetaking and meaningful study. Suggestions are provided on when and how often notes should be reviewed for maximum learning benefit. (9 minutes)
#7081 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Reading Improvement (Run time 12 min.) DVD $69.95
Reading rate and comprehension can mean the difference between success and failure to students. Three strategies for improving both are presented in this program. The first suggests reading during the day, for short periods in a quiet place, for maximum efficiency. One method demonstrates how to divide words into groups on a page as an effective way of improving reading rate. The SQ3R Strategy (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review), developed by a leading reading expert, is also examined as a strategy for improving reading comprehension. (12 minutes)
#7082 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Time Management (Run time 18 min.) DVD $69.95
Three strategies to help students make better use of their time are presented in this program. They include the development of a term calendar on which students list important academic "events," such as term-paper deadlines and exam dates. A weekly schedule allows students to assess available time and make the most of it. A daily "To-Do List" helps students avoid last-minute cramming for exams and other academic projects. (18 minutes)
#11150 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Stress Management (Run time 10 min.) DVD $69.95
Stress, when carefully managed, can actually facilitate academic achievement. Reinforced by on-screen lists and a review segment at the end, this program first defines stress and then promotes three core strategies for dealing with it: a positive attitude, a healthy lifestyle, and relaxation techniques. The harmful aspects of unmanaged stress, which include an increased susceptibility to physical illness, clinical depression, and substance abuse, are also discussed. (10 minutes)
#11254 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Understanding Underachievers (Run time 18 min.) DVD $79.95
Underachievement: a persistent discrepancy between a student's perceived ability and academic performance. This program examines the root causes of this problem, its early warning signs, and the curricular impact of mistakenly assessing it as a learning disability or as ADHD. Constructive communication strategies teachers and parents can use to investigate indications of underachievement are suggested. A Meridian Production. (18 minutes)
#11266 Technology & Education - Distance Learning (Run time 15 min.) DVD $79.95
Distance learning just might be the perfect option for those who need to update their skills or pursue training for a new career but cannot attend classes full-time. This educational resource illustrates the variety of audio, video, and online opportunities available to those who want to acquire the knowledge needed to move ahead in today's ultra-competitive employment marketplace. Various academic programs are profiled. A Meridian Production. (22 minutes)
#3205 Issues In Education - Cultural Bias in Education (Run time 28 min.) DVD $89.95
This program examines roadblocks to Latino academic advancement as well as productive educational models; explores the relationship of standardized testing and cultural diversity and questions whether cultural bias can be eliminated from standardized testing; and looks at early childhood education programs and the factors that deter Latino families from participating in them. (28 minutes)
#4922 Issues In Education - Sports for Sale (Run time 90 min.) DVD $89.95
This documentary examines the money-driven machines of college football and basketball and the toll they take on the education of athletes and the integrity of the universities they attend. It examines this controversy in college sports and goes on-location to some of the Division I schools where debates over commercialization and academic success are most heated, including Southern Methodist University, the University of Louisville, Iowa State University and Nike's summer basketball camp for high school stars. Interviewed are coaches, students, journalists, scouts, and college faculty and administrators. A Bill Moyers special. (90 minutes)
#4959 Issues In Education - The Problems and Promise of America's Schools: Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (Run time 25 min.) DVD $89.95
It started in 1983 with a special report called, "A Nation at Risk," a scathing criticism of the rising tide of mediocrity in America's schools. This set off a rising tide of books and reports full of more bad news. Our children, they said, are learning too little history, geography, and math, and too much about violence, drugs, racism, and decay. Yet in this program with Bill Moyers, Sara Lightfoot explores what's good about our schools. Professor Lightfoot, of Harvard's Graduate School of Education, sees as much promise as problems in our schools today. She describes what makes certain schools good and some teachers memorable. (25 minutes)
#4967 Issues In Education - What Should an Educated Person Know? John Searle (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
At college campuses across the country, a debate is raging: Should we teach the traditional classics of western civilization, as the foundation of all our thought? Or is it cultural elitism to ignore the contributions of women, minorities, and the Third World? In this program with Bill Moyers, John Searle, Professor of Philosophy at the Univ. of California-one of the foremost champions of the causes of rationality, intelligence, and the teaching of Western civilization-argues that education should accept significant works from other cultures, but they must meet certain criteria. (30 minutes)
#4978 Issues In Education - Scientific Study: East vs. West (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Chen Ning YangThe Westinghouse Science awards are something like Nobel prizes for teenagers; they recognize outstanding work in science by high-school students. In 1988, one New York City public school had eleven Westinghouse semifinalists; every one of them was of Asian background. Was it a fluke, as the principal said? Or do Asians bring something to the study of science which the rest of us had better learn to emulate? In this program with Bill Moyers, Physics Nobelist Dr. Chen Ning Yang discusses how the East and West approach scientific study and the understanding of scientific phenomena. (30 minutes)
#4999 Issues In Education - Educating the Disadvantaged: Mike Rose (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Born to immigrant parents in a poor neighborhood in Los Angeles, Mike Rose was not expected to make it in school. He did-and went on to become a teacher, working with people on the edges of society: inner-city children, Vietnam veterans, adults trying to overcome a lifetime of disadvantage. Now, as associate director of the writing program at UCLA, he continues to teach under-prepared students how to enter and succeed in the academic world. He writes about his students, many of them poor, all of them labeled failures, as he once was. In this program with Bill Moyers, Rose discusses his ideas on education in general and educating the disadvantaged. "The presence of such a huge number of people who are so disenfranchised," he says, "runs counter to the best story that this country tells itself about itself." (30 minutes)
#5049 Issues In Education - Unequal Education (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
This program with Bill Moyers compares the everyday experiences of two New York City middle school students and contrasts political rhetoric with the reality of American schooling. A profile of the two students and their different schools points out the inequalities of our current system and how disproportionate funding affects the quality of education. The program also features advocates for educational reform, who debate what the Democratic and Republican parties can do to improve schools. Among those interviewed are John Chubb, author of Politics, Markets, and America's Schools, and Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities. (40 minutes)
#5197 Issues In Education - Battle over the Books: Censorship in American Schools (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
John Scopes went on trial for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution; nearly 70 years later, an Illinois English teacher was confronted by protesters who demanded that J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye "not be assigned for reading"-adding that their demand should not be interpreted as "censorship or banning books." Whatever it's called, it means that books are under attack-from "Cinderella" to Huckleberry Finn. This program looks at how teachers can prepare themselves against attack, and looks at those who, in the name of religion or equality or whatever cause, are aiming the censor's gun at teachers and books. (20 minutes)
#6169 Issues In Education - Stop It! Students Speak Out about Sexual Harassment (Run time 18 min.) DVD $89.95
Students speaking out themselves about inappropriate sexual behavior make this program particularly effective in raising awareness about sexual harassment. The program addresses sexual harassment from the student point of view, from the experiences of those who have perpetrated it and of those who have been victimized by it. It helps students identify different kinds of sexual harassment, and it spells out clearly which behaviors are appropriate and which are not. The program is designed to stimulate discussion among students, faculty, and staff. It details the impact of harassment on victims, and advises students as to what actions they can take to stop harassment when it occurs. (18 minutes)
#6869 Issues In Education - Term Papers for Sale (Run time 16 min.) DVD $89.95
This program delves into the growing practice of students hiring others to write their term papers, and shows how students and those who provide this service get away with it. Students divulge how large, impersonal classes decrease the likelihood that a professor will notice a forged paper. Professors talk about the methods used to combat the practice, and its impact on the academic community. This disturbing program provides important insights into why students cheat. It is also an excellent teaching tool for classroom discussions on cheating and its legal and ethical implications. (16 minutes)
#11202 Issues In Education - Commercials in the Classroom: Resource or Revenue Stream? (Run time 17 min.) DVD $89.95
On this Phyllis Schlafly and Ralph Nader agree: commercials in the classroom represent the low point of capitalism. In this program, both proponents and opponents-including Andy Hill, former programming director of Channel One; education activist Marianne Manilov; former school superintendent Kenneth Burnley; and Alex Molnar, author of Giving Kids the Business: The Commercialization of America's Schools-present their points of view on an issue that is debated from parent/teacher organizations and local school boards to the halls of Congress. (17 minutes)
#11780 Issues In Education - Alternative and Charter Schools: Educating Outside the Box (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
Amy, a sixteen-year-old expelled from her high school, thinks alternative education is the best thing to happen to her; Lolita takes her daughter, Jana, to a charter school, despite the inconvenience, because she believes in the curriculum. The first half of this NewsHour program on new patterns in education looks at a special breed of alternative school where disruptive students benefit from low teacher-pupil ratios and an emphasis on individualized study using computers. The second half explores the popularity of charter schools-from just one in 1992 to over 1,700 in 25 states today-and the battles that have arisen over them. Talks with students, parents, and teachers illustrate the educational frustrations that prompted these innovative strategies. (22 minutes)
#30196 Issues In Education - The In" Crowd and Social Cruelty" (Run time 41 min.) DVD $89.95
What does it take to be popular? Quite often it has nothing to do with being nice. In this ABC News special, correspondent John Stossel visits middle and high schools to discover why kids dish out abuse, why they take it, and what parents and school administrators can do to make it better. He also visits schools with successful anti-bullying programs. Discussions with students, as well as with psychologist Michael Thompson, author of Best Friends, Worst Enemies, reveal a number of factors that cause popularity or unpopularity among children, adolescents, and even adults. (41 minutes)
#31303 Issues In Education - DonorsChoose: An Internet Model for Direct Educational Funding (Run time 21 min.) DVD $89.95
Charles Best is a Bronx high school teacher with a big idea: DonorsChoose. In this ABC News program, Best talks with correspondent Michel Martin about his Web site where carefully reviewed curricular activities proposed by New York City public school teachers are posted for civic-minded citizens to fund. The beauty of this nonprofit business model is its low overhead: the teachers handle assessing the needs and designing the activities, while the donors play the role of treasurer, deciding for themselves which activities to fund. (21 minutes)
#32610 Issues In Education - Getting an Edge: Early Admission (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
To help improve the odds of being accepted by America's most desirable colleges and universities, increasing numbers of high school students are getting a jump on the competition by applying for early admission. This ABC News program looks at the controversial process and contrasts it with Georgetown University's nonbinding early action alternative. The marketing efforts of Georgetown-and of some of its would-be freshmen-are discussed. The weighty influences of college rankings and test scores are also addressed, as are unfair advantages of socioeconomic class and a deep ambivalence about the perceived advantages of race. (22 minutes)
#32611 Issues In Education - Admit, Defer, or Reject? The Admissions Perspective (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
After the grades, test scores, essays, and other credentials of students seeking early admission reach the colleges and universities of their choice, the waiting game begins. In this ABC News program, correspondent Michel Martin goes inside Georgetown University's admissions process to take an in-depth look at how that august institution makes its rulings on the many hopefuls who apply-ten for each available slot. Representative committee participants, including a member of the admissions staff, a dean, a faculty member, and an undergrad, give their views, as do some high school students hoping to make the cut. (23 minutes)
#32612 Issues In Education - Accept or Decline? The Applicant Perspective (Run time 23 min.) DVD $89.95
This ABC News program considers the higher education endgame where the applicants, once so keen to pitch themselves to top colleges and universities, are now wooed by those who accepted them as the schools seek to close the deal. Several Georgetown University staff members, one candidate who is Georgetown-bound, and two who choose to turn the university down share their perspectives on a variety of key topics: affirmative action, financial aid, and campus culture, to name only three. (23 minutes)
#32657 Issues In Education - Standardized Tests: Assessing the Price of Failure (Run time 21 min.) DVD $89.95
When leaving no child behind amounts to holding many children back, parents and politicians raise their eyebrows. This ABC News program seeks to understand the ramifications of high-stakes advancement and exit exams-tests that are being used to measure schools' effectiveness, to allocate funding, and to shape the future of the nation's children. The dilemma of how to cope with students displaced and emotionally stigmatized by failing these tests is discussed. The importance of keeping students in school until they master essential skills is also considered, as is perhaps the most troubling question of all: what about kids who simply do not test well? (21 minutes)
#33270 Issues In Education - Coaching Styles for School Sports (Run time 24 min.) DVD $89.95
A competent coach challenges and inspires athletes to achieve their personal best. This program analyzes the nuanced art of coaching by examining three popular coaching styles: authoritarian, distant yet approachable, and friendly; vital coaching skills in the areas of leadership, management, and communication; essential coaching qualities such as enthusiasm; the wide knowledge of athletics, sports psychology, sports medicine, and other disciplines that a coach must have in order to be effective; personal characteristics such as honesty, integrity, and high expectations for those on the team; and how coaching varies for athletes of different ages, skills, and abilities. (24 minutes)
#33332 Issues In Education - Who's In, Who's Out (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
Contrary to popular belief, adequate preparation for college-level study is not an option for the majority of America's public-school students. This program exposes the educational "sorting machine," the factors that mold a child's academic future, through the case of a set of twins from Nevada: one, an academically oriented high achiever who is encouraged to take honors classes, and the other, a musically inclined student who, turned off by the demands of school, is allowed to simply slide by with low-level coursework. It also illustrates how smaller, more intimate learning environments are increasing opportunities for high school students in New York City and greater Cincinnati who were falling through the cracks. (57 minutes)
#33334 Issues In Education - Get In, Stay In (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
Issues of race and class have turned the college experience into an obstacle course that is deterring many of America's brightest students from graduating with a four-year degree. This video counters cultures of low expectation and social isolation with three stand-out initiatives that are helping students get into college-and stay in. Featured in this video are: the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, a national model for talented minority students studying science, engineering, math, and computer science; The Puente Project; the East Los Angeles College program, which bridges the transition gap between two- and four-year institutions; and the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, which is raising educational aspirations among Indiana's low- and moderate-income families. (57 minutes)
#33336 Issues In Education - Who's In, Who's Out (Run time min.) DVD $89.95
Contrary to popular belief, adequate preparation for college-level study is not an option for the majority of America's public-school students. This program exposes the educational "sorting machine," the factors that mold a child's academic future, through the case of a set of twins from Nevada: one, an academically oriented high achiever who is encouraged to take honors classes, and the other, a musically inclined student who, turned off by the demands of school, is allowed to simply slide by with low-level coursework. It also illustrates how smaller, more intimate learning environments are increasing opportunities for high school students in New York City and greater Cincinnati who were falling through the cracks. (57 minutes) On-demand English subtitles. Can be viewed using a DVD player or computer DVD-ROM drive.
#35995 Issues In Education - Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences: A Partnership in Progress (Run time 32 min.) DVD $89.95
To run a successful parent-teacher conference, educators need a wide range of skills at their disposal-and a healthy supply of confidence. This video builds both, providing solutions to the problems and frustrations that many teachers face when interacting with parents and guardians. The program explores step-by-step preparation strategies-including specific knowledge and data to have at hand, the best ways to introduce topics of concern and personalized feedback, and the communication and conflict-resolution skills needed to work effectively with parents. In-depth role-playing illustrates positive and negative ways in which a conference might play out and details the most compelling methods for conveying a student's academic, social, and emotional progress. Interviews with teachers and parents reinforce essential concepts and highlight real-world challenges and rewards surrounding this vital part of education. A workbook designed especially for Professional Development workshop coordinators-containing video viewing instructions, a post-viewing discussion guide, and skill-building exercises-is also included. A Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production. (32 minutes) Correlates to National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
#32863 Reading - To Read (Run time 46 min.) DVD $89.95
This classic program, narrated by Judd Hirsch, celebrates the efforts of language lovers across America who are promoting the joys and practical benefits of reading and writing to at-risk elementary school students, children in homeless shelters, reading-challenged teens, functionally illiterate adults, and the public at large. By sharing their passion, these teachers, tutors, storytellers, authors, actors, parents, and others are changing lives with the liberating magic of language. Inspirational comments by luminaries including Dan Rather, Danny Glover, and Anna Quindlen are included. A Discovery Channel Production. (47 minutes)
#5798 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Pathways to Success: Making the Transition from School to Work (Run time 48 min.) DVD $89.95
This program, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith, chronicles the challenges that confront America's youth as they move from high school into the labor force. Seventy-five percent of the students entering high school today will not go on to receive a four-year college degree. These young people lack a clear pathway leading to long-term, gainful employment. The program focuses on three young people to examine the potential solutions to this problem. Jason Fuller is typical of the majority of young people entering the labor force; he has little or no job preparation or career guidance and no concrete plans after graduation. Meanwhile, his peers Eric Baumann and Brenda Radoll are taking advantage of an apprenticeship pilot program that will prepare them for a career in high-tech printing. The program juxtaposes the experiences of these students with those of young people in Germany, where students who do not plan to enter college have several options for successful careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs. (48 minutes)
#7901 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Bangladesh: Educating the Millions (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
This is the fascinating story of how one of the poorest nations, with a population of 120 million, managed to creatively tackle the enormous challenge of educating its many children. The program highlights government efforts to make schools more accessible, particularly to girls. One compelling story features Shumi, the daughter of a peddler, who longs for an education and a better life than her parents. All of the stories presented illustrate how new educational opportunities are changing people's lives and providing hope for the future. (30 minutes)
#7902 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Chile: Education for All (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
The dramatic education reforms launched in Chile during the 1980s included decentralization and privatization of the system. This program examines further efforts to upgrade the quality of education and make it accessible to all-from university students to primary school children in rural areas. It also examines the impact of reforms: what worked, what didn't, and what others can learn from the Chilean experience. (30 minutes)
#7903 Teaching Assessment & Methods - South Korea: From Illiteracy to Affluence (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
At the end of World War II, South Korea's literacy rate stood at only 25 percent. Today, virtually 100 percent of Koreans are literate. How did such a poor country manage to educate its citizens? Who paid the bill? This program examines these questions, and the important role that education has played in Korea's dramatic leap from one of the poorest nations in Asia, to economic superiority in just a few decades. Gripping post-war and modern footage combined with interviews and touching personal stories provide surprising answers to how it was done. Other nations, including our own, can learn from this small but mighty economic power. (29 minutes)
#8640 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Uganda: Education Reforms (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
During the violence of the Amin and Obote regimes, the Ugandan school system fell into ruins. However, Uganda is a country that strongly believes in the value of education. Since Yoweri Museveni's rise to power, the Ugandan government has instituted reforms that are successfully improving the quality and accessibility of primary education. This program describes the nature of these far-reaching reforms, which include in-service teacher training, wide dissemination of textbooks, government and private funding, higher salaries for teachers, and the services of skilled outreach tutors, who assist teachers and boost community involvement. Despite the urgent need for more schools and high-quality educators, current successes have already demonstrated that a better education can help increase self-reliance and reduce poverty-a valued lesson for Uganda and all who are willing to listen. (30 minutes)
#9086 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Productive Climate and Culture (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
Student success in the classroom begins with a top-down commitment to a clearly stated mission emphasizing the importance of academic achievement. This program demonstrates how a school-wide mission statement-monitored to ensure that it is carried out and reinforced through public recognition of students and teachers who exemplify it-can promote an environment conducive to learning. (19 minutes)
#9087 Teaching Assessment & Methods - High Expectations (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
If faculty expectations are low, student achievement can never be high. This program documents the powerful impact of high expectations on student mastery of basic and higher-level skills. The supportive effect of a positive school culture, the use of monitoring as a medium to communicate a school's insistence on academic excellence, and a dedication on the part of educators to develop challenging instruction are emphasized. (19 minutes)
#9088 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Effective Instructional Strategies (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
A one-size-fits-all approach to education will not promote academic success in today's culture. This program explores the value of grouping students flexibly according to their changing needs, accelerating instruction for slower learners, and customizing methods of teaching. The challenges of implementing such strategies, including increased demand for supplies, equipment, and technical assistance and additional teacher training, are discussed as well. (20 minutes)
#9089 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Learning Essential Skills (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
Working together, administrators, principals, and teachers can give priority to the essential skills children must develop in order to succeed. This program presents the value of a no-nonsense approach to teaching. By maximizing learning time, by structuring curriculums so that mastery of academic content is required to proceed, and by quickly providing extra assistance for students having difficulty, the processes of both teaching and learning can be greatly enhanced. (19 minutes)
#9090 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Monitoring Student Progress (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
Frequent and regular assessment of student progress is an effective method for driving schools towards equity and academic excellence. This program focuses on how student assessment data can be used to evaluate and improve instructional priorities and strategies, to communicate high expectations, and to involve parents and the community in a school's efforts. (18 minutes)
#9091 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Parent Involvement (Run time 20 min.) DVD $89.95
The battle to promote academic success cannot be won solely by administrators, principals, and teachers. This program examines how parents can become a driving force for school reform by increasing their involvement in their children's instruction both at school and at home-and why it is imperative for parents to communicate with schools on a continuing basis about their children's progress, discipline, and achievements. (18 minutes)
#10652 Teaching Assessment & Methods - There's No Place Like Home: The Return to Homeschooling (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
Recent statistics indicate that more than two million students in the U.S. are taught at home. Why are so many parents opting to educate their children themselves? Are they wary of violence in public schools? Do they lack confidence in what they perceive as a one-size-fits-all approach to learning? Or are they intent on adding a fourth R, religion, to the traditional three? This program examines the homeschooling phenomenon with Chris Klicka, director of the Center for Home Schooling; two pairs of parent-teachers; and two students, currently in college, who were homeschooled. (30 minutes)
#10653 Teaching Assessment & Methods - The Right Choice? Charter Schools and Voucher Systems (Run time 30 min.) DVD $89.95
In theory, America's public schools provide an equal-opportunity education for children of all walks of life. Unfortunately, in practice it does not always work out that way. For many families, charter schools and voucher systems are providing what they feel are the keys to better education. This program looks at these alternatives at the Countryside Charter School and elsewhere, demonstrating how they allow concerned parents the option to bypass public schools in favor of institutions with stronger programs and better reputations. (30 minutes)
#4249 Teaching Profession - Making a Difference: Great Teachers, Part 1 (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
This documentary focuses on three teachers who have made a positive impact-academically or personally-on their students' lives. Selected as a result of an essay contest that asked students to write about the teacher who had most challenged and inspired them, the teachers are shown at work in the classroom, doing what they excel at: teaching and making a difference. (28 minutes)
#6386 Teaching Profession - The Endangered Teacher (Run time 29 min.) DVD $89.95
Educators around the country are leaving their field because of inadequate salaries, working conditions, and budget cuts. Is the future of the teaching profession as we know it today at risk? What can be done to attract and keep excellent teachers in our schools? This program explores the role of the teacher in our society today with Keith Geiger, President of the National Education Association; Tracy Seckler, a schoolteacher; and Joe Nathan, Director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota. (29 minutes)
#29921 Teaching Profession - The Teacher Shortage Problem: Making the Grade at P.S. 25 (Run time 58 min.) DVD $89.95
Facing a severe teacher shortfall for the 2000-2001 academic year, New York City scrambled to staff its worst-performing school district by crash-training hundreds of eager teaching fellows. In this program, NewsHour correspondent John Merrow presents five reports that track several of these brand-new teachers from opening day to summer recess as they learn the ropes at P.S. 25, in Brooklyn. Balancing their idealistic views of teaching are hard-won insights that demonstrate a powerful determination to overcome discouragement brought on by long hours, inadequate resources, and classroom discipline problems. High-stakes citywide testing is also addressed. (58 minutes)
#9322 Technology & Education - Computers in the Classroom: Will They Improve Education? (Run time 22 min.) DVD $89.95
In the education arena, technology has a long history of broken promises. What is it about computers and the Internet that is causing America to spend billions to wire schools, with only scanty statistical evidence that it will improve student learning? In this program, ABC News correspondent Gina Smith questions the wisdom of the wholesale infusion of computer technology into public schools, while anchor Ted Koppel leads a spirited debate on the pros and cons with Linda Roberts, of the Department of Education, and educational psychologist Jane Healy, author of Failure to Connect. Are the budgetary trade-offs really worth the investment? And do computers contribute to socialization problems and developmental difficulties? (22 minutes)
#3120 Testing - Understanding and Administering The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills(R) (Run time 35 min.) DVD $89.95
This program is important viewing for teachers, administrators, and parents of children at elementary school levels. It presents a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the need for standardized assessments of young pupils' basic skills strengths and weaknesses. Because the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills(R) are the dominant force in American basic skills testing, they have been chosen as our model. The program includes background information on the ITBS(R), why and how they were developed, and the rationale for using them. The program also provides such practical tips for administering the tests as advance preparation, testing strategies, using the various test batteries effectively, and using the various score reports. (35 minutes)
#3121 Testing - Using the Early Primary Battery of the Iowa Tests (Run time 32 min.) DVD $89.95
The early primary battery of the Iowa Tests contains two levels, five and six. This program focuses on the needs of kindergarten and first grade pupils and discusses in detail the rationale for testing at this level. The early primary battery is thoughtfully examined for both content and intent, and numerous suggestions and examples for effective teaching of the early primary basic skills are presented. (32 minutes)
#3122 Testing - The Primary Battery, part 1: Verbal Skills (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
The focus in this test administered in the second and third grades (and in this program) is on language skills. The rationale for the content and intent of this part of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills(R) is examined, and sample items similar to those found in the tests are presented, as are suggestions for teaching the basic verbal skills that are being tested. (40 minutes)
#3123 Testing - The Primary Battery, part 2: Quantitative Skills (Run time 40 min.) DVD $89.95
The substantive emphasis of this program is on the quantitative skills that should be mastered in second and third grades. Using the ITBS(R) as an example, the program covers visual interpretation of charts, maps, and graphs; skills in the use of such reference tools as dictionaries, tables of contents, and indices; mathematics skills like math concepting, problem solving, and computation. Sample items similar to those found in the ITBS(R) category tested are presented and the rationale for their inclusion discussed; a variety of suggestions for teaching quantitative skills is also offered. (40 minutes)
#11253 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Preparing for Life at College (Run time 20 min.) DVD $95.95
Going off to college is an exciting time for most high school graduates, but many are totally unprepared for the new life awaiting them. This important video alerts young people going on to college about some essential information to help them succeed. It covers the basic necessities, such as housing, food, and transportation; the educational world they can expect to interact with; the social life that will be different from high school; and their financial obligations, whether they are paying for everything themselves or their parents are helping them. Watching this program may head off some potential problems for college-bound students and prepare them for a new, exhilarating phase of life. A Meridian Production. One 20-minute video.
#34582 Technology & Education - Integrating Media into the Classroom (Run time min.) DVD $99.9
An increase in confidence and comfort level with high-tech teaching tools is the key to unlocking the full potential of educational media in the classroom. In this inspiring and informative two-part series, educators and media specialists with firsthand experience of the challenges and rewards of integrating media into the classroom share their in-depth knowledge. Watch these videos to gain insight into how you can use technology to improve your lessons, create a more constructivist learning atmosphere, increase student understanding and retention, and motivate your students to learn as never before. Want to workshop Integrating Media into the Classroom? A facilitator's workbook comes with purchase of the series, and each video is accompanied by its own viewable/printable viewing guide available online. Correlates to National Education Technology Standards for Teachers from the International Society of Technology Education. A Cambridge Educational Production. 2-part series, 30 minutes each.
#10264 Classroom Management - Classroom Discipline (Run time 28 min.) DVD $99.95
A common error made by new teachers is attempting to impose authority on a classroom rather than encouraging students to manage themselves. In this timeless program, acclaimed presenter Dr. Richard Curwin and noted educator and school psychologist Dr. Allen Mendler argue that students can develop internal controls and self-responsibility when teachers alter their traditionally adversarial classroom role. Drs. Curwin and Mendler are also cofounders of Discipline Associates and coauthors of Discipline with Dignity, Taking Charge in the Classroom, and The Discipline Book: A Complete Guide to School and Classroom Management. (28 minutes)
#35020 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work, with Hedrick Smith (Run time 117 min.) DVD $99.95
Amidst a gloomy climate of failing schools and the stringent No Child Left Behind legislation, some communities have created a small revolution, achieving gains with children others had given up on-with implications for schools nationwide. In this penetrating documentary, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith travels from inner city to rural town to observe how some districts and reform models are making a difference: the Success for All reading program; the Comer Process; KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program; and High Schools That Work, a program that links academics to work-oriented learning. The video also spotlights important district-wide reforms in New York City, San Diego, and Charlotte, North Carolina. The lesson? Learn from schools that work, spread their methods widely, and keep updating them for continuous improvement in student achievement. Interviews with Yale's James Comer, Johns Hopkins' Robert Slavin, and reformers Gene Bottoms and Anthony Alvarado, among others, help frame this cogent report. (2 hours)
#35143 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: Robert Slavin on Success for All (Run time 59 min.) DVD $99.95
In this interview, Robert Slavin, Ph.D., talks with Hedrick Smith about Success for All, a comprehensive, research-based reading and math program for elementary and middle schools. The most important objective, says Dr. Slavin, "is to get every single child to be successful, every single child to master the basic curriculum, to achieve the higher-order objectives that every parent would want for their child and that our society demands..." The genesis, evolution, implementation, and replication of Success for All are covered, as are the initiative's core elements. Criticism of SFA's controversial scripting for teachers to ensure uniformity of instruction is also addressed. (59 minutes)
#35144 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: James Comer on the Comer Process (Run time 50 min.) DVD $99.95
James Comer, M.D., M.P.H., has spent decades promoting a focus on child development as a way of improving schools. In this interview, he and Hedrick Smith analyze the Comer Process, a school- and system-wide psychosocial intervention grounded in conflict mitigation, behavior modeling, power-sharing, and all-around involvement of teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders. "Our program focuses on the socially interactive aspects of development so that children learn how to manage themselves in a whole variety of situations," says Dr. Comer. (51 minutes)
#35145 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: Michael Feinberg on the KIPP Model (Run time 59 min.) DVD $99.95
KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. In this interview, KIPP co-developer Michael Feinberg joins Hedrick Smith to discuss the program-a reform initiative created as a model for middle school reform, starting in fifth grade. The purpose of KIPP? "To provide kids with the academic, intellectual, and character skills they need to succeed in high school, college, and the competitive world beyond," says Mr. Feinberg. (59 minutes)
#35146 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: Gene Bottoms on High Schools That Work (Run time 45 min.) DVD $99.95
High Schools That Work is the nation's first large-scale effort to unite educational stakeholders at all levels with the objective of re-engaging what some have called the forgotten majority in U.S. high schools. In this interview, founding director Gene Bottoms, Ed.D., talks with Hedrick Smith about the HSTW program in general and Corbin High School, Kentucky-an exemplary case study-in particular. "If you can help youngsters to begin to connect to a goal beyond high school, and they can begin to connect the courses they're taking to that goal, you have a youth going someplace," says Dr. Bottoms. (45 minutes)
#35147 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: Conversations with Anthony Alvarado and Eric Smith (Run time 119 min.) DVD $99.95
In this interview, Anthony Alvarado, the dynamic architect of controversial principal-centered educational reforms in New York City and San Diego schools, and Eric Smith, Ed.D., who has risen to national prominence as superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Anne Arundel County school districts, join Hedrick Smith to describe their methodologies and examine the results of their policies and initiatives. (2 hours)
#35148 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: Conversations with Kati Haycock and Michael Casserly (Run time 85 min.) DVD $99.95
In segment one of this interview, Kati Haycock, founder and director of The Education Trust, and Hedrick Smith discuss a range of hot topics in contemporary education: the standards movement and educational equity, No Child Left Behind, and the critical components of effective school reform, to name only three. In segment two, Mike Casserly, Ph.D., executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, joins Mr. Smith to address topics such as the recent history of educational reform, America's drive to create great schools, district- versus school-level strategies, and lessons learned in regard to making schools more effective and boosting student achievement. (85 minutes)
#29325 Teaching Assessment & Methods - How Change Happens: Breaking the Teach as You Were Taught" Cycle in Science and Math" (Run time 25 min.) DVD $109.95
This program, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, showcases innovative teaching techniques as performed by science and math professors at Hampshire College, the University of Massachusetts, and Springfield Technical Community College. In seminars and full-blown lectures, these instructors have succeeded in increasing their students' engagement with the subject matter by applying active learning, cooperative group work, and alternative test-taking techniques. How Change Happens is an excellent tool for stimulating discussion among faculty members about course and curriculum reform. (25 minutes)
#11218 Teaching Profession - Success and Failure at P.S. 27, Part 1 (Run time 56 min.) DVD $109.95
Over the course of this three-segment program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel tracks the progress of Lesley-Diann Jones' combined class of fourth- and fifth-graders, from opening day in September to February 1st, when the students re-took the state English exam that they had failed the previous year. Amidst Ms. Jones' efforts to help her students improve their learning and test-taking abilities, other dramas unfolded involving stubborn parents, disruptive classroom behavior, deadline pressure, and a dispute over a promised bonus for compressing two years' worth of teaching into one. (56 minutes)
#11219 Teaching Profession - Success and Failure at P.S. 27, Part 2 (Run time 57 min.) DVD $109.95
How does a teacher develop the skill, courage, and stamina to teach disadvantaged youth-the children given up on by virtually everyone else? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel delivers three more reports on Lesley-Diann Jones and her class, covering January to graduation day in June. In addition to her concerns over chronic absenteeism and the future prospects of her students, Ms. Jones was forced to deal with one student who made a death threat against a classmate and another who alleged that Ms. Jones had publicly humiliated her. A retrospective segment completes the program. (57 minutes)
#10659 Technology & Education - Going Online in Your Classroom (Run time 58 min.) DVD $109.95
The Internet is bringing new possibilities to education. This program introduces the terms and techniques needed by students and teachers alike to use Internet technology with confidence. In addition, instructors share some of their creative lesson plans that incorporate the Internet as a means of collaborative communication through videoconferences, chat rooms, and e-mail; as a gateway to cyber-libraries; as a platform for virtual field trips; and as an instant online publishing tool for Web sites and intranets. Administrative issues such as Acceptable Use Policies, Netiquette, and content filtering are also addressed. (58 minutes)
#10663 Technology & Education - Meeting the Needs of All Students with Technology (Run time 69 min.) DVD $109.95
Technology equalizes learning opportunities and expands learning challenges for a wide range of students. Using compelling classroom footage, this program features innovations that are empowering all types of learners. Examples of adaptive technology for physically and visually challenged students include IntelliKeys, TouchWindow, Braille 'n Speak, and audio-based computer software. For those in gifted and talented programs, high-tech role-playing scenarios and multimedia projects help them to sharpen critical thinking skills. And for students in need of tutoring, there is even the Homework Hotline satellite TV show. (69 minutes)
#33599 Classroom Management - Managing the Difficult Group (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
Every teacher has been there-staring in the face of a difficult student or group of students threatening to thwart the progress of the day's lesson. But how can the teacher handle the conflict in a way that benefits everyone? Frustrated back-and-forth shouting between teacher and student should not and does not have to take place in the classroom. This program suggests practical classroom management strategies which are designed to help difficult students learn more successfully. It also examines why some students are disruptive and provides educators with specific techniques to prevent disruptive behavior. (30 minutes)
#32624 Issues In Education - Charter Schools That Work (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page hosts this in-depth look at a grassroots revolution in American education barely a decade old: charter schools. Reasons for the movement’s emergence, as well as different philosophies and methodologies, are seen in visits to several charter schools, including North Star Academy in Newark, KIPP Academy in Houston, and the Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Los Angeles. The video offers interviews with a wide array of teachers, administrators, parents, and students, as well as commentary from leading education experts, including Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dr. Bruno Manno, co-author of Charter Schools in Action. (60 minutes)
#33459 Issues In Education - Public Schools Failing to Make the Grade (Run time 23 min.) DVD $129.95
Public education is one of the great promises of this country. But is America keeping that promise? This ABC News program offers a timely report card on the nation's public education system. Hard hit by state budget cuts in recent years, the system is also under immense pressure from the No Child Left Behind initiative-legislation that demands much of schools but, say critics, provides little funding to help them meet the mandated goals. Visits to a school in Arlington, Massachusetts, and The University of Texas at Austin amply illustrate the hard realities of faculties being slashed and class sizes swelling...and the promise of public education steadily fading. (23 minutes)
#4508 Reading - Teaching Beginning Readers and Writers (Run time 28 min.) DVD $129.95
This program visits two kindergarten classrooms and one first grade classroom to show how whole language techniques are used to teach beginning reading and writing. The program provides a detailed description of how the three basic "cuing systems" that children use to "decode" text are integrated into every classroom activity. The effectiveness of literature-based teaching is demonstrated in the classroom use of theme-based curricula, "big book" oral reading, meaningful work, response journals, peer teaching, the acceptance of invented spelling in first drafts of written work, and the constant emphasis on children viewing themselves as successful readers and writers. (28 minutes)
#10265 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Performance Assessment: Moving Beyond the Standardized Test (Run time 29 min.) DVD $129.95
In an age of multicultural classrooms and new understandings about multiple intelligences, what role should standardized tests play? And what direction should performance assessment take in tomorrow's schools? In this timeless program, Dr. Art Costa-Professor Emeritus at California State University, Former President of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and a leading proponent of the explicit teaching of thinking-addresses the urgent need to create viable alternatives to standardized tests that can measure creativity, problem-solving, and cooperation. (29 minutes)
#10266 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Multiple Intelligences: Other Styles of Learning (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
Historically, student progress has been gauged by success in subjects that tap the verbal/linguistic and logical/mathematical talents of students, inevitably leading to the disenfranchisement of learners weak in these areas. In this program, David Lazear, author of Seven Ways of Knowing and Seven Ways of Teaching and founder of New Dimensions of Learning, contends that educators must ensure the success of all students by teaching for the five nontraditional intelligences as well: visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, body/kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. (30 minutes, color)
#29501 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Inventing the Future: The K-16 Connection in Science (Run time 33 min.) DVD $129.95
In spite of a growing dependence on technology, studies show that as students move through grade levels they become progressively less interested in the sciences. This program illustrates how teachers can use inquiry-based learning, a powerful teaching method, to motivate students to deepen their understanding about the world around them. Students tackle problems and ask questions instead of simply memorizing concepts in the abstract. What makes this video unique is that it shows teachers using this approach in their classes across grade levels, from kindergarten to college. (33 minutes)
#32878 Teaching Assessment & Methods - What's a Teacher For? The Nurturing No-Nonsense Classroom (Run time 41 min.) DVD $129.95
This program is based on a cross-disciplinary educator workshop in which Indiana University choir director James Mumford employed choral singing as a tool for participant self-discovery and education. As students, the participants came to grips with the fear of public performance as they experienced firsthand Mumford's empowering method of instruction, which involves creating a climate of trust, gently holding everyone to high standards, stimulating engagement through passion, and validating others' difficult past experiences without being constrained by them. Footage of the participants back in the classroom illustrates how the workshop's lessons translate to the real world. (41 minutes)
#33591 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Optimizing Different Learning Styles (Run time 30 min.) DVD $129.95
This program provides a helpful guide to teachers for recognizing their students' primary styles of acquiring and working with information: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. To illustrate each style's impact on successful classroom learning, discussion focuses on the observation techniques used by visual learners; the hearing and repetition procedures practiced by auditory learners; and the hands-on approach preferred by kinesthetic learners. The program also identifies ways educators can plan and implement a variety of strategies that enable students to use the learning style that is best attuned to their needs. (30 minutes)
#36187 Teaching Assessment & Methods - No Child Without Motivation (Run time 43 min.) DVD $129.95
To prevent children from being left behind, educators must create goals that are integrated into the skills-building process, not just based on rewarding success. This program illustrates the impact of both approaches on young learners, monitoring their levels of motivation and confidence. Showing how learning-oriented students take on projects based on a desire to expand their abilities-while performance-oriented kids shy away from anything truly challenging-the program demonstrates the importance of autonomy, or letting a child explore his or her own choices. One experiment highlights the negative effects of intrusive parental pressure. (42 minutes)
#11503 Teaching Profession - A Teacher Affects Eternity (Run time 56 min.) DVD $129.95
Since the 1830s, public schools have spread into every corner of America. Then and now, what kind of people have been called to teach in these schools? This program explores the importance of educators in the lives of their students, emphasizing a teacher's influence as role model, as upholder of society's norms, and even as agent of social change. Dedicated women who spent their careers teaching newly freed slaves and turn-of-the-century teachers of immigrants are profiled, as well as exemplary instructors of today's struggling teenagers. Education reformer Theodore Sizer, education historian David Tyack, and author Frank McCourt are featured. (56 minutes)
#11504 Teaching Profession - Those Who Can ... Teach (Run time 56 min.) DVD $129.95
Historically, America has displayed an ambivalence toward public school teachers, expecting much from them while frequently offering little respect, meager pay, and inadequate working conditions. This program traces the evolution of teaching as a profession, honoring educators who risked everything to stand up for teachers' rights. Stanford University's Linda Darling-Hammond; Lorraine Monroe, of the School Leadership Academy; and others talk about issues such as training, unionization, standards, bureaucracy, and professional growth, while four intern teachers share the lessons of their baptisms of fire. (56 minutes)
#11505 Teaching Profession - Educating to End Inequity (Run time 54 min.) DVD $129.95
This program addresses teachers' efforts to level the educational and social playing fields for their students by examining public school reform and its relationship to social change. Educators who taught on the western frontier in the late 19th century and in the South during desegregation are spotlighted, along with contemporary instructors working with Native Americans in New Mexico and inner-city youth in New York. Visionaries including Joseph Abeyta, of the Santa Fe Indian School; Ann Cook, of Urban Academy; and retired North Carolina school principal Kat Crosby consider cultural identity, teaching for diversity, performance-based assessment, and other topics. (54 minutes)
#8056 Technology & Education - Distance Learning: The Great Controversy (Run time 57 min.) DVD $129.95
In this program, a literature teacher argues the benefits of on-line learning, while her department chairperson presents arguments against it. Methods used to conduct an effective on-line "class" are demonstrated using state-of-the-art software. Criticism of distance learning includes its tendency to deny student/teacher connections and to inhibit student interaction. Students currently participating in on-line learning programs discuss how it has helped them achieve their educational goals. An Iowa farmer uses distance learning to get his college degree. Students at Cal State protest the cost of contracts with four computer firms hired to wire the school for the Internet. (57 minutes)
#8057 Technology & Education - Learning: From Socrates to Cyberspace (Run time 64 min.) DVD $129.95
This program provides an overview of the history of education and distance learning, including an extensive interview with Professor Neil Postman from the first television classroom of the 1950s, Sunrise Semester. From there, the program explores various case studies involving distance learning: a homeless women gets her GED; a handicapped woman graduates from college; and a choreographer puts together a Net dance course by combining images of life-forms with virtual reality. The founder of the first M.S. degree in information systems talks about how it is used by corporations to train young executives. Linda Harrison, author of the Virtual You guidebook to learning on the Internet, talks about how teachers can shape the educational environment to include distance learning. Various experts discuss the future of on-line education. (64 minutes)
#36172 Classroom Management - Teaching Diverse Learners (Run time min.) DVD $139.9
A diverse learning environment benefits everyone, but it can put overwhelming pressure on an unprepared teacher. Produced by Illinois State University's renowned College of Education and School of Communication, this two-part series empowers educators using real-world teaching methods-enabling them to overcome the obstacles and maximize the rewards of a diverse learning atmosphere. Viewable/printable instructor's guides are available online. 2-part series, 13 and 18 minutes.
#11762 Issues In Education - The Common School: 1770-1890 (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95
In the aftermath of the Revolution, a newly independent America confronted one of its most daunting challenges: how to build a united nation out of thirteen disparate colonies. This program profiles the passionate crusade launched by Thomas Jefferson and continued by Noah Webster, Horace Mann, and others to create a common system of tax-supported schools that would mix people of different backgrounds and reinforce the bonds of democracy. A wealth of research illustrates how this noble experiment-the foundation of the young republic-was a radical idea opposed from the start by racial prejudice and fears of taxation. (55 minutes)
#11763 Issues In Education - As American as Public School: 1900-1950 (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95
In 1900, 6% of America's children graduated from high school; by 1945, 51% graduated and 40% went on to college. This program recalls how massive immigration, child labor laws, and the explosive growth of cities fueled school attendance and transformed public education. Also explored are the impact of John Dewey's progressive ideas as well as the effects on students of controversial IQ tests, the "life adjustment" curriculum, and Cold War politics. Interviews with immigrant students, scholars, and administrators provide a portrait of America's changing educational landscape in the first half of the 20th century. (55 minutes)
#11764 Issues In Education - A Struggle for Educational Equality: 1950-1980 (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95
In the 1950s, America's public schools teemed with the promise of a new, postwar generation of students, over half of whom would graduate and go on to college. This program shows how impressive gains masked profound inequalities: seventeen states had segregated schools; 1% of all Ph.D.s went to women; and "separate but equal" was still the law of the land. Interviews with Linda Brown Thompson and other equal rights pioneers bring to life the issues that prompted such milestones as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title IX, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. (55 minutes)
#11765 Issues In Education - The Bottom Line in Education: 1980 to the Present (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95
In 1983, the Reagan Administration's report, A Nation at Risk, shattered public confidence in America's school system and sparked a new wave of education reform. This program explores the impact of the "free market" experiments that ensued, from vouchers and charter schools to privatization-all with the goal of meeting tough new academic standards. Today, the debate rages on: do these diverse strategies challenge the founding fathers' notions of a common school, or are they the only recourse in a complex society? (55 minutes)
#35696 Issues In Education - No Child Left Behind: The Case of City Springs (Run time 88 min.) DVD $149.95
Originally titled The Battle of City Springs, this fascinating case study profiles City Springs Elementary-a Baltimore school nearly closed by the State of Maryland until it implemented a rigorous teaching method known as Direct Instruction. Filmed over an entire year, the film documents the progress made by City Springs students as they struggle to build reading and math skills-and their teachers struggle to make D.I. more than a theoretical concept. Although the year is filled with constant setbacks and challenges, including wearisome discipline problems and a demoralizing case of vandalism, the video culminates in statewide exam results that heavily favor City Springs' new strategy. (87 minutes)
#36232 Issues In Education - A War on Science: Intelligent Design in the Classroom (Run time 51 min.) DVD $149.95
Are advocates of the intelligent design theory really creationists in disguise? To what extent has the I.D. argument widened America's cultural divide? And if a clear winner emerges, who loses? This program thoroughly examines those questions, describing the theory's quasi-scientific origins and documenting the Pennsylvania court battle over teaching I.D. in biology classes. A historical overview of the creation vs. evolution debate in the United States is also included, highlighting 20th-century struggles over separation of church and state and the troubling implications these issues present for American education. Original BBCW broadcast title: A War on Science. (50 minutes)
#39227 Issues In Education - Killing Creativity: Are Schools or Parents to Blame? (Run time 60 min.) DVD $149.95
If we're all born with creative potential, why do many children lose their inventive tendencies as they grow older? What role does organized education play? This program observes a group of 25 seven-year-olds and their families in order to study childhood creativity, why it frequently fades, and why it matters. Exploring the impact of school and whether or not it dampens the creative impulse, the program looks at ways adults can encourage and promote imagination, curiosity, and originality. In addition, the children take part in activities that reveal the precarious state of their natural ingenuity. They are asked to draw a man who could not possibly exist, to address Santa Claus through a live web link, and to examine, if they dare, a "monster in a box." A BBC/Open University Co-production. Original broadcast title: Killing Creativity. Part of the series Child of Our Time 2007. (60 minutes)
#39484 Issues In Education - Democracy Left Behind: NCLB and Civic Education (Run time min.) DVD $149.95
Do American schools adequately prepare students to take part in society? Can a complacent, ill-informed public trace its problems back to the nation's classrooms? This program examines the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on the ability of public education to involve students in civic and governmental processes. Filmed in economically and culturally diverse schools, the program includes provocative interviews with teachers, administrators, and nationally known experts-all of whom discuss the challenges of helping children become knowledgeable citizens while fulfilling the needs of basic education. Scenes of teachers working to engage their students in participatory democracy are included. (58 minutes)
#1583 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Cultural Illiteracy (Run time 28 min.) DVD $149.95
Cultural illiteracy among today's teenagers threatens the fabric of society, according to Professor E.D. Hirsch, Jr., author of the best-seller, Cultural Literacy. Hirsch defines cultural literacy as familiarity with the common knowledge literate Americans take for granted and ascribes teenage ignorance-vividly demonstrated in live interviews-to reading instruction that has stressed skills over content. Hirsh and moderator Robert MacNeil are joined by poet Maya Angelou, Patrick Welsh, a teacher, and psychiatrist and educator Dr. Robert Coles. (28 minutes)
#2836 Teaching Assessment & Methods - The Wrong Stuff (Run time 47 min.) DVD $149.95
When fewer than 6% of high school graduates can read a newspaper, write a cohesive essay, or solve a simple two-step arithmetic problem (according to the National Assessment of Education Progress), something is obviously wrong with the American educational system. This program illustrates how old assumptions about school administration, teaching methods, and testing are being challenged, and investigates not only what is wrong with the system, but the kinds of positive experiments that are taking place. Hosted by Judith Light, the program talks to education innovator Ted Sizer (whose ideas have evolved into the Coalition of Essential Schools), businessman Joe Kellman (founder of Corporate Community Schools of America), leaders of Chicago's Parent Community Council, and participants in Indianapolis' Key School experiment, which is based on Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. (47 minutes)
#3060 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Whole Language Movement: From Teacher to Teacher (Run time 30 min.) DVD $149.95
This program provides teachers, administrators, parents, and university students with a clear and informative introduction to Whole Language-an innovative teaching movement that is generating much enthusiasm in the educational community. The program goes into the classroom to see Whole Language in action and speaks to teachers who employ Whole Language methods, and to students who are benefiting from them, to find out what this approach to teaching and learning offers that others do not. Viewers learn how Whole Language serves the needs of educators and administrators, as well as students, and gain an appreciation of both the philosophy and the techniques of this rapidly spreading approach to teaching. (30 minutes)
#4141 Teaching Assessment & Methods - A Child's Guide to Language: Teaching a Second Language (Run time 50 min.) DVD $149.95
Whether it's English, Spanish, Chinese, or Urdu, babies and young children are able to pick up their native language with remarkable ease; no one language seems any more difficult than any other. Yet few children who are taught a language in school have anything to show for it when they grow up. Why is learning a second or third language so difficult? Are the teaching methods at fault? Enough is now known about the process of language acquisition to suggest that language teaching can be more effective. This BBC Horizon program looks at some of the different language acquisition methods in use in schools around the world. (50 minutes)
#5403 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Schools of Thought: Teaching Children in America and Japan (Run time 55 min.) DVD $149.95
This fascinating comparison between Japanese and American educational systems examines both the differences in goals between the two and the different ways in which they seek to achieve the same goal. With American producers photographing in Japan and Japanese producers photographing in the U.S., this documentary explores efforts in both countries to balance creativity and discipline in education. Above all, this Oregon Public Broadcasting program gives American educators a better understanding of the high level of focus and discipline of Japanese students. (55 minutes)
#7814 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Making Education Relevant (Run time 29 min.) DVD $149.95
Career Academy Director at Oakland Technical High School, Patricia ClarkPatricia Clark is the creator and director of the Health and Bio-Sciences Career Academy in Oakland, California. Established in 1985, Clark's Health Academy is Oakland's flagship for an educational movement crisscrossing the nation. Career academies are small, innovative schools operating independently within large, comprehensive public high schools. Their idea is to reach out to young people who are getting lost in traditional education, and to give them a fresh start. Oakland's 28 career academies attract students by offering concentrated studies in professional fields, such as health, business, law, media, and engineering. Once hooked on education, students stay motivated by perceiving the immediate relevance of their course subjects and by working as interns at local businesses. (29 minutes)
#7815 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Co-op Education (Run time 28 min.) DVD $149.95
Cincinnati State Technical and Community Professors-Deb Stiles, Penny Deaton, John KinsellaIt's one thing to educate youngsters. It's another thing to re-educate adults, especially after a traumatic layoff. But the unexpected jolt of a career shift has become the norm in the turbulent new American economy. And so millions of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are going back to school. By the mid-1990s, nearly 40 percent of those enrolled in two-year colleges were over age 30. All too often, however, retraining programs offer those in need an update of new technologies and an upgrade in their skills, but then have trouble placing their graduates in good jobs. One notable exception is Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. The key to its success is its blending of classroom assignments with entry-level co-op jobs, which prepare students both academically and psychologically for the work. (28 minutes)
#7816 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Agitating for Change: The Alliance Schools Initiative (Run time 27 min.) DVD $149.95
Alliance Schools Leader, Ernie CortesEight year ago, many schools in Texas like this one were plagued by gangs, truancy, and poor academic results. Teachers were ready to try something new. Enter Ernie Cortes-a community organizer who was also disturbed by seeing kids turned off at school. To tap that student potential, Cortes formed an Alliance Schools Initiative to shake up public schools in working-class districts. The Cortes strategy is to work with churches and community activists to break down old hierarchies, to excite and empower teachers, and to reconnect schools to their communities. (27 minutes)
#7817 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Schools Partnering with Parents (Run time 24 min.) DVD $149.95
Science Teacher at Alamo Middle School, Gilbert GomezAlamo Middle School science teacher Gil Gomez, like the parents of his students, grew up working in the fields of southern Texas. He knows firsthand the challenges his Hispanic students will face. Gomez has a mission: to transform the lives of these children and educate them for the new opportunities opening up along the border with Mexico. Gomez's school is one of more than 120 across Texas and the Southwest that have joined the Alliance Schools Initiative-a grassroots campaign to get working-class parents actively engaged in their children's education, and to improve that education. For many parents in the Rio Grande Valley, school is a distant and intimidating place. To bridge that gap and get parents focused on their kids' education, Alamo, like other Alliance schools, sends out teams of teachers on home visits. (24 minutes)
#6496 Teaching Profession - Making a Difference: Great Teachers, Part 2 (Run time 24 min.) DVD $149.95
This program follows three outstanding teachers throughout the school day to show how they motivate students. We see the classroom skills that help make them great teachers-charisma, concern, perseverance, and enthusiasm-and how they impart self-esteem to their students. These instructors teach Social Studies, English, and Special Education. (24 minutes)
#7057 Teaching Profession - Making a Difference: Great Teachers, Part 3 (Run time 26 min.) DVD $149.95
This program focuses on three instructors singled out as "great teachers." One teacher's infectious enthusiasm, another's solid dedication, and a third's sense of humor foster self-esteem in even the most difficult students. This is an interesting study of three very different educational "styles" that produce the same positive educational results. (26 minutes)
#9328 Technology & Education - Wired for What? The Dividends of Universal Access (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95
All over America, schools are scrambling for computers and Internet access. But have the huge expenditures really produced a tangible return on investment? In this program, teachers, administrators, and other education professionals share their experiences and opinions regarding the potential and the pitfalls of education technology. They address the proper use of computers, the integration of the Internet into lessons, and the urgent need for teacher training, long-term planning, and ongoing infrastructure funding. They also question the deeper cost of school budgets skewed toward technology at the expense of the arts and humanities. (57 minutes)
#9329 Technology & Education - Fair Play: Achieving Gender Equity in the Digital Age (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95
How will America close the gender gap that exists in technology, to empower female students? Set at Fulmore Middle School in Austin, Texas, this program exposes counterproductive classroom behaviors and presents measures being taken to correct the misperception that computing is a males-only domain. The Director of the Center for Gender Equity, the author of SchoolGirls, the creators of girltech.com and chickclick.com, and others scrutinize issues including equal computer access in the classroom, attitude barriers both in class and out, and efforts to develop software and Web sites that enfranchise female users rather than reinforce gender stereotypes. (57 minutes)
#9330 Technology & Education - Virtual Equality: The Information Revolution and the Inner City (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95
"Every child in America deserves a chance to participate in the Information Revolution," says President Clinton. But first, the inner-city technology ghetto must be eliminated. In this program, representatives of groups such as the National Urban League, ASPIRA, the East Harlem Tutorial Program, the Technology Access Foundation, and the Urban Technology Center examine the urgent need for technology-centered education through home computer access, community technology centers, and schools-properly funded and staffed. They also assess the use of computers as tools for higher learning rather than merely as drillmasters. (57 minutes)
#9331 Technology & Education - Crossing the Divide: Creating a High-Tech Work Force (Run time 57 min.) DVD $149.95
As America's economy goes global and companies continue to adjust, what skills and education will tomorrow's workforce need in order to prosper in the marketplace of the future? This program profiles the Travis Communications Academy, Silicon Valley's Monta Vista High School, and the New Technology High School, "the school that business built"-schools that stress the value of critical thinking and teamwork as the building blocks of success. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, and others also discuss issues such as the school-to-work movement and universal Internet access. (57 minutes)
#39113 Technology & Education - Podcasting and Blogging Essentials (Run time 58 min.) DVD $149.95
In a Web 2.0 world, anyone can broadcast or publish online-and this clear and simple program explains how to do it, step by step. Using plain English and plenty of visuals, Podcasting and Blogging Essentials spells out what podcasts and blogs are, how to find and access them on the Internet, and how to create them from scratch and upload them to the Web. No previous knowledge is required. An excellent starting point for students and educators alike who want to get their message out and would like to see how it's done. Viewable/printable supporting materials are available online. (58 minutes)
#10536 Technology & Education - Digital Divide: Teachers, Technology, and the Classroom (Run time 120 min.) DVD $199.95
As the digital revolution sweeps across America, many young people are experiencing what has come to be known as the digital divide. The first hour of this program examines the push to wire America's schools, addressing crucial issues such as integration of technology into curriculums, budget trade-offs that leave low-tech subjects starving for scarce funds, and the need for ongoing hardware and software support. In the second hour, more experts, innovators, and students look into the question of community and home access to computers and the Internet. In addition, they explore the fundamental alienation felt by many girls and students of color in the computer arena, and stress the importance of fostering a climate of inclusion. (2 hours in two parts)
#11217 Teaching Profession - Master Teacher: Striving to Make a Difference (Run time min.) DVD $219.9
They were held back because they failed a state-mandated proficiency test-but then they were offered a second chance. In this instructive two-part series, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel reports on the yearlong struggle of master teacher Lesley-Diann Jones to help her troubled elementary school students from the violent Red Hook Projects of Brooklyn to make the grade. 2-part series, 56-57 minutes each.
#36470 Issues In Education - A Global Roll Call: The Need for Education Worldwide (Run time min.) DVD $259.9
Without schooling, a child has no future. Without an educated population, a nation has no future. These two parts of an ongoing Wide Angle series-the third episode to be produced in 2009-examine gaps and voids in educational opportunities that, tragically, keep many developing countries from advancing. Following a group of children from around the world as they progress through life-and, on an uneven basis, through school-the series gets to the heart of this colossal yet not intractable socioeconomic problem. 2-part series, 57 and 87 minutes.
#8055 Technology & Education - Net.LEARNING (Run time min.) DVD $259.9
Distance learning technology is bringing education to students anytime, anywhere, and creating on-line communities of learners. The ability to go to school in cyberspace, via computer and the Internet, is causing quite a stir in the world of education. This two-part series explores the practices, problems, and promise of this new educational wave of the future. 2-part series, 60 minutes each.
#32609 Issues In Education - Inside the College Admissions Game (Run time min.) DVD $269.85
This exclusive three-part ABC News series goes behind the scenes of "the college admissions game" at Georgetown University to observe the process through the eyes of the personnel who decide who will get in-and of the students who wait with bated breath for acceptance. College rankings, standardized test scores, early admission, campus culture, and financial aid are only some of the many issues addressed by this insightful series. 3-part series, 22-23 minutes each.
#33331 Issues In Education - The College Track: America's Sorting Machine (Run time min.) DVD $269.85
It's about closing the achievement gap and implementing best practices.It's about raising expectations and lowering barriers.It's about a heart-to-heart partnership of educators and parents.Isn't it about time to start some honest discussions in your community?Learn more about the unintended consequences of educational tracking in public schools. See innovative model solutions for bringing these students back onto the college track with this timely three-part series. Hosted by Emmy Award-winner Andre Braugher, The College Track takes a penetrating look at the barriers to college faced by many students and showcases public schools and communities that are succeeding in dismantling those barriers.These stories and examples will help you establish or enhance an all-around winning relationship between your educational community and the public it serves.An educator's guide and a community planning guide are included. 3-part series, 57 minutes each.
#2992 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Reading, Thinking, and Concept Development: A Professional Development Series (Run time min.) DVD $299.7
The purpose of this series is to illustrate how teachers and students can work together to teach students to construct meaning and apply ideas, build student competence for learning and critical thinking, help learners retrieve, communicate, and elaborate effectively on what they have learned, and determine how authentic assessment can be integrated with informed instruction. The programs, which introduce teachers of grades 3 through senior high from urban and suburban schools across the United States, model and discuss new approaches to instruction that help students to become strategic, motivated, independent learners. The series was produced by Eric J. Cooper, Executive Director, National Urban Alliance for Effective Education, for the College Board, with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Teaching guide also available (see item #435). 6-part series.
#4522 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Bruno Bettelheim: Schooling Disturbed Children (Run time 50 min.) DVD $299.9
Acknowledged as one of the foremost child psychologists (and the center of much controversy), Bruno Bettelheim's greatest achievement was in the treatment of supposedly untreatable, unreachable children on whom everyone else had given up. In the first part of this two-part program, Bettelheim describes how his observations of SS guards and fellow prisoners at a Nazi concentration camp, as well as examination of his own behavior, affected his understanding and treatment of disturbed children. In the second part, some of his former students at the Chicago Orthogenic School-including a university professor and a Wall Street millionaire-describe how Bettelheim helped them through their disturbed childhoods to rejoin the mainstream of human life. (2 parts, 50 minutes each)
#11151 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Academic Success (Run time min.) DVD $349.75
This five-part series, developed and tested by Dartmouth College, helps students master the learning strategies they need to succeed. Accomplished and challenged students can benefit from this introduction to key study tools. Presentations are short, concrete, and highly visual. 5-part series, 10-18 minutes each.
#8641 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Educational Innovation Around the World (Run time min.) DVD $359.8
This series examines the experiences of four countries-Bangladesh, Chile, South Korea, and Uganda-as they take bold and innovative steps to improve access to education for all of their people. 29 minutes each.
#2976 Testing - Basic Skills Assessment: Using the Iowa (ITBS(R)) Tests (Run time min.) DVD $359.8
These programs are designed for teachers, administrators, and parents of children at elementary school levels. They present a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the need for standardized assessments of young pupils' basic skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Because the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills(R) are the dominant force in American basic skills testing, they have been chosen as our model. 4-part series, 32-40 minutes each.
#10217 Teaching Profession - Changing Lives: Teachers in Action (Run time min.) DVD $389.85
Teaching is arguably the most important career in the world-and certainly one of the most demanding. Yet even in a field that requires so much energy and caring, certain teachers manage to stand out from the rest. In this inspiring three-part series, nine great teachers display their diverse approaches to educating and building self-esteem in their students. 3-part series, 24-28 minutes each.
#11502 Teaching Profession - Only a Teacher: The Impact of Teachers on American Public Education (Run time 165 min.) DVD $389.85
This outstanding three-part series narrated by Stockard Channing examines both the history of teaching in the U.S. and the current state of the teaching profession. Interviews with educators, historians, celebrities, and students; a wealth of archival materials; and evocative dramatizations tell with passion and due reflection the story of America's promise to its children: the best education for everyone. 3-part series, 54-56 minutes each.
#11761 Issues In Education - School: The Story of American Public Education (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
Born out of centuries of conflict and experimentation, America's public school system is one of the nation's most significant-but still unfinished-achievements. This four-part series, narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, is a compelling odyssey that weaves archival footage, rare interviews, and on-site coverage into an unprecedented portrait of public education in America. 4-part series, 55 minutes each.
#7813 Teaching Assessment & Methods - Effective Education for Tomorrow (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
With Hedrick SmithThis informative four-part series from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith explores the programs and people behind the changing face of American education. 4-part series, 24-29 minutes each.
#9327 Technology & Education - Digital Divide: Teachers, Technology, and the Classroom (Run time min.) DVD $599.8
This critical four-part series examines the effects of technology in the classroom; how that technology is used; who has access to it, and who does not; and the price for being on the wrong side of the digital divide. Each program analyzes the issues and initiatives surrounding the nation's drive to provide all students with a high-tech education, from the viewpoint of teachers, government officials, industry executives, leaders in the fight for techno-equality, and-most important-the students themselves. 4-part series, 57 minutes each.
#35142 Issues In Education - Making Schools Work: A Roadmap for Recovery (Run time min.) DVD $699.65
This extraordinary seven-part series-a practical roadmap for schools and school districts across the country-is essential viewing for educators, administrators, advocates, and anyone else with a heartfelt concern over the future of America's children. The first program, a detailed overview of some of the nation's most successful educational initiatives, is followed by in-depth interviews with eight visionaries from the world of educational reform. 7-part series, 45-120 minutes each.
