Pink Is for Girls

Leaders must know how to use evidence to inform district decisions, particularly as decisions related to learning become standard practice, and provide professional development that builds the organizational capacity needed to support continuous and sustainable district improvement. Collaboration and implementation of a shared vision and mission facilitates the change process. In this case, the curriculum director, Mr. Cooper has developed a plan for curriculum changes in which boys and girls would be separated by classroom, and participate in distinct curriculums based on the premise that innate differences between boys and girls should drive educational models and instructional strategies designed to address the needs and strengths of each sex. This case examines the importance of fostering collaboration, passion for achievement, commitment, and trust.

Summary Writing: A Tool to Improve Student Comprehension and Writing in Psychology

A psychology instructor and a Writing Across the Curriculum director used summary writing to improve text comprehension and develop student writing skills. The mean score on the final exam for the class with summary writing was 8% higher than the mean score of the class without summary writing. Students evaluated these activities as effective tools to (a) learn the content of the course; (b) develop more effective strategies for reading text; and (c) make their own writing clearer, more concise, and more accurate.