This essential that prospective teachers develop critical thinking skills. However, they cannot develop these skills simply by reading the assigned text, taking notes during lecture, and completing exams. The case method of instruction (CMI) relies on real-life situations to teach students general problem solving and decision making through active participation in the leaming process. Thus, CMI offers an effective means of developing the critical thinking skills of prospective teachers. This article presents guidelines teacher educators can follow to create case-based classrooms. Specific recommendations are offered regarding case selection, case presentation, case writing, and case evaluation procedures.

This research describes and presents a reading comprehension strategy called the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) that was used in a graduate level children’s literature course that combined the characteristics of the case study method and critical thinking connected to picture books. The intent of the research was to provide a framework to graduate students for teaching both reading comprehension and critical thinking, The use of questioning served as the structure or strategy for the graduate students to subsequently apply this to their classrooms. Problems, questions, and issues in one picture book (Faithful Elephants, 1951) served as sources of motivationand critical thinking for the case study method.

The case study method offers a hands-on inquiry based method for teaching leadership traits. With this in mind, the case study method is used to provide opportunities for middle school students to analyze a situation and the actions of the case study charactcrs and to identify leadership behaviors. The use of the case study method allows instructors to teach character education to this group of middle school students by promoting the use of critical thinking skills through small group discussions and reflections. The staff is confident by using this method that the students are able to analyze, discuss, and draw conclusions for discussions in small groups.

Accreditation requirements for schools of education across the country have changed dramatically in recent years. Accreditation bodies are no longer willing to accept a proclamation that a particular standard or guideline is being addressed in a course through lecture or course requirements. Performance assessment is the current concept requiring schools of education to demonstrate student mastery of a standard and to provide data demonstrating this mastery. Case studies present a teaching and learning opportunity to demonstrate students have the ability to master a particular accreditation standard or guideline while also providing a method to ensure an opportunity to develop higher order thinking skills.

Accrediting institutions and state departments of education are requiring descriptions to work together to tie teacher education curriculum to state and national standards. Most state and national accrediting bodies have at least one diversity standard. Principle Three of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC; 1992) states, “The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners” (p. 18). This article describes how the college of education faculty at Fort Hays State University in Kansas and the faculty at Stillman College, a historically black college in Alabama, are creatlng an electronic learning community to meet this challenge. The program uses the case study method to lead students to think critically about their own dispositions and the strategies they are using to prepare their future teachers to meet the diverse needs of their future classrooms.

The Case Study Method of Instruction (CSMI) is an excellent vehicle for achieving many instructional goals, including employing critical thinking to facilitate learning. The best results occur when instructors have a clear understanding of the CSMI and critical thinking. In this article, the author describes the evolution of the CSMI, its notable characteristics, and its instructional benefits. The author also presents five detailed definitions of critical thinking, and explains how case studies can be used to lead students to think critically and subsequently learn.

This paper focused on the role of a multicultural professor in teaching a multicultural class in Family Studies. Specifically the author illustrates the Japanese American internment camp experience in numerous aspects of his teaching. The article makes the connection between this social, political and historical experience of Japanese Americans to other ethnic groups suffrage. The article also incorporates a variety of methods and strategies to illustrate the internment camp issue and how that could potentially influence multicultural education in the United States.

The purpose of this article is to present a classroom exercise and corresponding discussion for educators to use when teaching critical thinking skills to undergraduate students. The exercise involves applying critical thinking conccpts/questions offered by Browne and Keeley (2004) to a contemporary discussion about parenting issues among some African-American families. Comments by Dr. Bill Cosby have spurred debate about the parenting skills of some lower-income African-American parents. This article offers a classroom-based exercise that may be used to help undergraduate students develop critical thinking that are useful in engaging in productive discourse in issues of importance.

Latinos comprise the largest minority group in the U.S. and 63 percent are foreign-born. An educational gap exists between Latinos in the U.S. and other groups in the U.S. Lower educational attainment has ramifications for labor market and other socioeconomic outcomes. Factors involving family context have best explained the educational gap, along with English proficiency and migration history. This study, using the Census long-form data, explores the role of socio-economic background, ethnicity, and migration history on educational outcomes of Latinos in the Midwest, an area that is experiencing recent growth in its Latino population. Results indicate that these factors do impinge negatively on academic achievement of Latino and Non-Hispanic black youth. In order to be more effective in alleviating the achievement gap, multicultural education must not only incorporate culture and inclusion, but also a true understanding of the factors and circumstances that impact youth achievement and how these impact achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and highlight the continued suffrage of Latino families as they have struggled to provide their children with an equal education. Through providing an overview of court cases that have directly impacted the interface between Latino families and the American educationaI system, the paper provides the reader with a historical, social and cultural understanding of the politics of educating Latino children. Moreover, this backdrop provides asound foundation for illustrating the educational and family research that has focused on Latino families and school partnerships and its impact on the politics of educattng Latino children. The authors end the paper by providing insight to the future of the Latino Intelegensia and the impIications it has for Latino families, schools and their communities

The aim of this article is to bring together critical literacy or critical thinking and special education. Guided by Paulo Freire’s diligent work and my desire to work with inner-city students with special needs, my interest is twofold: first, to investigate the different ways in which inner-city youth can use critical literacy practices to have voice and affect personal and social change and, second, explore how critical literacy is connected to democratic principles essential to the foundation of progressive and transformative education for students with special need.