The Treasure at the Bottom of the Brain
by Henrietta C. Leiner and Alan L. Leiner

New tools have allowed researchers to learn more about brain function. The cerebellum, underestimated for centuries, now seems to be the complex "computer" that helps the brain function efficiently and effectively.

Upside Down and Inside Out: A Challenge to Redesign Education Systems to Fit the Needs of a Learning Society by John Abbott

New Horizons International Advisory Board member John Abbott proposes a complete redesign of educational systems to reflect current research and a completely new way of understanding how young people learn how to learn, and are inducted into adult life. Learning is essentially a social, collaborative, problem-solving activity. To support creative, independent learners, formal school systems will have to be turned upside down, resources reallocated and found throughout the community.

Addressing Urban School Reform: Issues and Alliances (this article removed 11/2006 because our permission to reprint was not renewed)

by Eric J. Cooper, Ph.D.

This article explores problems related to urban education, suggests approaches that address how classrooms may be instructionally restructured, and speaks to the need for local, regional, and national alliances which are based on the assumption that schooling and learning is a multi-institutional responsibility. Dr. Cooper will be presenting at the Assessing Learning III: Tools for Essential Learning conference at the end of September.

Embryological Development of the Human Brain
by Arnold B. Scheibel, M.D.

In the newest addition to the Brain Lab, Dr. Scheibel tells the fascinating story of how the brain develops in human beings from conception to birth. He makes clear that this complex, rapidly developing process is affected continually by the environment in which it is taking place. What mothers eat, drink, and feel -- and the environments which they themselves experience--affect daily the neural development of their unborn child.

What I Learned in the Rainforest
by Tachi Kiuchi

In a keynote address to the World Future Society, Tachi Kiuchi, Managing Director of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, General Manager of Global Communications, Former Chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric America, and Chairman of The Future 500, shares lessons he has learned about the link between the environment and the emerging information economy. He outlines five lessons learned in the rainforest that can benefit everyone as we change our institutions to meet the needs of a changing world. As he says in his talk,"I learned how we might operate our company not just to save the rainforest, but to be more like the rainforest."

A Case Study of Community Building and School District Renewal
by Michael Silver, Ph.D.

Tukwila, Washington is an area in transition, a mobile community with many newly-arrived immigrants, and socioeconomic segregation. These forces tend to polarize the residents, making it hard to marshal resources to solve problems. A report compiled for the Institute for Educational Inquiry by the Superintendent of the South Central School District on the collaborative process that resulted in the Tukwila Community Summit, which was held to identify the existing strengths within South Central and Tukwila that can be built upon when addressing the issues facing the community.

The Naturalist Intelligence by Thomas Hoerr
Patterns and the Eighth Intelligence by Robert Barkman
An Interview with Howard Gardner by Ronnie Durie

This trio of articles on Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences first appeared in Mindshift Connection, a publication of Zephyr Press. Gardner proposes that the ability to categorize and classify plants and animals is a skill that stands apart from the other seven intelligences first outlined in his book Frames of Mind. The first two articles describe this new intelligence; the third is a brief interview with Gardner conducted by the editor of Mindshift Connection in which he cautions educators not to use the theory of multiple intelligences to categorize children, but rather as a powerful tool that allows us to achieve learning and teaching goals more effectively.

Learning Without Frontiers:
Technology and Learning Portfolio

Manish Jain, of Learning Without Frontiers, invites your participation in and discussion of the new portfolio on technology and open learning communities that has just been released. "Space, time, circumstance, language and socioeconomic status are just some of the factors that limit access to relevant learning opportunities. Information and communication technologies can play a key role in facilitating and supporting meaningful change in the areas of education and development. This, however, will require more concerted and connected efforts to reflect on and understand the catalyzing potential of contexts. We hope this website will foster critical discussion and creative action, and welcome your feedback."

Announcement: Assessing Learning III: Tools for Essential Learning

Don't miss the third annual assessment conference where you'll get the tools you need to build an environment that supports brain development and enhances human intelligence. You will learn new assessment techniques that allow for active assessment, that encourage self-evaluation for students and teachers, and that use assessment as a teaching tool and more.

Announcement: Education on the Edge of Possibility: Exploring the conditions that facilitate learning within self-organizing systems

Geoffrey Caine and Renate Caine host four days of exhilarating dialogue with leading thinkers, interspersed with explorations of art and music and set in the mountains of Southern California.

Look for these articles in the next issue . . .

• Global Consciousness Change: Indicators of a New Paradigm
  by Duane Elgin with Coleen LeDrew
  An excerpt from a new guide designed to promote community dialogue and study.

• The Ten Commandments of Community
  by Richard D. Lamm
  Ten building blocks to consider as we restructure our institutions so that they work for everyone in our increasingly diverse communities.

We received lots of e-mail this summer recommending web resources. This month's Have You Seen . . . links were all suggested by New Horizons network members. If you know of an interesting web resource that offers a true service to teachers, parents, or students we'd like to hear about it.

• An article in the Christian Science Monitor January 28, 1998, links to Eric Cooper's article Addressing School Reform. The article, "Urban Schools Targeted for Makeover", describes a round of initiatives calculated to close the urban achievement gap that will require rethinking the whole system.

• The Multicultural Pavilion at the University of Virginia provides a variety of helpful internet resources including a listserv for teachers and students, links to research and articles, and a Teacher's Corner.

• William S. Bradley's presentation, Expecting the Most From School Design, was delivered at a conference on educational design held this summer at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Educational Design. In the web version, Bradley discusses five principals of design that are essential to consider as we plan the next generation of America's schools.

• The National Network for Child Care Child Development Database has articles and links to a wealth of resources on early learning. Go to CyferNet for more links to hundreds of online resources for children, youth, families, care providers, youth service workers and teachers. Try the link to Science and Technology Programs for a variety of hands-on science activities.

• The Media Awareness Network is a nonprofit Canadian organization providing support for media literacy education. Their website offers many links and resources including Teaching Media, lesson plans, ideas and articles for teaching media literacy K-12.

• The always innovative and technologically exciting Jason Project invites you to explore our world and beyond with scientists and researchers. Teacher support for Jason activities is outstanding, allowing students to interact with researchers and contribute their own data to the current Jason exploration. The project builds student and educator skills and knowledge in the areas of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, geography, art, literature and history. Visit the description of Oceans of Earth and Beyond , the ninth Jason expedition, exploring earth's oceans while considering the ongoing research being done by NASA as researchers there explore liquid environments on other planets in our solar system and examine particles collected from a newly discovered particle stream.

• Science Learning Network Fun, hands-on project ideas at a nifty website.

• Another science website, Science By Mail! lets students correspond with real scientists. Users of this service praise the quality of the interactions between kids and researchers who are anxious to show the next generation of scientists that science can be a life's work.

• Take the Bat Quiz at the Lawrence Hall of Science website. Try to answer nine questions about our mosquito-consuming nighttime neighbors and learn fabulous facts. An ideal Halloween weblink for classrooms and families.

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