JEWISH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

“Few would disagree that if Catholic schools are to continue to develop quantitatively and qualitatively, changes must be wrought.”     

The Uses and Misuses of Evaluation

Current research indicates that creativity in teaching can and should be enhanced in order to promote student learning. This article begins by stressing the importance of creativity in education and the ways in which creative teaching benefits students. Next, it addresses key points for better understanding classroom creativity by identifying common barriers that counteract or hinder teacher creativity. After identifying the characteristics of teachers who are considered creative educators, this article concludes with general recommendations, as well as specific strategies, for increasing the level of creative teaching in today's classrooms.     

Confronting Physical Activity Programming Barriers for People with Disabilities: The Empowerment Model

Community-based physical activity programs for people with disabilities have barriers that are unique to their program leader qualifications and the population they serve. Moran and Block (2010) argued that there is a need for practical strategies that are easy for communities to implement, maximize resources, and minimize the impact of barriers on each individual. The purpose of this article was to build upon the work of Moran and Block by identifying and systematically addressing barriers to physical activity for people with disabilities in ways that target their sources of self-efficacy. The Empowerment Model is introduced, along with its multi-tiered empowerment continuum of training, support, and programming strands. The goal of the tiered empowerment continuum is to progressively move populations to more independent levels of training, support, and programming.