(Fletcher & Crochiere, 2004) Motivation to Learn Motivation to learn can be defined as the degree of cognitive effort invested to achieve educational goals (Li, 2003). It can also be understood as the degree of "seriousness" with which a student attempts to address the commitments and targets school with the purpose of: a) master the knowledge and skills rather than and get away with doing the minimum, b) clearly verify the

1 million today, Smith explains. About 79% of ESL students have Spanish as their native language, and hence, Smith insists, "there is an urgent need for as many teachers as possible to be skilled in and passionate about working with ESL students" (Smith, 2008, p. 5). The mentor (an ESL specialist) needs to apply "professional knowledge to actual practice" when working with another teacher, Smith explains. There are two components to

More importantly, our appreciative and participatory stance with our co-researchers has allowed us to witness and learn about the cutting edge of leadership work in such a way that is and feels qualitatively different from other research traditions we have used in the past, because it is built on valuing. Even though it is challenging at times (Ospina et al. 2002), our inquiry space is enhanced by our collaboration

special education has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of the special classroom down the hall where special education students were hidden away and kept from the general student population. Gone are the days when special education students were given comic books to read and passed because they were there. Civil rights mandates of the 1960's turned the world of special education inside out and today, four decades later,

country's public schools are experiencing dwindling state education budgets and increased unfunded mandates from the federal government, the search for optimal approaches to providing high quality educational services for students with learning disabilities has assumed new importance and relevance. In an attempt to satisfy the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a growing number of special educators agree that full inclusion is the optimal approach

Co-Teaching Amy's story perfectly illustrates some of the main issues and challenges that arise in co-teaching scenarios. Especially when one or more parties are unfamiliar with co-teaching, miscommunications and misunderstandings are inevitable. Amy's story also demonstrates the importance of training co-teachers, educating them as to the various models and methods of collaborative teaching in heterogeneous classroom environments. Many of the challenges that arise during co-teaching can be solved by simple common