UCLA School Management Program - Schools & Districts

The UCLA SMP Digital Collection is a comprehensive
resource for teachers, administrators and educators to use.

To borrow a DVD or videotape from the Resource Bank, please download, complete and return a Liability Agreement Form (MS Word format) per item. Forms must be returned to the UCLA SMP Office via fax at (310) 206-4116 before any items can be released. All digital resources are available for use by UCLA SMP clients for up to two weeks.

To see descriptions of the items below, place your mouse over the title.

The Abilene ParadoxBased on his best-selling book, Dr. Harvey explains mismanaged agreement within groups where a condition of poor communication causes counter-productive decisions. The paradox is that not all group members are in agreement, but go along with decisions because they think the rest of the group does agree! Dr. Harvey helps you identify the phenomenon and gives strategies for coping with it. This is one of the most important training films ever made for anyone involved in group decision-making.
Another Set of Eyes - Five Parts“Another Set of Eyes: Techniques for Classroom Observation” (cv.068) This is a one-hour video introducing new techniques for observing and recording student/teacher interactions in the classroom. The second 30-minute video and the activities from the Trainer’s Manual provide practice with the new skills. Six observation techniques are shown to give teachers the data necessary to improve student/teacher interactions. These techniques are suitable for a variety of classes, and are designed to help experienced and novice supervisors and coaches develop a thoughtful, non judgmental approach.
“Another Set of Eyes: Techniques for Classroom Observation (Practice Tape)” (cv.069) The second 30-minute video and the activities from the Trainer’s Manual provide practice with the new skills. Six observation techniques are shown to give teachers the data necessary to improve student/teacher interactions. These techniques are suitable for a variety of classes, and are designed to help experienced and novice supervisors and coaches develop a thoughtful, non judgmental approach.

“Another Set of Eyes: Conferencing Skills (Practice Tape 1)” (cv.070) The program’s two Practice Tapes provide visual demonstrations of effective conferencing skills. Practice Tape 1 shows an elementary school teacher and principal. Each Practice Tape models the supervision process, including pre- and post-conferences and classroom observations.

“Another Set of Eyes: Conferencing Skills (Practice Tape 2)” (cv.071)The program’s two Practice Tapes provide visual demonstrations of effective conferencing skills. Practice Tape 2 shows a high school teacher and supervisor. Each Practice Tape models the supervision process, including pre- and post-conferences and classroom observations.

“Another Set of Eyes: Conferencing Skills” (cv.072)This three-tape set shows supervisors how to use conferences for motivating teachers to make long-term, positive changes in teaching behaviors. In Tape 1, discover specific conferencing techniques that develop a cooperative supervisor/teacher relationship: trust-building skills, questioning skills, responding skills, and empowering skills.
The Brain and Learning- Classroom Applications The “Brain and Learning” video series explains how the brain functions and shows examples of elementary through high school classrooms where teachers are applying brain-based principles to enhance learning. This series also encourages parents to become full partners in the effort to make education more brain friendly.

TAPE 1: New Knowledge and Understanding (cv.039)This tape explains how the brain functions and why this knowledge is so important to all educators. Interviews with leading neuroscientists and education experts describe how humans learn and why educational experiences can profoundly affect the growth and development of the brain.

TAPE 2: The Brain and Learning - Changing Schools to Reflect New Knowledge: Classroom Applications (cv.040)This tape explains how new knowledge about the brain can guide classroom teaching practices. Four basic principles of brain-compatible classrooms are presented and demonstrated in K-12 classrooms.

TAPE 3: Changing Schools to Reflect New Knowledge (cv.041)This tape will take you to two different school districts to witness how educators have successfully implemented brain-based learning throughout their organizations. Through case studies of one inner city and one rural district you will see how educators are applying knowledge of brain research to change traditional practices. You will learn proven techniques that will move your organization toward brain-compatible education.

TAPE 4: What Parents Need to Know (cv.042)This tape explains brain research to parents and helps them understand how knowledge about the brain can improve schools. It will show video clips and teacher interviews explaining how teachers can create more active and engaging classrooms. This tape features activities that parents can use at home to enhance their children’s learning.
The Brain and Reading - Three Parts “The Brain and Reading 1 - Making Connections” (cv.079)This tape explores why reading is one of the most difficult tasks for the human brain. It explains why reading must be nurtured through a series of sophisticated strategies and frequently practiced to be mastered. It discusses the latest neurological evidence for reading problems and how these discoveries may lead to early and accurate diagnosis for treatment. In addition, it exhibits the four key characteristics of brain-compatible reading instruction: stimulating and varied input; active, meaningful experiences; accurate and timely feedback; and safe and non-threatening environments.

“The Brain and Reading 2 - Strategies for Elementary School” (cv.080)This tape shows how teachers can build the foundation for good reading skills in the early years of schooling. It introduces the main aspects of reading in elementary grades and explains why learning to read involves a continuum of skills and abilities that is difficult at any age. Strategies for teaching reading in elementary school include: reciprocal teaching, sustained silent reading, guided reading, literature circles, reading aloud, small reading groups, and written book logs.

“The Brain and Reading 3 - Strategies for High School” (cv.081)The third tape in the series explains why developing students’ reading skills is just as critical in high school. Experienced teachers explain strategies for helping middle and high school students take on the different mental challenges involved in reading to learn.
The Business of ParadigmsJoel Barker discusses the importance of change, the means by which change can be anticipated, and how it can best be handled to lead to the success of an organization. He delves into an extensive discussion of paradigms, and argues that they can be extremely important to organizations because they can serve as vehicles for major change. Barker argues that resistance to new paradigms can be extremely dangerous, as it keeps one from successfully anticipating the future, and can cause one to reject a new vision, one that may be highly successful and beneficial to an organization.
Common Miracles: The New American Revolution in Learning“Correspondents Peter Jennings and Bill Blakemore reveal how we can help students realize their unique talents and learning abilities in [this] ABC News Special, ‘Common Miracles: The New American Revolution in Learning.’ The documentary features penetrating interviews with instructors, principals, psychologists, parents and students and focuses in methods and schools which provide their students with freedom and options through education.” “Illustrating several innovative and positive techniques which help young people grasp the keys to a glorious future, Jennings and Blakemore go on location to schools across the nation. They find that traditional education — including tracking, factory model schools, and IQ-based assessment — is being replaced with cooperative learning, the use of computers, apprenticeships, parent and community involvement, and the philosophy that every child is gifted. Recommended for staff and parent meetings.”
Defying Expectations “Defying Expectations: The Joyful Victories of Urban Teachers in an Age When Public Schools Are Under Seige” (cv.092)
Kozol offers an inspired counterpoint to the drill-and -grill uniformity now dominant in many of our nation’s largest inner-city schools. You’ll discover how innovative, impassioned teachers reconcile their inspired beliefs with the uniform predictability of testable proficiency. A leading advocate for issues of urban education and social justice, Kozol shares positive examples of how teachers are winning moral victories in the classroom; student successes that cannot be measured solely by exams. A must-see for every teacher who strives to create a nurturing classroom environment for student learning.From Aunt Jemima to Claire Huxtable, this video examines popular depictions of African-American women.
Flights of HopeAngel Flight pilots, who donate their time, skills, and flying expenses to help others, take you on a flight of hope. Watch as they fly a young boy to receive a long-awaited kidney transplant, and a young woman for life saving cancer treatment. And then listen as these patients tell how their flights of hope affected them. Angel Flight is a group of community-minded private pilots who provide free air transportation to and from treatment facilities for persons with medical problems who are financially distressed or unable to travel on public transportation. Angel Flight helps assure that people are not denied access to medical care because of their financial circumstances.
Freedom Writers
The Future of Learning - Interactive MultimediaThis video explores cutting edge media, including “artificial intelligence.”
Good Morning, Miss ToliverThis video looks at how Presidential Awardee Kay Toliver combines math and communication arts skills to inspire and motivate her students. The half-hour program, as seen on PBS, takes viewers to New York City’s East Harlem Tech/P.S. 72, where Kay Toliver has taught for more than 26 years.”
Helping Students Acquire and Integrate Knowledge (Five Tape Series) Tape 1 - Introduction (cv.057)
As educators, we are dedicated to helping students learn. But exactly how should we design our instruction to ensure that students acquire and integrate new knowledge in a meaningful way? This video will address: how students participate in the learning process, the two different ways of categorizing knowledge and phases students go through as they acquire and integrate each kind of knowledge.

Tape 2 - Constructing Meaning for Declarative Knowledge (cv.058)An overview of constructing meaning for declarative knowledge. It gives a look at four classroom strategies for helping students acquire and integrate new facts, concepts, ideas, and principles.

Tape 3 - Organizing & Storing Declarative Knowledge (cv.059)This video presents information on organizing & storing declarative knowledge by showing classroom examples, and providing strategies to help students progress through these phases in a meaningful way.

Tape 4 - Constructing Models for Procedural Knowledge (cv.060)This video provides an overview of constructing models for procedural knowledge which gives a look at classroom strategies for helping students learn new skills, processes, and procedures.

Tape 5 - Shaping and Internalizing Procedural Knowledge (cv.061)This video provides an overview of the last two phases of acquiring and integrating procedural knowledge: shaping and internalizing. In this video, learning procedural knowledge is revealed as critical. Classroom strategies show how to shape and internalize procedural knowledge.
How Difficult Can This Be? The F.A.T. City WorkshopFor kids with learning disabilities, the classroom can be an intimidating place. In this workshop, Richard Lavoie shows why. He leads a group of parents, educators, psychologists, and children through a series of exercises that cause Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension... feelings all too familiar to children with learning disabilities. By dramatizing the classroom experience so vividly, Lavoie lets us see the world through the eyes of a child. At the end of the workshop, participants discuss strategies for working more effectively with learning disabled children.
How to Conduct Successful Socratic Seminars This video is a 15-minute videotape that outlines how teachers can use a more effective classroom discussion technique. Classroom teachers provide real examples of: — How to establish the climate and expectations for the discussion — How to use thought-provoking questions to start and nurture the discussion — How to involve students in critical thinking and careful analysis — How to end a seminar with a critique of the discussion
This program is part of a how-to series specifically designed for teachers who are looking for practical examples to improve their daily work.
How to Improve Your Questioning TechniquesThis video is a 15-minute videotape that explores the different types of questions used in classrooms and the techniques teachers use to engage their students. Classroom teachers provide real examples of — How to make every question important and challenging for students — How to frame questions to improve student learning — How to effectively follow up on student responses — How to involve students so they ask their own questions
This program is part of a how-to series specifically designed for teachers who are looking for practical examples to improve their daily work.
How to Use Graphic Organizers to Promote Student ThinkingThis video is a 15-minute videotape that examines different types of graphic organizers and how to use them effectively. Classroom teachers provide real examples of — How graphic organizers can be used to identify information relationships — How graphic organizers can be used to guide student research and analysis — How graphic organizers can be used to enhance critical-thinking skills
This program is part of a how-to series specifically designed for teachers who are looking for practical examples to improve their daily work.
Instrumental Enrichment: Teaching Students How to Learn
Integrating the CurriculumTwo Tape Video Series
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Lorraine Monroe, UCLA SMPRenowned educator Dr. Monroe reflects on her inspirational experiences transforming one of New York’s toughest schools into a place learning."
Leadership and the New ScienceCreating resilient, adaptive, healthy organizational systems is the challenge of today’s workplace. Dr. Margaret Wheatley’s revolutionary management concepts illustrate the whys and hows in this award-winning, compelling look beyond environment, perceptions, and expectations. Discover her simpler way for managing organizations. Viewers will learn about recognizing that chaos is a necessary and creative force that creates order, sharing information to empower people and organize tasks, developing relationships to energize teams and achieving peak performance and more.
A Learner-Centered School(Two Tape Video Series)
A group of five teachers, working with supportive school and district leadership, created a vision and set of essential behaviors that has led to a student-centered school dedicated to lifelong learning. Share in the excitement, the growth, and the transformation process at Williston Middle School.

Part 1: Student Voices in a Learner-Centered School (cv.043) Share in the experiences of students, parents, and teachers, who describe what it’s like to learn in a school where the students construct their own learning plans, select and arrange resources, and apply what they learn to real-life situations. At Williston Central School in Vermont, parents, students, and teachers work collaboratively. They have dealt with multi-age groupings, nontraditional assessment, and the role of the family in the school. (50 minutes)

Part 2: Gathering the Dreamers: The Transformation Process to a Learner-Centered School (cv.044) Review the step-by-step process that Williston Central School followed in its transformation from a traditional to a learner-centered school. Meet teachers with a combined experience of more than 40 years, who left their established positions, their students, and their subject areas to risk everything on a new philosophy. (44 minutes)
The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource (Eight part series) “The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape I: Interactive Writing (Primary)” (cv.084) In response to a book they are reading, this group of first graders is discussing what they would like to do on a Saturday at home. This lesson illustrates the interactive writing strategy. The teacher engages a small group of kids in a discussion that relates the story they have just read to their real life experiences. The teacher works with a girl to help her write a sentence she used to describe what she would do on the weekend. We see the teacher helping the student with sound-letter relationships, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 2: Big Book" (Word Work)(Primary)” (cv.085) At two months into the school year, Gloria Rossback’s first graders are reading, writing, and learning about word contractions. The teacher uses poetry and big books to help the students understand contractions. We see word work in the form of sound-letter relationships, vocabulary, and punctuation.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 3: Reading Workshop" (Guided Reading) (Primary)” (cv.086) Orchestrating a primary classroom to meet the needs of all learners is part of the joy of teaching for Melissa Fleischer. She helps the children engage with the reading material by drawing on their existing knowledge to predict what will happen in the story they are about to read. Fleischer explains what she’s doing and why. We also see what the other kids in the class are doing while the teacher works with three children on guided reading. This classroom has many ESL children.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 4: Writer’s Workshop" (Intermediate)” (cv.087) Fourth grade is a year of transition in which students learn to express themselves in new ways. Lee Ann Helsing uses examples to introduce her students to descriptive writing. This classroom has many ESL students.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 5: Concept Definition Map" (High School)” (cv.088) High school students are often reluctant to admit they have reading difficulties. Amy McCann finds ways to help them learn content while improving their reading ability. This is a small class of mostly minority students. The teacher uses graphic organizer (concept definition map) to illustrate a reading strategy students can use in their content area classrooms to help them understand the subjects better.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 6: Punctuation" (Middle School)” (cv.089) These middle school students start three mornings each week by correcting grammar and punctuation in sentences teacher Marlyn Payne writes on the board. This class has a rich ethnic diversity and is inclusive of LD and students with a wide range of reading abilities.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 7: Reading - Writing - Discussion" (Middle School)” (cv.090) Teacher, Marlyn Payne, works with a wide range of reading abilities in her sixth grade class. She uses a combination of reading, writing, and discussion activities to bring her students along. The students are reading a novel, discussing it, and answering a number of questions about it.

"The Lesson Collection: A Teacher Resource Tape 8: Reciprocal Teaching - A Variation" (High School)” (cv.091) Senior English teacher, Andrew Flaherty, uses a variation of the reciprocal teaching strategy to engage his students in literature. This class is almost all minority and ESL students...highly engaged and motivated to learn old English literature. They use a variation of the reciprocal teaching strategy to predict, clarify, question, and summarize their reading.
Lessons from the New ClassroomOnce upon a time, educators viewed students as blank slates waiting to be filled from the teacher’s fountain of knowledge. Learning was considered a process not unlike an assembly line—discrete, easily compartmentalized and controllable. Those days have gone the way of the one-room schoolhouse. Today, on most campuses, chaos rules. Education is changing from the old model because students are changing. They’ve grown up in a different culture and in a different environment—in an information age rather than an industrial age, so their needs and ways of learning are different. And educators must adapt. This documentary video shows how a California high school English teacher and a North Carolina staff development expert put into practice the ideas of educational consultant Dr. Margaret Wheatley. The video examines these key new science principles: — how CHAOS supports learning — why INFORMATION should be shared — what role RELATIONSHIPS play on campus — how IDENTITY embraces values and vision — why LEADERSHIP needs to flourish

Lessons from the New WorkplaceReal-world examples of Dr. Wheatley’s new science in action provide sound methods for putting her trailblazing organizational theories into practice. This is an engaging documentary on applying Mother Nature’s lessons to the workplace. Features case studies from the U.S. Army, DuPont Corporation and a North Carolina School System. Participants will learn what it means to be part of a learning organization, the importance of the effective exchange and utilization of information, mapping organizational vision and values onto even simple tasks and more.
The Long JumpA video analyses of small group projects in early education practice in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
MauritiusDesigned for the following applications: optimizing teams, leadership and management development, total quality management, interpersonal skill training, problem-solving skills.
Names Can Really Hurt Us“Teenagers in an ethnically diverse New York City junior high school talk about their painful experiences as victims of bigotry, and also reveal their own prejudices and stereotypes. In role playing within the safety of the group, they learn to confront their tormentors and share both their anger at being victimized, and guilt for the times they have hurt others with thoughtless, sometimes cruel, remarks. Their revelations lead to healing, self-confidence and the courage to challenge bigots and bullies in school and their communities. This video is appropriate for large assemblies, as well as the classroom.”
A Passion for Customers with Tom Peters
Tom Peters gets to the heart of the "excellence message" by taking viewers on location to five leading organizations that provide superior customer service. Viewers are privy to the inner workings of these acclaimed customer-driven organizations as Peters details the essential characteristics that have given them their competitive edge: Federal Express, The Limited, Worthington Industries, University National Bank & Trust and the Louisville Redbirds. Learning Objectives:
- Promote the viewpoint that quality and service pay off &mdash in both customer and employee satisfaction;
- Improve company relations with customers by tuning employees into the details of customer service;
- Encourage the quick responsiveness that is essential to building and maintaining quality customer service;
- Recognize the importance of the front-line individual in customer relations.
The Polished Stones - Mathematics Achievement Among Chinese and Japanese Elementary School StudentsMathematics achievement among Chinese and Japanese elementary school students. “In 1980 Harold Stevenson and his colleagues began data collection on the largest comparative study of elementary education in Asian and western culture. Their methods were selected with care. For example, a team of bilingual researchers from each culture constructed tests that reflected common topics in the textbooks of all three countries. Questions were not asked if the material did not appear in the curricula. The tests were judged to be linguistically clear, interesting, and free from cultural bias by all the bilingual psychometricians. There was random sampling of students from major cities.

“The results of this careful study have blown away several myths about mathematics preparation. The Polished Stones is a 35 minute videotape that summarizes some of this research. It is directed to the audiences who are interested in educational programming and has been shown to parents’ groups, teachers, and school board administrators.”
The Power of One
This video helps you understand how a powerful vision of the future can:
- Provide direction in times of change and uncertainty
- Improve the quality of decision-making
- Dispel feelings of helplessness in turbulent times
- Help individuals and organizations focus on their goals and achieve remarkable results
The Power Of Vision
Prejudice- Answering Children’s Questions Hosting an audience of young children as culturally diverse as our nation, Peter Jennings leads an investigation of prejudice — or what he terms as "the child of ignorance.” Featuring a team of experts who conduct several enlightening experiments designed to help children better understand the roots of prejudice, the special presentation scrutinizes some of the influences that shape children’s ideas about the world as well as examines stereotypes based on race, religion, and disability.
A Private UniverseFrom its famous opening scene at a Harvard graduation, this classic of educational research brings into sharp focus the dilemma facing all educators: Why don’t even the brightest students truly grasp basic science concepts? This award-winning program traces the problem with interviews of eloquent Harvard graduates and professors to Heather, a bright middle-school student who has some strange ideas about the orbits of the planets. Equally fitting for education methods classes, teacher workshops, and presentations to the public, it is an essential resource for any educational video collection.
A Sample of a WASC/CDE: Focus on Learning
Schools of the Future - Four Part Series “Schools of the Future Part 1 - Learning On Line” (cv.027) See how students and teachers are using the Internet, distance learning and other technologies to create new opportunities to explore the world beyond classroom walls. Find out why the promises made for past school technologies were often unfulfilled, and how past mistakes can be avoided when putting today’s tools to work.

“School of the Future Part 2 - Putting the Tools to the Test” (cv.028) Learn how technology promotes learning by doing in ways never before possible. Author-inventor Seymour Papert teams up with a group of children to tinker with new projects and computer programs in part two of this series. Other highlights include “high-touch” experiential learning and a “Schools of Thought” project.

“School of the Future Part 3 - Beyond the Hype” (cv.029) U.S schools will spend more than $4 billion on computers, software and related products in 1996. Is the investment paying off? Part three examines why some schools are still struggling to obtain computers more than a decade after they started showing up in classrooms. Get a preview of new high tech teaching tools on the horizon and join NSA scientists as they experiment with virtual reality to teach science courses. A fascinating glimpse of the future!

“School of the Future Part 4 - A Town Hall Meeting” (cv.030) Stimulate dialogue in your district with this lively discussion about the future of learning and educational issues. Featuring: Rick Spitz, Apple Computers; John Maso, the Monsato Fund; Lew Perelman, author Schools Out; Bettie Schwartz, technology consultant; Linnie Logan, teacher; Richard Lookatch, Agency for Instructional Technology.
The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in AmericaThe Shadow of Hate spans three centuries to examine this country’s struggle to live up to its ideals of liberty, equality and justice for all. Through documentary footage and eyewitness reports, viewers are given a powerful perspective on historical events from the ordinary people who lived through them.
Sharon Taberski: A Close Up at Teaching Reading
- Video 1 - Independent Reading and Reading Share (cv.046)
- Video 2 - Read Aloud and Shared Reading (cv.047)
- Video 3 - Reading and Conferences (cv.048)
- Video 4- Guided Reading (cv.049)
Starting Small: Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and the Early GradesThe film visits five early childhood programs in which teachers and children are building classroom communities that promise a brighter future for all of us. Through documentary footage, teacher interviews and commentary from child development experts, viewers will learn why more and more early childhood educators have come to recognize that teaching tolerance outright in the curriculum is as fundamental and far-reaching as teaching children how to read.
Successful Intelligence: The Fourth International Teaching for Intelligence Conference
Robert Sternberg is a published author and a professor of psychology and education at Yale University. The following is a series of questions that can be used to stimulate discussion of successful intelligence:
- what teaching strategies can be applied to assess a student’s learning style?
- why is it important for teachers to teach beyond their own patterns or strengths?
- how can successful intelligence be taught across the curriculum?
- how can teachers use assessment strategies to address these different thinking patterns?
- why must the assessment tool be compatible with the instructional method?
Teaching for Understanding (Professional Inquiry Kit)Kit which includes 8 folders of print material, 272 pp and a 70 minute videotape. AUDIENCE: All pre-k through adult-aged educators, especially school-based or district-based study groups, school improvement teams, or site-based management councils interested in studying teaching for understanding together. CONTENT: This kit is designed to help school study groups improve their understanding of teaching for understanding. Each folder in the kit contains resources such as journal articles, book chapters, actual student work, case studies, and video clips that study groups can use to explore the topic of teaching for understanding. Activities and suggestions for group study of the resources are included.
Technology Planning
To Make a Portrait of a LionThe story of a project involving 5-year old children and a landmark.
What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future
The recommendations of the Commission are a number of proposals to improve teaching throughout the career. This video illustrates the major points of the Commission’s report with vignettes on these subjects:
- New models for teacher preparation
- Support for beginning teachers
- Rewards for teaching knowledge and skill
- Redesigning professional development
- Restructuring schools
A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers - Invitation to Education with Mike RoseMike Rose, teacher and associate director of writing programs at UCLA, has been working for over twenty years with people on the margin of society: inner-city children, Vietnam veterans, under prepared students at a community college, adults trying to overcome a lifetime of disadvantage. Rose writes about his students in his book Lives on the Boundary, and in this episode talks about them and his ideas on education.
A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers - Sara LightfootLightfoot describes what makes certain schools good and some teachers memorable. She highlights the problems and promise of American schools and stresses the need to put learning back into teaching.