Major themes from the previous light articles on literacy, reasoning, and education are highlighted. Common inferences about the needs for organizational change, loosening of governmental rules and controls, and field-initiated research are described. The general exclusion of the affective domain from this discussions of higher order reasoning is…

Research by Labov dealing with everyday speech and its relation to thinking and reasoning is critiqued, and Cooper's detailed criticism of Labov's research is discussed. Researchers should pay attention to actual speech in settings that are natural, rather than using only quantitative abstractions from artificial and restricted verbal encounters.…

Examines the differences between concrete and abstract concepts and their implications for instructional design and teaching. How specific concepts are stored in and retrieved from memory is described, analogies are discussed as an instructional tool in abstract concept learning, and a possible instructional strategy for teaching abstract concepts…

Reviews various definitions of the concept of distance and suggests that basic notions regarding distance require directed learning. Identifies challenges regarding relative distance for geography researchers and teachers. (Author/DB)

The research and development of mental (standardized) testing and its relationship to educational practice is traced historically from its pre-World War I roots to its controversial national prominence in the 1970s. How standardized tests have been used in research and in schools is analyzed. (BS)

Three research areas relevant to the relationship between writing and reasoning are reviewed: (1) cultural consequences of written language, including changes in reasoning ability; (2) individual consequences of particular writing experiences; and (3) the status of writing activities in American schools. Further research is needed to establish how…