Effective teacher incentive systems should reflect the principles that intrinsic rewards are more powerful than extrinsic ones and that encouraging collegiality is preferable to rewarding individual teachers. (Author/TE)

Keeping a journal of classroom experiences can help students express their understandings of the concepts they learn in school and how the lessons relate to their own lives. An eight-item reference list is provided. (Author)

Kindergarten students in the Portland, Oregon, Writing to Read program are learning to use typewriters and computers to write creatively even before they begin using conventional spelling based on the assumption that children are curious about language. A 13-item reference list is provided. (Author/DCS)

When they write on topics with personal meaning and read one another's papers to see whether they are communicating, even hard-to-teach students recognize the power of language and their ability to use it. An 11-item reference list is provided. (Author/DCS)

Describes a program that helps students build general learning skills and subject specific skills. The success of the program is based on providing students an environment conducive to active learning. (MD)

A number of studies conducted during the last decade have found that students' achievement increases when teaching methods match their learning styles--biological and developmental characteristics that affect how they learn. Correlational studies and experimental research studies are reviewed on instructional environments, perceptual preferences,…

School systems can promote computer literacy among teachers by starting at the administrative level, making inservice comprehensive and long-term, providing concrete support, and offering opportunities for participation. (Author)

As a response to Joyce Killian's article in the same issue of "Educational Leadership" (EA 513 318), this article discusses the increased staff development responsibility placed on administrators as a result of the necessity for an appropriate environment and opportunities for promoting voluntary technological growth. (Author/DCS)

Describes how a high school teacher successfuly organized, funded, and involved students and community members in an archaeological dig under the school's front lawn. (IW)

Reviews the research on the effectiveness of five thinking skills training programs: Instrumental Enrichment, Philosophy for Children, Structure-of-Intellect (SOI), Problem Solving and Comprehension: A Short Course in Analytical Reasoning, and Odyssey. Compares and contrasts the content of each program and describes the relative lack of adequate…

Even in schools termed "outstanding" by local and state reviews, few teachers demonstrate artful, inspired classroom instruction. Probable causes include (1) the emphasis in schools on order, competency, and basics, (2) random minilectures, (3) teachers' growing old in place, and (4) the dearth of younger career teachers. (IW)