The main idea skill presents a structure that is the basis of all kinds of understanding and narration activities. In this respect, while it covers all language skills, it also lays the groundwork for all learning levels and lessons because people communicate through meaning transfer. Therefore, the importance of main idea teaching is not limited…

Descriptions of mathematical thinking have an extended lineage. Sometimes accurate and sometimes not, sometimes misinterpreted and sometimes not, characterizations of mathematical thought processes have inspired and at times misled people interested in designing or framing mathematics instruction. Challenges the field faces in conceptualizing…

Despite broad consensus that a research-to-practice gap exists in the education of students with autism, the extent of this gap has not been well studied. We surveyed 99 teachers in Ohio about their highest priority goals for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), their approach for addressing these goals, the degree to which students had…

Scholarship that moves from research into practice shares characteristics that make it visible to teachers, friendly to their worldview, practicable for realities of K-12 schools, and easily sharable. That doesn't mean however, that it's good or effective. Connecting research and practice is important work, if only because it has the…

As long as there have been public schools, there have been reformers of public schools. All too often, they have insisted on sweeping changes; enamored of their bold, new idea, they haven't considered whether anything established ought to endure. The result? A century of faddish ideas, but little real progress. Among today's most vocal reformers…

In many teacher education programs, some form of inquiry or practitioner research is now included in the preservice teacher education curriculum. The intention is to help teacher candidates become professionals who are lifelong learners who raise questions and research their practice across the professional career. At the same time, teacher…

Phyllis Schlafly's and Beverly LaHaye's essays on outcome-based education contain numerous inaccurate points, assertions, conclusions, and allegations that have appeared in various conservative newsletters. OBE is a time-honored, highly effective, common-sense way of designing curriculum, delivering instruction, and documenting student learning…

To achieve the national goals for education, we must exert the same energy, time, money, and practice on education basics as we devote to sports, video games, rock music, television viewing, shopping, and other diversions. Modest suggestions, such as a law that switches off TV nationally during early weekday evenings, are provided. (MLH)

Purpose-centered education model identifies broad purpose at each learning stage enabling students to apply their academic learning to meet external challenges. The purpose should involve a socially useful outcome and focus on a substantive knowledge area that is developmentally enriching. Teaching should involve five dimensions of knowledge and…

The process of education is intended to free the mind from certainty, to liberate children and adolescents so that they can consider options not entertained by their parents. After distinguishing between the intended and the operational curricula, this article examines five desirable features of intended curricula. Includes 14 references. (MLH)

It is difficult to grasp multiple-intelligences theory and implement its implications effectively. MI is not a quick fix. However, educators who thoughtfully use the theory to support their larger educational goals find it a worthy partner in school improvement. The author praises the efforts of several researchers and practitioners in this…

The curriculum is not a training ground for economic productivity. Curriculum should interact fully with students' world and encourage students' theoretical understanding of their social, emotional, and intellectual encounters. (10 references) (MLF)

Themes discussed in reviews of seven books on educational management include the profession's changing context, management of change, managerial discourses, leadership micropolitics, the shift from management to leadership, power and values, and the education/management linkage. Educational management should stress educational goals, not…

This paper examines the issue of national curriculum standards within the context of social studies education. The paper explores both the recent "conservative-liberal" consensus in favor of (at least) the idea(l) of national curriculum standards and the nascent opposition movements to national curriculum standards growing within both…

Discusses an organizational paradox: How can staff be led in ways that enable them to become autonomous followers? Discusses this leadership vision in the light of contemporary trends in society, politics, governance, and culture and the efforts to promote and stress the managerial aspects of school leadership. (Contains 28 references.)…