With the historical difficulty of changing classroom practices as background, this paper represents a teacher educator's critical investigation of the outcomes of her own instructional practices. Grounded in critical feminist theory, the narrative inquiry critiques epistemological stances taken over 4 years by a literacy educator for elementary…

This study describes the field experience of teaching interns (n=6) who were enrolled in the Cooperative Professional Education Program (CPEP), an alternative education program at Portland State University (Oregon), and addresses the most significant influences in the learning process. The methods employed were observation of field experiences and…

A February 1990 meeting, held at El Paso Community College (Texas) honoring language and cultural diversity in the adult literacy field is summarized. The report describes the conference's tour activities sampling local cultural sites, presents "quotable quotes" of participants and leaders, and reviews the issues and trends in literacy…

Originally developed as part of a project for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on reasearch about teaching and learning reading is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes an overview of the project; a comprehensive search of the ERIC…

This literature review addresses perceived positive contributions of disabled persons to their families and proposes a new framework for such research. Considered first is the theoretical framework underlying Family Stress and Coping Theory, specifically the ABCX model of R. Hill and its modifications. Next, family research trends in the…

This paper describes three alternative perspectives--information processing, social constructivism, and Piagetian/naturalist--of reading/writing connections and suggests instructional implications influenced by the three perspectives. The paper explores each theory in terms of basic assumptions, related research, and strengths and limitations and…

The idea of the teacher as researcher is presented from several different perspectives--the teacher's, the administrator's, and the university based researcher's--to convey a sense of what it means to be a teacher/researcher. The following chapters are included: (1) The Teacher as Researcher--A Historical Perspective (Mary W. Olson); (2) The Door…

This paper describes the rationale, the processes and the outcomes of a teacher-based research project which was undertaken during 1987-88. In the course of the project, university faculty and local school district teachers came together to work, forming two kinds of collegial relationships--teachers working with their fellow teachers and…

A report is given of a collaborative 3-year teacher education improvement project which was begun in 1986. Project participants included the Catholic University Department of Education, District of Columbia and Montgomery County (Maryland) public schools, Washington, D.C. parochial schools, and a private school. The aim of the project was to…

Noting that skills and knowledge taught in schools have become abstracted from their uses in the world, this paper clarifies some of the implications for the nature of the knowledge that students acquire through a proposal for the retooling of apprenticeship methods for the teaching and learning of cognitive skills. The paper specifically proposes…

Intended for educators, politicians, and the corporate community, this book examines the facts and the serious implications of the complicated problem of illiteracy, placing it squarely within the context of America's history and current cultural environment, and recommending far-reaching, programmatic solutions rather than "quick fixes." The book…

English education continues to be threatened by standards for research, measurement, and evaluation that ignore the nature of the discipline and devalue teachers' practices. The dominant models for assessing the effectiveness of English teachers reflect assumptions taken from quantitative social sciences or, in the case of models of…

The study attempted to: (1) identify and examine college teachers' espoused and implicit theories of teaching, using Menges and Rando's analysis categories; and (2) explore differences between assumptions about traditional and non-traditional students when college teachers based their diagnoses of problematic events on untested speculations.…

Research on teaching does not play a significant role in the practice of teaching in schools despite the fact that the first scientific studies of teaching were reported nearly 90 years ago. Although there is clear evidence that practical classroom experience unaided by research is not a sufficient basis for effective teaching, it is also true…

A review of recent literature and commission reports identifies persistent problems in two areas of educational administration: research and preparation programs. The two problems are linked in that they are often supervised by faculty who direct but do not themselves perform research. Two areas of research needs are the poor research skills of…