Numerous documented examples are presented of how research has contributed to the development of constructive education policies and practices throughout the country. Part 1 discusses the use of research in California, South Carolina, Florida, and Connecticut. Also described are the efforts of specific organizations that are using research to…

Recent cognitive and historical research as well as the perspectives of workers can challenge the popular myths of literacy and work. It is believed that workers do not possess the necessary literacy skills for current and future jobs. Forecasters specify which groups will dominate the future work force--women, minorities, and immigrants. Since…

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, SCANS determined the level of skills required to enter employment. Fundamental changes in the nature of work were identified; these changes were found to hold…

This document describes a programs designed to help students attain the scientific awareness needed to function as effective members of society. The Senior High Science Programs (Alberta, Canada) will focus on students learning the big interconnecting ideas and principles of science; place an increased emphasis on developing methods of inquiry…

The phrase "technology and education" usually means inventing new gadgets to teach the same old stuff in a thinly disguised version of the same old way. Moreover, if the gadgets are computers, the same old teaching becomes incredibly more expensive and biased towards its dullest parts, namely the kind of rote learning in which measurable…

Discrete mathematics, the mathematics of decision making for finite settings, is a topic of great interest in mathematics education at all levels. Attention is being focused on resolving the diversity of opinion concerning the exact nature of the subject, what content the curriculum should contain, who should study that material, and how that…

Reasons for poor performance in mathematics by students in the United States are discussed. According to the authors, too many students never experience arithmetic at a physical, concrete level. Students are drilled in arithmetic facts without any meaningful context and are given few opportunities to use numerical concepts in real-life…

This paper proposes a model for building pedagogical knowledge and improving teaching based on the practice of lesson study. In lesson study a small group of instructors jointly designs, teaches, studies and refines a single class lesson called a research lesson. We describe how college teachers can do lesson study in their classrooms. We explore…

It is one thing to lament the financial pressures put on universities, quite another to face up to the poverty of resources for thinking about what universities should do when they purport to offer a liberal education. In "Powers of the Mind", former University of Chicago dean Donald N. Levine enriches those resources by proposing fresh…

Students' brains are wired to make them natural, curious learners. The mathematical world around them offers a vast classroom, filled with shapes, spaces, quantities, and experiences to discover and explore, all leading to the construction of understanding. Teachers can use this natural curiosity to tap the inborn neural mechanisms that motivate…

The need for new thinking in the world, both official leadership and for all participating members of society has been a glaring reality in recent times. To Berenice Bleedorn, the idea of teaching students how to use the full potential of their thinking apparatus is not absurd--simply logical and timely. Creative expression is central to the…

This paper synthesizes the issues, problems, research, and current best practice in secondary education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean enroll much lower percentages of school age children in secondary education than the region's chief competitors, and the region's secondary education is inadequate by…

This action research project sought to develop students' critical thinking skills by implementing a variety of instructional strategies. Targeted for this study were students in one early childhood special education program, one kindergarten class, and one eighth grade science class. The deficit in critical thinking and problem-solving skills was…

California public schools are changing both how they teach math, and also what they expect students to learn. In December 1997, state leaders adopted new math standards that include more than basic arithmetic skills. The framework lists five areas of math called "strands," that define what students from kindergarten through seventh grade…

The Theatre Arts Standards of Learning identify the essential content and skills required in the theatre arts curriculum for the middle school and core high school courses in Virginia's public schools. The standards are designed to be cumulative and progress in complexity by course from the middle school through the secondary level. Throughout…