Analysis of a case study of a whitewater rafting accident reveals that such accidents tend to result from multiple actions. Many events leading up to such accidents include procedural and process factors, suggesting that hard-skills technical training is an insufficient approach to accident prevention. Contains 26 references. (SAS)

An introduction to this theme issue on special education transition policy and practice summarizes articles and notes a focus on the importance of transitional services in the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Emphasis is on practical information based on research, legislative development, and empirical evidence to support best…

Summarizes Dewey's essay "The Educational Situation: As Concerns the Elementary School" and discusses implications for today's elementary school curriculum. (PKP)

This article highlights major points of each of the articles in this special issue on the research to practice gap in special education. It then considers some broader implications, especially the need to foster and establish collegial networks to counter the isolation in which many teachers currently work. (Contains references.) (DB)

Presents multiple readings of the phrase 'what's left in the field' that are juxtaposed in response to a recurring press for standardization of purpose for curriculum studies. States that memoirs provide a vehicle for positing various perspectives on debates in the curriculum field. Includes references. (CMK)

Offers twelve lessons that can be learned by examining the ideas and practices concerning the improvement of schools. Discusses the potential and complexities of each lesson in detail and provides a summary of what can be learned from U.S. history. Includes references. (CMK)

Explores the extent to which published advice on the organization and structure of theses and dissertations concurs with what happens in actual practice. Examines guides and handbooks that focus on thesis and dissertation writing and postgraduate research. Found that only a few books devoted a substantial amount of space to this topic. Discusses…

Provides a glimpse of a few schools who have exemplary project-based environmental education programs. Speculates as to how such programs will contribute to scientific literacy in the future. Focuses on elementary and secondary schools in Kentucky, Maryland, and Florida. (DDR)

Presents seven attributes of democracy (equality, important knowledge, nature of authority, inclusiveness, participatory decision making, rights, and an optimal environment). Students learn to be responsible citizens in situations where they can exercise ever-increasing power and where they have very little power. (Contains 65 references.) (MLH)

This article presents the strategies instruction model as an effective intervention for students with learning disabilities. It describes the model's components (curriculum, instruction, environment), its theoretical basis, the teacher's role, teacher-student interaction, and appropriate contexts. Studies of the model's effectiveness are…

Presents a framework for creating competency-based models, including an analysis of the utility of national competency banks. Presents a checklist that institutional researchers can use during and after the implementation phase to guide institutional success. Concludes with a bibliography of selected Internet-based resources in the area of…

In this paper we describe a peer mentoring program for new elementary school head teachers in Slovenia. First, the results of a preliminary needs assessment are reported, and the dissonance between new head teacher expectations and the realities of their work are described. We then present an overview of the two cross-cutting themes that emerged,…

This paper argues that there is a need, in southern Africa, to develop in-depth understanding in educational reform initiatives. Through ongoing reflexive development of a professional development programme in environmental education, we have found that case-study methodology, which emphasizes context-dependent knowledge, is significant for…

In this article, the author profiles the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School (Hyde Park, Massachusetts) and describes the school's culture. The school's students, who are in grades 6 through 12, are surrounded by rituals, routines, and relationship-building activities. Pacific Rim's culture stems from and supports the school's…

Wondering whether they are really making a difference to young people's mathematics learning is a question that most teachers have probably wrestled with at some stage of their careers. However, evidence from a multitude of research studies shows that students' mathematics learning and their dispositions towards mathematics are indeed…