Offers a strategy for having composition students write a clear, complete set of instructions for performing some task, while eliminating the possibility for plagiarism and collaboration. (JC)

Kindergarten practices should reflect the best of what we know about how young children learn and develop. Discusses the following aspects of kindergarten: (1) learning knowledge, skills, dispositions, and feelings; (2) risks of academic pressures on young children; (3) development of interest, communicative competence, and social competence; (4)…

Study of kindergarten retention in Colorado reveals the following: (1) kindergarten retention does nothing to boost subsequent academic achievement; (2) regardless of what it is called, kindergarten retention creates a social stigma; and (3) kindergarten retention feeds the escalation of inappropriate academic demand in first grade. Policy…

This article introduces a mini-series on research methods in school psychology. A conceptual overview of research methods is presented, emphasizing the degree to which each method allows the inference that treatment affects outcome. Experimental and nonexperimental, psychometric, descriptive, and meta-analysis research methods are outlined. (SLD)

The psychological and methodological bases of the Agassi teaching method are described to provide a context for evaluating the theory. A brief history of Selzian psychology and Popper's methodology is given. The Agassi method, which stresses learning through questioning, is detailed. (JL)

The impact of ICAI systems on teacher role, classroom structure, educational goals and preservice teacher training are discussed. The artificial intelligence research community is urged to consider the societal impact of its work. (Author/JL)

Whole language learning, which is often defined in abstract terms, is discussed in terms of its rationale, its practical applications, its implications for how communication skills are taught, and its classroom implementation. (JL)

Reviews five composition textbooks, assessing their attempts to integrate the reading and writing processes through literature and composition. Examines the textbooks' theoretical instantiation and notes their lack of success in achieving the reading/writing connection. (MM)

In response to Kenneth Kavale's theoretical objections to the model of severe discrepancy in determining the existence of learning disabilities, this article describes advantages of discrepancy considerations and presents a model that emphasizes the role of the learning disabilities teacher in diagnosing and remediating specific learning…

This critique of H. Lee Swanson's "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities" comments on Swanson's concept of learning disabilities, cognitive science, and information processing theory. A different research and theory-building agenda is proposed, focusing on society's definition of learning disabilities and instructional issues and…

Provides an overview of research relative to achievement in the area of similarity. Suggests activities which might improve student understanding of the concept. (PK)

Offers a model of assessment for disabled readers that yields information not only about current performance but also about the potential for learning. (FL)

Suggests that an interpretive view of communication, with philosophical assumptions about the nature of persons and communication, provides a perspective from which scholars study argumentation. Presents arguments supporting the value of the interpretive perspective, and answers criticisms by showing how those criticisms are grounded in…

Proposes a "critical mass" explanation for the diffusion of interactive media, such as telephone, electronic mail, or computer conferencing, within communities. Considers two special characteristics of interactive media: (1) that widespread usage creates universal access, and (2) that use entails interdependence, in which earlier users…

Describes a framework used to develop study procedures that support language learning and decision making in language teaching, with particular focus on the teaching of English as a foreign language. (Author/CB)