A survey of 55 rural Idaho elementary principals examined developmentally appropriate practices in preschool and primary education. These principals understood the meaning of best practices for young children, but claimed that external factors blocked their efforts to implement them. Interviews suggest that principals attempt to be simultaneously…

Twenty articles dealing with literacy published in the "American Annals of the Deaf" from 1996 to 2000 were reviewed. A movement away from the whole language approach to a more eclectic, analytic orientation was noted. Old problems in processing syntax continued. Questions regarding the value of captioning for deaf individuals with poor literacy…

This commentary discusses concerns related to special education research, particularly the research-to-practice gap in the United States. It contends that by addressing problems associated with teacher education, teacher attrition, and teacher shortage in special education, great strides can be made in closing the gap. (Contains references.)…

Examines use of cohorts in educational leadership programs from conceptual and practical viewpoints. Suggests ways to develop cohorts and discusses cohorts' effects on students, faculty, educational programs, and systems. Examines the potential for using cohorts to develop transformational leaders. Effective cohorts are learning laboratories that…

Discusses results of a survey of special librarians that investigated research knowledge and activities. Topics include formal and informal training in research methodology; continuing education; barriers to research, including a lack of institutional support; and the disinterest in and lack of understanding about research and its relevance to…

An innovative preservice teacher education program at the State University of New York, College at Fredonia, provides many highly structured field-based experiences which include students with disabilities; systematic training in specific, validated intervention strategies; direct training in peer collaboration skills; and emphasis on reflective…

A questionnaire was completed by 510 special education teachers in 3 school districts, revealing that teachers' attitudes toward both research and instructional analysis were positive. Significant relationships were found between teachers' attitudes and the research methods courses they had taken, their involvement in research, and their earned…

Noting that examination of emotions in adolescence from a treatment or intervention perspective is unusual, this article discusses the emotions in adolescence literature from the vantage point of a particular, empirically tested family-based intervention model, multidimensional family therapy. Demonstrates how research-based concepts guide…

Claims that each educator must discover the potentials of the learner and build on the individual's specific assortment of strengths. Presents Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, with practical implications, emphasizing that the intelligences are integrated at the application level by activities and remain separate only at the…

Traditional school administrator programs have neglected the democratic and moral dimensions of leadership preparation. In an increasingly diverse world, leadership theory needs to be reformed as critical, reflective, and concerned with social justice and praxis. Leadership, pluralism, and inquiry can be integrated into successful programs for…

Presents a naturalistic perspective on inquiry as a compelling philosophy for educational administration. Naturalistic inquiry is ethical, open, growing, self-corrective, fallible, and resembles scientific inquiry. Subjectivism, neo-Marxist critical theory, postmodernism, and identity politics are all creatures of the times. Thriving on relativism…

Examines teachers' responses to reform efforts prescribed for them as appropriate for reformed schools, considering emerging difficulties when teaching and reform are conceptualized not as situated, but as universal and generalizable in form and intention. Teacher responses to such static reform often replicate power relations circulating in…

For over a decade, the University of Alberta's Educational Policy Studies Department has been developing and using computer-based simulations of the principalship. The program successfully invites students to suspend disbelief and engage in the simulations (interruptions, investigations, and walking tours) as though they were real work. Recent…

Tacit educational assumptions based on power and control are compared to current professional knowledge on teaching, learning, and school organization. Points out that educational leadership is needed that engages in self-critical analysis of our current instructional practices. Learning environments must be based on an understanding of young…

Describes the application of Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in classroom instruction. Notes lack of research supporting effectiveness of MI; includes Gardner's responses to criticisms. Notes that the most common misapplication is to present a topic from seven directions to incorporate the intelligences, rather than present…