This paper explores the ways in which inner-city students' social, cultural, and political relationships and their thinking and behavior patterns that stem from the range of different situations outside the classroom can shape the classroom roles that they develop with their peers as thinkers and learners of English and writing. It presents a case…

Student-led parent conferences allow students to gain significant insights about themselves as learners in ways traditional parent-teacher conferences do not. This guide draws on two teachers' experience to help other teachers implement student-led parent conferences that will enhance parent involvement and student learning. Chapter 1, "Why…

This paper analyzes the stages of educational development beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, when mass economies began to emerge, immediately after World War II. This essay covers the last 40 years that have been characterized by rapid change and the most fascinating acceleration in the history of humanity. During those four decades, education…

The basic premise for this paper is that any educational program or technology should be evaluated on the basis of the theoretical foundations or perspectives on which it is implicitly or explicitly based. Structured in three main sections, it reviews recent literature in areas related to the many aspects that influence learning through…

This paper reviews the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) to learning and suggests where continuous quality improvement in education may lead in the future. Several issues in the application of TQM are discussed, including: the need for active participation and full support of faculty and staff, active and creative involvement of…

Acknowledged or not, students are curriculum theorists and critics of schooling. Useful lessons can be learned by drawing them into the dialogue about the purposes and practices of education. The addition of children's perspectives can help education become an adventure in which teachers, researchers, and children together learn new questions as…

This book examines the composition and context of folklore on college campuses, contrasting its more individual character today with its communal traditions in times past, and interpreting what these traditions reveal about the role of students in American society and culture. An introductory section examines the role of folklore in higher…

A teacher of English as a second language in a Japanese university found that despite large classes and time limitations, by changing four aspects of classroom instruction, the students increased their language capabilities and confidence. The four aspects are the teacher's role, the student's role, classroom materials, and student evaluation. The…

The Maryland Education Microcomputer Network and Marynet are electronic systems that focus on informal resource exchanges for individuals interested in curriculum applications of microcomputers in pre-school through twelfth grade and in teacher education. The network is free to all Maryland citizens involved with the mission of the schools. Others…

The social implications of evaluating the writing of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students are discussed in the context of the Hegemony Theory, a radical critical view of schooling, which identifies schools as an agency of socialization. This theory, based on ethnographic research that suggests students receive different kinds of education…

With respect to the high school student, there has been: (1) a decline over the past 10-15 years in high school student averages in aptitude for learning, in achievement from learning, and in motivation for further learning; (2) an increase in the need for remedial mathematics and reading and writing skill courses for college students; and (3) an…

Data gathered through ethnographic observations of 25 college students in an adolescent literature course were used to develop a substantive grounded theory of the process of involving students in a class. In addition to observation of the class, data were collected through teacher and student interviews and from lesson plans, class handouts,…

This article discusses the role of second language teachers in relation to the changing role of language departments at the university level. Of the many factors involved in setting up a successful language program, student participation and the role of the teacher are among the most important. The teacher's qualifications should reflect the…

Using excerpts from various graduate student essays, describes life in graduate school with its learnings, fears and disillusionment. (EJT)

Included in this package are: a copy of a learning contract between two students; an abstract fulfilling part of the contract objectives; and six papers on the topic of contract education. The goal of the learning contract was to edit and prepare for publication "Working Papers on Contract Education". The credential awarded for satisfactory…