This article discusses the value of professional portfolios, describes how they are used in a five-year Canadian teacher preparation program, and includes criteria for assessing student teacher portfolios. Findings from two surveys of superintendents indicate that, overall, including a portfolio among an applicant's credentials can enhance the…

Considers the role of international election monitors in the political process of newly democratized countries. Discusses the responsibilities and backgrounds of election monitors and provides a personal perspective on recent elections in Haiti and Bulgaria. Briefly examines the efforts of the National Endowment for Democracy. (MJP)

Asserts that vocational education for special education students is necessary for their self-esteem, independence, and integration into society. Maintains that current training is woefully inadequate since it emphasizes manual labor skills. Advocates the use of Individual Training Plans (ITP) to coordinate vocational, social, and cognitive aspects…

Describes design and use of the PBL Evaluator, a computer-based method of evaluating dental students' clinical problem-solving skills. Analysis of Indiana University students' self-, peer, and tutor ratings for one iteration of a course in critical thinking and professional behavior shows differences in these ratings. The method is found useful…

Describes a university/high school/manufacturing company collaboration that offers alternative education to at-risk students. Students spend 20 hours per week as apprentices and 20 hours in the classroom at the manufacturing site, receiving pay for hours. After 2 successful years, they earn a high school diploma and have useful skills, improved…

Health promotion and community building strategies are increasingly using the arts as a basis for engaging young people. Through involvement in arts activity, participants have been shown to develop supportive social networks and report increased feelings of well-being (Jermyn, 2001). In particular, drama strategies and programs have been used as…

Purpose: To compare in a fruitful way the human resources (HR) policies that exist in the European Union (EU) and in the United States of America (USA). Nowadays, the world is evolving to a situation in which big economic spaces like Brazil, Russia, India, China, Japan, the EU and the USA are becoming dominant. Those spaces can learn from one…

This article describes what is known from prior research about the impact of student financial aid program design, operations, and marketing on the formation of family (including parents' and children's) college-going aspirations, expectations, and plans, and the resulting college-going behaviors of potential students. The review focuses on the…

In this article the authors describe the programmed and scripted nature of many mandated instructional and "management" programs designed to raise test scores of urban children in low-income communities. They detail the programs' dehumanizing effect on the ways teachers and students interact, and the resentment the programs instill in…

A random sample of directors of programs for the deaf in North America were surveyed to get their views about the skills that teacher education programs need to be teaching future teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The directors were queried about literacy practices, classroom management strategies, and communication strategies…

This article discusses the problem of translating research results into special education practices. It stresses that achieving effective research in schools requires extensive collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and outlines the role of researchers, practitioners, faculty in teacher preparation programs, state departments of…

In one of the author's academic homes at the University of Hawai'i, the "Globalization Research Center", educators are trying to gain a better understanding of the ways in which new technologies and ways of organizing learning across the globe have been transformed in the last five to eight years and, more importantly, they are seeking…

There has been much debate concerning the pros and cons of special and mainstream education for young people with a disability. This paper adds data to this debate by reporting the educational experiences of 20 high-achievers with congenital disabilities who live in the United Kingdom and were born between 1950 and 1970. It presents personal…

Context: Various research studies have examined the question of whether expert or non-expert raters, faculty or students, evaluators or standardized patients, give more reliable and valid summative assessments of performance on Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). Less studied has been the question of whether or not non-faculty…

Recent research as well as local, state, and national mandates promote an increased role of technology in teaching and learning. In response to this call, K-12 institutions and colleges of education are faced with preparing current and future teachers to teach with technology. The current models of inservice and preservice teacher preparation with…