Responds to a previous article that suggests the second-language-acquisition acquisition field has failed to realize academic respectability. Offers an overview of some of the more positive advances in the discipline. Concludes by calling for a whole systems approach to the study of second language acquisition. (Author/JL)

Discusses the challenges faced at Western Illinois University to develop a general education assessment framework in the humanities. Stresses the importance of interpretation in all the humanities, assessment goals that focus on students' understanding of humanistic discourse, and ability to use at least one discipline's mode of interpretation and…

Discusses current issues in quality assessment in higher education in the United Kingdom especially the development of discipline based generic threshold standards to ensure that graduates have the requisite levels of skills. Considers the necessary characteristics of such standards and suggests that standards should be part of quality assessment.…

Inspired by William Glasser's Reality Therapy ideas, Control Theory (CT) is a disciplinary approach that stresses people's ability to control only their own behavior, based on internal motivations to satisfy five basic needs. At one North Dakota high school, CT-trained teachers are the program's best recruiters. (MLH)

Examines differences between the college experiences of students with and without repeated policy violations. Male students (N=60) were surveyed on six college experience variables: involvement with faculty, courses, the student union, clubs and organizations, personal acquaintances, and student acquaintances. Significant differences were found in…

Traces the development of the "The Modern Language Journal's (MLJ)" editorial policy through examination of each editor's policy statements and personal reflections and the contents of the announcements used as page filler. The examination reveals the "MLJ's" proactive role in helping to shape a unified, national foreign language teaching…

Analysis of data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households indicates that conservative Protestant parents of preschoolers and school-age children were significantly less likely than other parents to report yelling at their children. Moreover, estimated effects of denominational affiliation on parental use of yelling were partly…

Presents a model for overcoming traditional, culturally rooted resistance to change in educational administration programs. The systems model offered proceeds from the premise that reflective awareness is the starting point for change. Aligning the operator, engineer, and executive cultures within a university enables the development of a…

Compared beliefs of parents from Nottingham, England, about disciplining young children to their actual behavior management practices. Found that although one-quarter of parents agreed that "smacking" was appropriate in handling a 3-year-olds' unsafe behavior, almost two-thirds had smacked their preschool child in the preceding week.…

Examined second-, third-, fifth-, and sixth-graders' evaluations of parent-child inductive discipline situations. Found that for physical transgressions, victim-oriented induction was evaluated as more appropriate and fair than parent-oriented induction. Younger children evaluated parent-oriented induction as more appropriate than older children.…

Studied the pretest and posttest attitudes of teacher education students who were required to write a literature review with empirical references about the pros and cons of corporal punishment in the classroom. Results for 59 students in 2 treatment groups and 55 students in 2 control groups at southern universities (where previous research has…

Discusses Wisconsin case involving an eighth-grade student who gave his teacher a creative writing assignment that contained language that she perceived to be a threat. Student was given an in-school suspension and charged with disorderly conduct by the police. The Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the appellate court ruling upholding the…

Explores the rise in student cheating and evidence that students cheat less often at schools with an honor code. Discusses effective use of such codes and creation of a peer culture that condemns dishonesty. (EV)

Addresses the foundational concerns that pertain to the existing configuration for language and literary cultural studies in collegiate foreign language departments. Outlines two areas in need of attention--creation of intellectual foundation that can accommodate all aspects of a department's work and determination of a suitable goal for…

Shortages of teachers with specialized skills, coupled with increased difficulty accommodating students with problem behaviors in general education classrooms, create pressures for performance and accountability in schools. Describes improvements in classroom ecology after implementation of a school-wide discipline model. These outcomes were…