Describes interviews with 65 children in Grades 1-5 concerning their understanding/experiences with death and suicide. By third grade, students have an elaborate understanding of suicide; they learn about suicide from television and discussions with other children, but rarely from adults. Level of development of the concept of suicide is related…

Analogies drawn from a whitewater kayaking trip illustrate principles of enactive theory, which holds that mind, body, and world are interconnected. Learning, action, and place influence, and are influenced by, each other. Experience emerges collectively through the interrelationships of body, environment, social history, and perception as a…

Explores the math and science experiences and perceptions of a group of ethnically diverse, low socioeconomic status, rural and urban adolescent Appalachian girls. (Author/CCM)

Examined degree to which analytic and holistic modes of processing play a role in children's and adults' categorization of faces. Found a developmental trend from analytic to holistic processing and an effect of face inversion with increasing age. Seven-year-olds processed faces comparably to nonfacial visual stimuli, whereas a growing proportion…

Outlines a basic structure for assessing the needs of individuals with visual impairments and setting up a system for labeling and marking that will meet those needs. Steps for organizing items, encouraging the development of sensory abilities, and selecting visual, tactual, or auditory systems are described. (CR)

Aspects of cognitive processing were evaluated for 462 adolescents followed for 14 years. Adolescents had been exposed prenatally to a broad range of maternal drinking, mostly at "social" levels. Alcohol-related deficits on cognitive tasks were summarized by a speed-accuracy trade-off on the spatial-visual reasoning task. (SLD)

Expectations for the principalship have mushroomed during the past 20 years. Principals are key reform agents and held mercilessly accountable. Candidates are in short supply. Capable principals are great assets, not heroic beings. Leadership is not centrally vested and must be distributed more broadly. (Contains 36 references.) (MLH)

A follow-up study examined the effects of different tactile aids on tasks of visual speech reading in 14 adults with severe hearing impairments. Compared with speech reading alone, tactile aids impaired sentence-based speech reading at first, although performance improved with training. No effects of vibrotactile aids or training were obtained for…

In interview, president of the American Council on Education, Robert H. Atwell, offers his perspectives on the current state of the college presidency; its pressures, rewards, and frustrations; and what he'd like to see administrators do differently. Qualities of an effective president include high energy, tolerance for ambiguity, good listening…

One hundred and forty-three subjects were identified as Field Independent or Field Dependent based on their performance on the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), a measure of cognitive style. Results indicated that Field Independent students performed significantly better on course tests and had higher academic potential, as measured by the ACT,…

Two studies examined whether people are unrealistically optimistic only for their own futures or for the future of any individual. Results suggested that unrealistic optimism is a form of self-enhancement rather than person positivity bias. (JBJ)

The Policy Forum estimates that only about one-quarter of today's principals (20,000 out of 80,000) possess essential instructional leadership skills. Facing contradictory expectations, principals are often confused about whom to please and how to do their jobs. The Principal's Leadership Institute can help with specific improvement plans. (MLH)

School technology departments bridge the gap between the technology industry and the classroom. Integrating technology means both teaching and supporting faculty. The technology department's roles and responsibilities must be constantly redefined and reevaluated. Financial resources should be allocated to allow ongoing training and incremental…

To buffer education's instructional core, superintendents increasingly have been diverted from teaching and learning and pressured to become operations managers and political beings fostering confidence in schools and communities. Today's superintendents should become responsible for helping their communities develop a common language about…

Effective followership (mirroring a leader's mission) involves several strategies: concentrating on becoming a team player, demonstrating a strong work ethic, adhering to high individual expectations and possessing high self-regard, projecting optimism, and practicing interpersonal intelligence. (MLH)