This book for parents and child care providers describes a program for home-based, early childhood education that does not use formal, disciplined instruction. The program uses the technique of "incidental teaching," which emphasizes learning activities that occur while children participate in typical daily activities, such as eating,…

Do school dress codes written with the specific purpose of limiting individual dress preferences, including dress associated with gangs, infringe on speech freedoms granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? Although the Supreme Court has extended its protection of political speech to nonverbal acts of communication, it has…

The Quality Schools movement combines the principles of control theory with Edward Deming's principles of total quality management. The outcome is a school environment in which the focus is on quality work, discipline is maintained without coercion, and students continuously evaluate their own work. This book describes the application of Quality…

This discussion guide for facilitators helps school staff translate the concept of William Glasser's control theory, reality therapy, and the Quality School to the classroom. Each discussion chapter focuses on key concepts that staff members process before applying them in their classrooms. The activities are designed to help students and teachers…

This book tells the story of a character-education effort implemented in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. It is asserted that school board members, administrators, faculty, classified staff, parents, and students all have key roles in developing a districtwide ethos that supports the core ethical values at every opportunity. The first chapter offers…

Virginia Wesleyan College, a small liberal arts college, recently conducted four major student satisfaction assessment projects. In particular, the institution wanted to know how students evaluated their educational experiences and how they evaluated college programs and services. The assessment projects, conducted during the 1991-92 and 1992-93…

This study illustrates with specific designs how the city might meet two critical educational objectives in its first program of new school construction in many years. The study designs show how New York might build schools small enough to meet criteria for effective learning environments and how these small schools might be closely integrated…

In fall 1993, a survey was conducted at Sinclair Community College (SCC), in Ohio, to determine currently enrolled students' perceptions regarding their experiences, evaluations of SCC, and educational goals. Questionnaires were distributed to 20,948 students in 155 classrooms, resulting in a 10% return rate (n=1,909). The demographic…

This paper describes the national demographic and economic context of higher education and offers interpretations of what it portends, in order to illuminate the changing environment of higher education. The discussion focuses on: (1) demographic trends, such as the projected annual enrollment growth in the 1990s of 1.2 percent and the increasing…

This paper presents personal reflections on the nature of learning and the purpose of schooling and their implications for defining the work of professional development schools (PDSs). The paper examines the implications of intuitive learning, differences in learning, and political aspects of learning theory for professional development schools.…

This report outlines specific actions that can be taken to improve the climate of educational opportunity and to reduce criminal incidents on school grounds, school buses, and at school functions. The recommendations made here were formulated by a committee consisting of teachers, school officials, police officers, attorneys, local and state…

This study investigated the amount of structure preferred by college students in a learning environment and evaluated responses using a notion of conceptual level. The theory of conceptual level suggests that students at higher conceptual levels prefer more independence and less structure in learning while students at lower conceptual levels…

The concept of washback, or backwash, defined as the influence of testing on instruction, is discussed with relation to second language teaching and testing. While the literature of second language testing suggests that tests are commonly considered to be powerful determiners of what happens in the classroom, the concept of washback is not well…

Central to the debates surrounding accountability, cost containment, and effectiveness in higher education are issues concerning faculty vitality and productivity. This paper proposes that the nature of faculty vitality and the interactions between individual and institutional vitality are different for comprehensive universities, particularly…

A student survey at a metropolitan university examined priorities of both traditional and non-traditional students; the survey resulted from anxieties expressed by some students about not having a traditional college experience. The administration was trying to decide whether to allocate resources to create a football program within this commuter,…