Reports data on teachers' feelings of preparedness to meet new challenges in the classroom. In 1998, 71% of public school teachers thought that they were well prepared to maintain order and discipline in the classroom, but fewer teachers thought they were well prepared to meet certain instructional requirements such as implementing new teaching…

The 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments offered a welcome shield for disabled students who found themselves unfairly disciplined within their school placements. Highlights the disagreements that continue over the bill's interpretation, and the fight by advocates for the disabled to limit unreasonable suspensions and…

Linking courses from three disciplines (biology, philosophy, and psychology) around a common theme, five faculty members at Carleton College (Minnesota) planned, implemented, and evaluated a course for first-year students. Analysis of student responses to the course leads to discussion of the effectiveness of such linkages and the importance of…

Discusses the position of Asian America labor history as a field of study that, as yet, does not exist within Asian American studies or labor history, but which has the potential to "decenter nationalist narratives and deflect the institutional imperative." (SLD)

In his February 1977 article in "Kappan," Alfie Kohn criticizes nearly everyone involved in character education, asserting that the values taught in American classrooms are based on the "ideological legs of behaviorism, conservatism, and religion." Kohn should partake of humility, a commonly taught virtue. Fair treatment for…

Effective school discipline plans get to the root cause of student misconduct and specify expected behavior codes, values, and directives. Successful plans involve all stakeholders in their design, recognize parents as the first link to prevention, ensure access to professional development, celebrate students' positive contributions to the school…

A survey of Indiana secondary school administrators indicated that the most effective reactive discipline methods were alternative schools, suspensions, and Saturday schools. The least effective was detention. The number one problem was student tardiness. Larger schools had more students involved with gang activity, drug use, and vandalism. The…

Commonly recommended strategies for improving school bus order and safety include developing and communicating basic rules and consequences, ensuring consistency between bus and school rules, assigning teachers to supervise bus loading areas, providing bus drivers with training in preventing disruptions, installing radio systems, and involving…

Responds to a critique by M. Murphy in this issue (itself a critique of earlier articles). States that Murphy's arguments are at times "misguided and misdirected." Clarifies arguments in the earlier articles. Examines issues of definition and identity, methodologies, and the power that discourse and language have as media for managing…

The literature of Appalachian Studies is examined in light of Keresztesi's model of the evolution of academic disciplines. Political activism drove the creation of Appalachian Studies in colleges and universities, but the discipline has not yet reached full respectability due to lack of funding, accrediting agencies, graduate programs, textbooks,…

There is a pervasive but implicit emphasis on a liberal feminist political agenda in the field of psychology of women, but authors need to make their political perspectives explicit and to find ways to incorporate other feminist viewpoints, such as socialist and radical feminist perspectives, in order to strengthen the discipline. (SLD)

John Chubb, in his November 1998 "Kappan" article, does not dispute the accuracy of the author's observations about the Boston Renaissance Charter School. It was the author's job (as a journalist) to report widely held descriptions of controversial, harsh disciplinary practices, not present a story Chubb would find favorable. Chubb…

Following criticism of a previously described concept model, a new diagrammatic model of outdoor education (outside the classroom) and environmental education (inside the classroom) is proposed that defines and clarifies terms and shows overlapping methods, instructional settings, grade levels, and objectives. (SAS)

This study investigated the effects of subject and teaching experience on confidence in computing among teachers in Lebanese schools when using common computer software applications. Results showed significantly different levels of confidence depending on subject, and teachers with more experience had lower levels of confidence. (Author/LRW)

As shown by a survey of three middle-level assistant principals, student discipline consumes an inordinate amount of attention. Also, participants did not see their position as an avenue to help youngsters. Since school administration duties should be shared, assistant principals must shed their "noneducational,""daily operations…