Issues such as the utility of standardized assessment instruments in the assessment of severely handicapped infants and preschool children are considered. A model is proposed for analyzing underlying cognitive requirements of assessment tasks and for using results of such an analysis for program planning. (Author/DB)

Attempts to determine the skills that make people good problem solvers and some of the methods that have been developed to teach these skills are reviewed. Methods used by educators and psychologists to define, describe, or analyze problems and problem solving determine the method used to teach problem-solving skills. (Author/MLW)

Overviews attempts to integrate language arts and social studies and reviews research on language processes. Discusses types of writing designed to produce active and responsible learners. Describes writing exercises designed to enable students to inventory knowledge; to initiate, consolidate, and personalize learning; and to clarify thinking. (RH)

Describes a study which sought to identify development patterns related to the acquisition of proportional reasoning in two areas, namely electricity and chemical solutions. Results from children ages 9-11 indicated that development of understanding of chemical solutions was asymmetric whereas it was symmetrical with electricity. Includes sample…

A metacognitive model was proposed as an explanatory framework for spontaneous strategy use. A study in which hyperactive children transferred newly acquired strategies following self-control training and attributional retraining served as an illustration of how components in the model can be used to better understand "spontaneity." (Author/LMO)

Links thinking to intellectual, moral, and emotional responsibility and invites school administrators, teachers, students, and parents to think about thinking beyond academic tasks in order to eradicate nonthinking "I thought" processes that cause irresponsible acts. (JK)

Compares two books published in the middle 1970s--F. Jameson's "Marxism and Form" and R. Ohmann's "English in America" to show the distinction between the theorists and pedagogues on the academic literary left. (FL)

Describes the National Education Association's Mastery in Learning Project. The project was designed and piloted in six elementary and secondary schools in different regions of the United States in 1985-86. Plans have been made for a three-year demonstration project in 24 schools in 1986-87. Includes references. (MD)

Argues that three tenets of the traditional wisdom about teacher questioning are based on inadequate research: (1) it is useful to classify questions as fact (lower level) or reason (higher level); (2) higher level questions are better; and (3) questions are good in general because they stimulate thought. (MBR)

A general theoretical framework to guide research on self-instructional training was presented which suggests that the approach is particularly useful to young nonretarded children and mentally retarded persons. Retarded children taught to self-instruct show better attention, memory, and motivation and manifest less impulsive behavior, maladaptive…

The author argues that children not only can but should create their own computational algorithms and that the teacher's role is "merely" to help. How children in grades K-3 add and subtract is the focus of this article. Grouping, directionality, and exchange are highlighted. (MNS)

A theoretical scheme classifies user behavior into three domains of library activity--affective, cognitive, and psychomotor--and three levels of learning--orientation, interaction, and internalization. Examples of library skills and errors in each of the nine major classes are given, and applications to library instruction are suggested.…

Discusses three areas of concern in social studies education for elementary through secondary levels. Areas are (1) the development of thinking skills, (2) the development of articulated K-12 social studies programs, and (3) the need to protect academic freedom while addressing community concerns. (RKM)

Results of two experiments investigating phonological skills of illiterate, unschooled adults and formerly illiterate, unschooled adults from shantytowns in Portugal suggest that learning to read, though not strictly necessary, plays a decisive role in the development of the ability of many individuals to focus on phonological length of…

Experiment in which university undergraduates were given word definitions and asked to say aloud responses that came to mind in the course of their attempts to retrieve target words is described. Results indicated phonologically similar responses and word-fragments were predictors of target-word knowledge and likelihood of success in retrieval was…