The professional expectations for a superintendent are outlined and organized under three sets of skills. Technical skills, the first set described, include (1) having language skills, (2) understanding teaching and being a teacher, (3) being current on learning theory, (4) being familiar with a variety of curricula, and (5) acting as a liaison…

This paper discusses the relationship between the mediation of task performance by some structure that is not inherent in the task domain itself and the phenomenon of automatization, in which skilled performance becomes effortless or phenomenologically "automatic" after extensive practice. The use of a common simple explicit mediating…

A new model of the revision process in written composition, based on the results of thinking aloud protocol studies, is presented in this report. The report begins by discussing earlier observations and theories of revision that establish four points: (1) there are large differences among writers in the amount of revising they do, (2) expert…

A complete learning model will merge the Piagetian and Banduran learning models into a unified, comprehensive model to explain individual diversity. This argument is based upon analysis of the first five years of data gathered from a 13-year longitudinal study. The data from grades 5-12 are still in the analysis process, but impressionistic…

This document is a verbatim transcription of an interview conducted by Thomas C. O'Brien under the auspices of the Teacher's Center Project of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. The transcript presents the views of Professor A. I. Weinzweig for the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Distinctions between training and education,…

The disabled reader's measurably low success in processing print creates tension, stress, and increasingly negative perceptions of the reading act and of the reader's own beliefs about his or her personal competencies. The task of the reading specialist might be facilitated by conscious and increasingly skilled application of psychotherapeutic…

The learning project interview is a group-interview technique that is useful for developing an awareness of the process of adult learning. Specifically, it provides insights concerning the types of things adults try to learn, the number of learning experiences they have, their methods of learning, and the sources of the subject matter that they…

In November 1980, the National Institute of Education (NIE) sponsored a roundtable on Issues in Urban Reading, the proceedings and recommendations of which are included in this paper and focused on two major questions: What is contributing to the drop in reading scores during the elementary and middle school years? and What are the skills and…

Writing development in preschool children has only recently begun to receive attention; however, Russian researchers dealt with the subject in the 1920s and 30s. Arguing that writing was a fundamental assist to cognitive growth as well as a tool for communication, Lev Vygotsky believed that the preschool child was ready to be taught writing.…

This is the final report for a study whose original purpose was to develop a general theory of the situational constraints imposed by the routines of everyday life on arithmetic skills. Section 1 reviews the goals laid out in the proposal in relation to what was accomplished. Section 2 is the draft of "Everyday Cognition: Its Development in…

This study was designed to follow up earlier work on mapping instruction. The two main goals were to: (1) test the effectiveness of mapping instruction as a general cure for "buggy" subtraction algorithms, and (2) explore two alternative explanations of how this new form of instruction works. It was hypothesized that mapping cures bugs…

Theories of cognitive processing suggest specific effects result from different elaboration treatments. To test this assumption, 125 high school students were randomly assigned to read concept materials containing adjunct elaborations that varied by elaboration type (mnemonics, schematics, or metaphors) and presentation mode (verbal or visual). To…

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that recent theories connecting creative problem solving with cerebral specialization might explain why some writers compose much more effectively than others. Specifically, the experiment was designed to find ways composition teachers can help students to transform writer-based prose into…

Intended for researchers, teachers, local and national policy makers, and others interested in writing, this volume explores the processes and development of writing, particularly in the context of writing instruction. Following a preface, the introduction discusses various perspectives on the activity of writing, such as writing as a cognitive…

A teacher's theoretical viewpoint is pervasive. It determines not only the materials chosen and the way the materials are used, but also the perception the teacher holds of the reading process. It is important, therefore, for teachers to understand the theory on which their views are based so that they can understand why they have chosen a…