Notes that historical fiction can be more entertaining than history and more informative than fiction. Delimits the boundaries of historical fiction by defining its conventions and expectations. Discusses the four variables of historical fiction (time, truth, tone, and perspective) and the relations among them. (RS)

The executive director of the Council for Exceptional Children introduces this special issue devoted to attention deficit disorder (ADD). He notes the role of the council in providing a forum for researchers, in identifying resources, and in developing a position on the issue of whether ADD should be a separate educational diagnostic category. (DB)

Reviews the historical national and international context of distance education, evolution of terminology, Penn State's distance education programs, and potential effects of telecommunications and their commercialization. (SK)

The article discusses aspects of the definition of "learning disabilities". The process of learning is discussed including such themes as social interaction, personal reflection and response, integration, transformation/growth, and ecological wholeness, balance, and fit. Encouraged is a nonproblematic definition of learning disabilities. (DB)

The term "adult education" was used in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Melvil Dewey developed a typology of adult education, and Henry Leipziger promoted New York City's Free Lectures program as an institute of liberal adult education. Leipziger's advocacy was largely responsible for the diffusion of the new term in its…

Twenty adult basic education students were taught new vocabulary either (1) with definitions and synonyms only; (2) with teacher-generated elaborations of context; or (3) with student-generated elaborations. Testing one week later showed that students retained meanings of new words better when they provided their own elaborations. (SK)

The traditional way of studying history is unappealing to many students because they rarely perform the historian's tasks: defining essential questions, sorting through available source materials, determining topics, drawing conclusions, and presenting them persuasively. Teachers in two Rhode Island high schools have provided students with the…

Discusses three leadership styles: the glacial, or impersonal, leader; the driven, or power-obsessed, leader; and the human, or quiet, leader. Readers are advised to imitate successful leaders; discover and develop skills and techniques consistent with their values; merge these into a personal style through trial; discover and develop mental…

Defines "content literacy" as the ability to use reading and writing for the acquisition of new content in a given discipline. Identifies three principal cognitive components: general literacy skills; content-specific literacy skills; and prior knowledge of content. Discusses the implications of content literacy for content area reading…

Provides lists of gang identifiers and terminology. Suggests that, to find out names and associated identifiers of local gangs, readers should talk to their local police. Included in listing are descriptions of gang-related symbols, physical signals, graffiti, slogans, right-left rules, colors, clothing, jewelry, hair styles, and fingernails. Also…

Notes that "suicide" has not always been preferred term in English-speaking societies for self-inflicted death. Recounts evidence suggesting that "suicide" was devised by Sir Thomas Browne and first published in book "Religio Medici" in 1643. Traces how "suicide" had become established as noun and verb by…

Discusses the definitional move of linking environmental concerns to security concerns. Reviews and critiques the arguments for and against this definitional change based on the degree to which they functionally view definitional argument as a strategy rather than as a truth claim. (SC)

Uses Lytle and Wolfe's metaphors for literacy (literacy as skills, tasks, practices, or critical reflection) to identity the consequences attached to literacy in each category, focusing on adults in the developing world. Concludes that consequences depend on who is evaluating them and for what purposes. (SK)

In a November 1998 "Forbes Magazine" article, Peter Brimelow claims that seven states, including Indiana, employ a greater percentage of "nonteaching bureaucracy" than classroom teachers. Using National Center for Education Statistics school staffing definitions, this article paints a different picture and decries the folly of…

Technical terminology such as shaft and axle has a range of meanings in instructional support materials. Studies of children show that they use their own terms to describe unfamiliar components. Although appropriate vocabulary is desirable in technology education, teachers should find ways to incorporate children's own vocabulary to help them…