This case study examines how individuals construct definitions of handicapped and mainstreaming. The effect of these definitions was examined through interviews and observations of the peers, parents, and educators of a fifth-grade mainstreamed boy with disabilities. Results found that frames of reference can have a substantial impact on program…

Discusses the difficulties in conducting a case study on the attitudes and beliefs that individuals held about mainstreaming a boy with disabilities, including changes in terminology, methodological dilemmas, and discrepancies between the definitions that participants explicitly shared and observations of their interactions with the boy. (CR)

Reviews several privatization strategies and their applications to public education, including load-shedding, asset sales, volunteerism, self-help, user fees, contracting, franchises, vouchers, subsidies, and deregulation. The major forces promoting privatization in education are those stemming from growing discontent with the public sector and…

This article discusses commonalities among experts' descriptions of creative individuals, including rational thinking, high levels of emotional development, talent, and higher levels of consciousness. Maintains that creativity studies justify the development of educational creativity training programs. Asserts that teachers can promote children's…

Defines work built around a systems view of consumers and producers to characterize work as seen through different cultures as a mingling of enjoyment. Shows how emerging agricultural settlements and cities resulted in families assuming inherited work or labor specialties to be passed to the next generation. Discusses generational concepts of work…

Examines the working lives of geneticists and journalists to place into perspective what lies behind personal ethics and success. Defines "good work" as productive activity that is valued socially and loved by people engaged in it. Asserts that certain cultural values, social controls, and personal standards are necessary to maintain good work and…

A search of the literature to differentiate among definitions of physical discipline, corporal punishment, and physical child abuse identified five studies which revealed that abusive parents spanked their children more often than did nonabusive parents. Aggregated data from nonabusive parents suggested a "normal range" of daily spanking…

Describes distinctions between learning, training, development, and education and illustrates how different models of human resource management/development influence their meaning. Concludes that training, development, and education are an integrated whole linked by the concept of learning. (SK)

Discusses the nature of the trust responsibility of the federal government toward American Indians and what primacy it has in the pyramid of federal values and decision making. Examines the contested origins of the federal trust doctrine, negative and positive aspects of the relationship, three kinds of trust responsibility, and the enforceability…

Examines authentic leadership in the early childhood field. Recommends developing an authentic working definition of "leading" and using metaphors to build a conceptual framework of leading. Suggests principles to guide in learning leading: professional passion, professional rigor, and professional innovation. Presents steps for learning…

Investigated how state coordinators of abstinence education programs defined "sexual activity." Researchers surveyed Title V abstinence education coordinators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories. Of the 17 coordinators providing at least partial responses, none reported having a definition of sexual…

Definitions by elementary students were scored for conformity with Aristotelian form and information quality. School exposure to English was correlated with quality and quantity of formal definitions given. Results of this and a similar French-as-a-Foreign-Language exercise indicate that definitional ability depends on opportunity to practice…

Inspired by Thomas S. Kuhn's book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," this article redefines education. Under the old conception, education was viewed as a process and system, or an effort and intention. Education as newly defined changes the emphasis from inputs to outcomes. Only if the process succeeds will education have truly…

Compared special education and vocational rehabilitation guidelines for serving individuals with specific learning disabilities from survey of 50 state departments of vocational rehabilitation. Found considerably more agreement within each field than between fields. Found agency definitions shared important elements but differed in how specific…

Contrasted four theories of natural language category acquisition by investigating the relation between category intensions and extensions in kindergarten children, second and fifth graders, and college students. Since none of the theories discussed could explain the pattern of results, an exemplar-based model was proposed. (RH)