States that students need access to literature reflecting different realms of experience and diverse viewpoints, so that they can experience life from a different perspective. Instructs teachers to demonstrate that art is reflective of the cultural context in which it is produced. Offers lists of novels for and about adolescents. (PRA)

The paper addresses the care and treatment of retarded individuals from a historical perspective, and notes the historical and philosophical underpinnings of normalization. It concludes that normalization of lifestyle requires focusing on the betterment of the lives of retarded individuals rather than focusing on the "social address" at which…

This comment on EC 231 901 notes that institution-based and community-based residential programs for mentally retarded persons have not been proven to be programmatically equivalent; promoting large institutions as safer than smaller facilities ignores the deplorable history of abuse within institutional services; and institutions cannot assure…

This paper presents data on contextual assessment issues, particularly in the area of communicative intent, that affect clinicians working with young children. Variables often overlooked in assessment are discussed, including task characteristics, opportunities available to the child, event context, maintaining joint attention, and responsivity.…

Describes how parents in two communities constructed their roles in a social context shaped by economic resources, local notions of home-school relations, and information networks. Examines parenting as a social activity internalized by individuals through their daily interactions. Shows how family-role perceptions and school practices are…

Reports research findings regarding the learning and teaching of proportional reasoning. Presents four tasks devised to assess students' proportional reasoning and describes four solution strategies for solving these tasks based on the analysis of seventh and eighth graders' correct responses. (MDH)

Examines aspects of language connections in the learning of mathematics in three sections that discuss the interaction between language, symbolism, and manipulatives; emphasis on context in language development; and language connections in problem solving. Presents implications for nonnative English speakers. (MDH)

Schlessman notes that Johnson's article on role of theory in second language (L2) teachers' education opens a Pandora's box in attempting to determine what it means to have two forms of knowledge, conceptual and perceptual. Johnson argues that theory can transform practice only if teachers have varied opportunities to make sense of theory within…

Approximately four million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and family and friends care for 70% of them. The children in these families will experience related confusion, anxiety, and grief. Article aims to heighten school counselors' sensitivity to the unique challenges and losses students may encounter when their grandparents…

By having students use their knowledge of real-world cultural contexts to construct text-world contexts, teachers help them understand how cultural forces within those contexts shape characters' actions. This paper describes the process of linking real- and text-world contexts, offering examples from one college class. Implications for helping…

Classroom communication is best characterized as social activity wherein interpersonal relationships are created, maintained, and even changed through teacher-student interactions. A close analysis of some discourse features suggests that what differentiates the way teachers interact with more successful and less successful students is the extent…

Discusses five areas concerning Heatherington et al.'s study: nature and nurture issues; deviance versus normative behavior in stepfamilies; context and meaning in different types of families; intersecting developmental trajectories; and gender differences. (JPB)

Challenges a central orthodoxy of school-effectiveness work-that schools should strive to become more consistent learning environments. Ironically, the effective-school model has become embedded in the educational politics of the UK and USA, where conditions do not favor successful implementation. Educators must first address rampant socioeconomic…

Explored how Chinese and American elementary mathematics teachers changed their conception and practice, examining the impact of instructional context. Observations and interviews with teachers who were reforming their instruction indicated that they were dissatisfied with their prior practice. Their conceptual change was shaped by specific images…

It is time for the field of evaluation to recognize that the ability to serve policy depends as much on what is understood about how politics works as it does on the quality and appropriateness of evaluation methods. Evaluations must be defensible as the political mix changes. (SLD)