Difficulty in distinguishing mildly handicapped students from low-achieving children at risk for school failure resulting from socioeconomic and other factors is resulting in an apparent overidentification of students as handicapped. Strategies for improving the education of at-risk students, such as early childhood education programs, smaller…

Recent research on effective classroom management practices is summarized. Effective practices include organizing classroom space, establishing rules, developing classroom procedures, maintaining the learning environment (e.g., matching instruction to individual needs and monitoring pupil performance), and assessing the effectiveness of management…

Argues that the consumer metaphor for the educational process is pernicious in its reduction of the teacher/student transaction to a "want-regarding" process. Suggests that viewing the teaching process as composing a paper or as a conversation offers richer notions of autonomy for students than the consumer or other educational metaphors. (25…

Provides a defense of the "consumer" metaphor for education, which holds that students are the consumers of a parcel of higher education services. Argues that consumers can play important roles in the production and delivery processes and that the metaphor can improve the educational quality and increase teacher accountability. (MAB)

A teacher at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind recounts his experience implementing a whole-language approach with an elementary class of students with hearing impairments. The effort, focusing on insects, utilized dialog journals, word banks, shared reading, guided reading and writing, independent reading, and theme activities. A…

This paper discusses two approaches to designing and studying integrated media applications, relating each to current theories of learning and thinking. After a discussion of the "curriculum embellishment" and "break-the-mold" approaches, alternatives to decontextualized curricula are examined in the context of new and revised goals for learning.…

Argues that a growing realization and acceptance of the complexities of college teaching is behind many current trends in the field and suggests that college teaching's complexities lie in changes in the communication process including the population, paths, levels, methods, and assessment in teaching and learning. (JB)

This study of two sixth-grade classrooms (containing general, remedial, and special education students) evaluated teacher planning, curriculum content, classroom instruction, student perception, and student assessment. The study suggests the need for a carefully defined model for serving students with special needs in content classes, with clearly…

This interview with a physicist at the Institute for Advanced Studies examines Frank Wilczek's ideas about selecting young scientists; formulating good research questions; the aesthetics of research; teaching ideas for gifted children and adolescents; his own early development; his experiences in higher education; and the importance of…

Opportunities presented to both regular and special educators by the changing demographic characteristics of students are outlined. The paper calls for adopting a philosophy that all children can learn, using intervention assistance programs, fostering student opportunities for peer collaboration and mentoring, and infusing multicultural knowledge…

Discusses four truths about high school sports: rules of the game are unassailable, the purpose of the game is winning, teammates are people who depend upon one another, and coaches are people to trust. The educational value of school sport is the pursuit, not the attainment, of excellence. (SM)

Highly productive educational methods have been identified through publicly funded research, but these methods or programs have not been widely disseminated or adopted. Problems with the work ethic, discipline, and competition are described, along with the public's need for learning but its desire for entertainment. (JDD)

Cognitive apprenticeship emphasizes a combination of authentic problem-solving experiences with expert guidance in lieu of decontextualized instruction. This article examines issues in cognitive science and describes a model of cognitive apprenticeship for providing academic instruction to students with special learning needs. (Author/DB)

This paper discusses the role of American Sign Language (ASL) in educating deaf children, based on the history of using manually coded English (MCE). The paper concludes that use of ASL should not be the ultimate goal of bilingual bicultural programs, and, in some classrooms, the optimal program will be complementary use of ASL and MCE. (JDD)

This article examines issues in multicultural education of culturally diverse gifted students noting two divergent philosophical frameworks (assimilationist and pluralist) and views on sources of ethnic student underachievement, the purpose of schooling, procedures for identification, instructional processes, and curriculum content. It supports a…