Questions past educational research and its effect on policy making and educational practice. Asks whether education is a scholarly pursuit, science, or art. Expresses concern that instruction of educational methods has a detrimental effect on knowledge of the field. Claims actual classroom teaching must be guided by research, a body of…

Focuses on the importance of teacher involvement in designing evaluation plans, climate setting, and awareness raising within the school. Emphasizes teacher appraisal as a step in the development of human resources. Recommends negotiated change and supporting teacher autonomy, rather than legislated change. Supports collegial relationships as a…

Describes various mistakes or disasters in national educational planning involving international comparisons, manpower forecasting, vocational "relevance," and government intervention and financing. Advocates less reliance on vague "macroplanning" and more emphasis on specific policies addressing particular educational issues and on…

Examines school-based management as an effective strategy for optimizing the individual performance of teachers, students, and parents. Under school-based management, principals and teachers are given total responsibility for budgeting, selecting textbooks, scheduling, and hiring. This system provides flexibility in relationships with the broader…

Discusses the School of the 21st Century model for school-based and school-linked service provision, which has been implemented in over 300 schools to provide high-quality services to children from birth through age 12. Includes preliminary results of a three-year outcome evaluation of one program. (MDM)

Review identifies concerns and criticisms as well as research findings about young children's use of computers. Review is organized in terms of the child's needs in all developmental areas--physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and language--and implications of these needs for planning. Findings include support for enhanced cognitive development,…

Discusses the debate on curriculum content and quality for children with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Points out that new and imaginative patterns of teaching and learning need to be explored across those children's lifespans. Suggests that through high quality early intervention and an innovative curriculum, educators must ensure…

The "Year 2000" document, a comprehensive statement of policies and objectives for education in British Columbia issued by the Ministry of Education, is reviewed. This analysis reveals a subtext that contradicts the stated objectives of the document itself. The agenda of the subtext would maintain social stability. (SLD)

Reinterprets the way that the 1944 Education Act was viewed in Great Britain by detailing the political debate over restructuring schools in Swansea, Wales, after World War II. Examines social and political factors that determined Welsh educational policy and reveals the continuing struggle between providing equal educational opportunities and…

Maintains that many early childhood educators are apt to practice nice thinking rather critical thinking when, in fact, the latter would clear their heads and inform practice. This position is supported by examples of teachers' uses of such terms as "home-school cooperation,""planning," and "curriculum." (BB)

A British school for students with disabilities planned and implemented its curriculum differentiation process by entering the core curriculum into a computer and coding each learning objective, thereby allowing teachers to draw out an individual program for each pupil, varied in length and time scale according to individual needs, and to evaluate…

The majority of funds for the development of educational technology programs should be spent on computer software and teacher education with emphasis on technology as a process for developing effective instruction. The development of technology-based solutions can help resolve the educational crisis in elementary, secondary, and higher education…

The author argues that any new curricular model for optometric education must be responsive to evolving scientific and societal trends and consistent with the long-term goals of the profession. Some of these trends are outlined, including advancing technology and related improvement in health care and health care reform. (MSE)

Robert M. Diamond, Vice Chancellor for Instructional Development at Syracuse University (SU), draws on 25 years experience in the field to discuss the evolution of instructional development programs in higher education in general and the SU program in particular. Issues surrounding the definition and process of instructional development and its…

Argues that a multicultural university begins with presidential leadership that can produce a diverse faculty, staff, and administration. Recommends minority faculty development, recruitment, tenuring and promotion as an effective institutional strategy. Urges becoming "inclusive" rather than "exclusive." (NL)