Traditionally, policymakers have attempted to improve the quality of the teaching force by raising minimum credentials for entering teachers. Recent research, however, suggests that such paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers. The authors propose federal support to help states measure the effectiveness…

The rationale for public schools has been divergently articulated around various broad themes integrated with a democratic society: economic production, socialization, integration, stability, and equality. Though divergent with regard to purpose and function of schools, advocates of these different purposes generally agree on a civic purpose of…

This collection of papers delves into reflection as a concept and provides specific, replicable tools for professional practice. Each chapter draws on a particular school situation, demonstrating the value of teacher reflection and describing the nuts and bolts of the process, offering protocols for handling many different circumstances. After…

This magazine is designed to help high school teachers of civics, government, history, law, and law-related education program developers educate students about legal issues. This issue focuses on immigration law and the American Dream. It includes 11 articles: (1) "U.S. Immigration Policy and Globalization" (P. Martin; S. Martin)…

Whereas reading for information requires finding a sense of the topic early in the reading and then searching for new information with reference to that topic, literary reading is in a constant state of flux. Four stances describe how accomplished readers interact with a given text: (1) people bring what they know from their reading and…

When Studs Terkel published "Working" in 1974, it quickly found its way into high school and college classrooms across the country. Not surprisingly, in the past 30 years, "Working" has sold over one million copies. This teaching guide for "Working" helps teachers to introduce their students not only to a great text,…

These classroom guides, designed to accompany the daily CNN (Cable News Network) Newsroom broadcasts for the month of December 2001, provide program rundowns, suggestions for class activities and discussion, student handouts, and a list of related news terms. Top stories include: President Bush responds to the recent acts of terrorism in Israel,…

This study investigated college students' levels of understanding of texts and reading processes, noting how they changed through a cycle of individual reading and writing followed by classroom comparison of students' responses, text re-reading, and re-writing. The study, which followed 17 students of continuing Italian over 6 weeks, involved…

Literature circles generally involve four or five students who are actively engaged in cooperative learning. Learners choose a library book to read based on interest. The same titled paperback might be discussed by participants in the literature circle. Alternative suggestions for literature circles include choosing a library book on a similar…

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" is usually taught as being about love's redeeming power. Usual interpretations of this story, however, ignore its title. It is also about a woman who discovers and uses her sexual power. To begin discussion, students are asked how many have ridden a horse and whether they have ever bought or sold a horse at…

This package includes a guide for formation and implementation of community study circles on cultural diversity, an abridged version of the same text entitled "A Busy Citizen's Discussion Guide", for study circle participants, and a 23-minute videotape recording. The main guide begins with a section on the need for community conversations, based…

A study examined the characteristics of the learning process when it is facilitated by computer-mediated communication in nonformal learning contexts. In this paper, learning is defined as the transformation of experience through reflection, conceptualization, and action. Such experiential learning often occurs in dialogue with others.…

Reciprocal teaching, a type of metacognitive strategy, has been found to be an effective method in improving comprehension in school-aged students; however, little research exists on using reciprocal teaching with adult high school students. This study investigated the efficacy of using the reciprocal teaching method to improve reading…

The character traits children assimilate during their growing-up years will determine how they behave, how they see themselves, how they treat others, and the type of adults they will become. Children who develop character built on honesty, respect, diligence, and self control will be better able to handle the frustrations and disappointments of…

This Fall 2001-Spring 2002 newsletter provides resources and information to educators, particularly economics, history, social studies, and business educators, throughout the western district of the Federal Reserve System. The goal of the newsletter is to highlight new Federal Reserve teaching materials and resources, including Web sites,…