College science education is at risk of becoming mired in the "reform culture" that has long been problematic in precollege science. A single universal solution to student underpreparedness and lack of sustained interest cannot be found, but a departmental level commitment to change and reallocation of resources is necessary to achieve program…

Over half of African-American college students fail to complete their degree work, for reasons minimally related to innate ability or environmental conditioning. The problem is that they are undervalued in ways that are sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant. Obstacles to achievement may be overcome in an atmosphere that reduces racial…

Discusses the effects of child play on the learning and development of young children. Argues that play is an important part of an entire network of learning, a fact often overlooked by parents who view play as recreation. Maintains that, when parents and educators help children to enhance their play experiences, important learning outcomes can…

Introduces the theme of this issue, which expands comparative education topics inward, toward the developmental perspective of the child, and outward, toward culture, historically situated. Discusses findings from the International Assessment of Educational Progress in terms of cultural differences in children's attitudes toward learning. (KS)

In 3 isolated rural schools, 48 gifted girls in grades 4-6 participated in a semester-long intervention aimed at changing math attitudes. Intervention strategies, which focused on problem-solving activities, math-related career options, and self-esteem issues, produced significant positive changes in five of six categories of mathematics…

Challenges the assumption that early childhood educators need less education than those who teach older children. Argues for high levels of education and extended training for teachers of young children. Suggests that sufficient investment in the nurture and education of young children is necessary to meet the United Kingdom's goals for developing…

Children's scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test were influenced by mothers' schooling, grandparents' schooling, and family size. Increases in mothers' working hours negatively affected children's achievement. Welfare dependence reduced test scores, largely due to transmission of an underclass heritage of low achievement. (Author/SK)

A survey of 29 adult reentry students enrolled in the Scottish Wider Access Programme to become secondary teachers showed the program has substantially increased the numbers and broadened the age range of students but is not attracting the unemployed and those of lower socioeconomic status. Participation is influenced by family, institutional,…

Women approach learning with more self-doubt, fear, and alienation than men do. Essential prerequisites for women's education are greater female representation in teaching, training, and administration and the building and nurturing of learning communities. (SK)

Interviews with college students who had either applied to medical school (n=500), were qualified for admission but did not apply (n=277), or were typical undergraduates (n=1003) not applying to medical school found that expected job satisfaction was an extremely important career choice factor. Views of 93 premedical advisors on characteristics of…

Interviews with 20 adults who chose not to participate in literacy programs revealed that they valued education and learning but considered "school" unacceptable. Reasons were categorized as ideological/cultural, personal/emotive, or age-related resistance. (SK)

A survey of 405 adults and interviews with 19 showed the majority of learning experiences were informal. For learning to be significant, it must personally affect the learner by expanding skills or causing a transformation, and it must be subjectively valued by the learner. (SK)

Charges that the sanctity of the English classroom is being dismantled in Great Britain, partly through efforts toward development of a National Curriculum for English. Criticizes the curriculum planners' apparent belief that anyone can teach English. Suggests that English instruction should prepare students not just for occupations, but for life.…

Two views of the introduction of comprehensive secondary education into England and Wales are examined: that it is an episode connected directly to postwar building of the welfare state, and destined to fail; and represents a fundamental and permanent shift in the perception of what secondary education should attempt. (MSE)

The author reminisces about her early schooling experiences in rural Limestone, Maine, and the experiences of family members in local one-room schools back to the 1870s. Reveals her enthusiasm for education in spite of obstacles such as wading through snow to get to school. (LP)