After defining three broad positions adopted in the long-standing French polemic about secularism and education, the author describes how traditional boundaries between conflicting positions have been blurred by interventionist policies in education as well as by the evolution of Catholic attitudes. He illustrates his comments from recent…

Although the public worries over the state of the arts in the schools, it has actual disdain for the arts in society. The schools actively contribute to America's aesthetic atrophy by treating art as a frill. We can change this situation by providing serious art instruction at all grade levels. (Author/SJL)

Argues that laboratory schools go awry because their goals and purposes are not clear. Underscores the major difficulties and hazards bearing upon laboratory schools: problems of function, differing values, and external and internal support. Proposes constructing or re-creating these schools through dynamic, forward-looking, inquiry-sustaining…

Discusses (1) how schooling for social and economic mobility worked invidiously against poor Black migrant children; and (2) how the school's role as a mobility agent was subsumed under the immediacy of averting disenchantment with the social system through measures of social control. (Author/BE)

Summarizes some recent writings on ways that schools can aid in the treatment and prevention of child abuse, particularly the role of the teacher in identifying abused or neglected children. (SJL)

The developments in electronic technologies over the coming decades will make reading, writing, and arithmetic less important skills for all of us. As more children learn more outside of school--thanks, largely, to the nonprint media--educational institutions could find themselves with less and less to do. (Author/SJL)

Middle school educators answer questions about characteristics of middle school students, teachers, curriculum, and school mission. (JM)

Studies have shown that sexism cannot only influence career choice, but even the musical instrument that a child chooses to play. The question music educators need to consider is how attitudes and behavior surrounding this issue can be modified. (Author/SJL)

Noting that, as a developing socialist society, China requires an educational system which develops in the individual both political loyalty and technical skill, the author surveys China's efforts, from 1949 to the present, to implement these two potentially conflicting educational objectives. (SJL)

Presents a workshop model to heighten awareness of child abuse among staff members. The minimum amount of time required is three hours. Small group workshops consist of a brief presentation by workshop leaders followed by question and answer periods. These presentations should not exceed 15 people. Follow-up is recommended. (Author/BEF)

Maintains that schools are political as well as educational institutions because they control selection of what is taught, in what context, by whom, and for what purposes. Investigates perceptions of political restraint among preservice teachers based on their student teaching experiences. (Author/DB)

Knowledge of health-pursuant habits and activities should and can be incorporated into school curricula if teachers and health educators have the cooperation of parents in adopting active health-promotional attitudes. (LH)

Describes current achievement in the areas of reading theory and reading instruction. Reviews reading research in the fields of educational and cognitive psychology. Considers the overall role of formal education in the development of literacy. (GC)

Surveys changes in education in Nigeria after independence. Major changes involve objectives--students are educated now to become citizens of a young and growing country rather than individuals colonized by a nation with a different culture and religion. Emphasis is placed on social studies, particularly citizenship education. (Author/DB)

The process of education inevitably involves the adoption and possibly the transmission of values. Much of adult education, the author says, contributes to the maintenance of cultural and social norms. Drawing upon concepts of socialization theory, he urges the exploration of the varieties of ideology implicit in adult education and education's…