Uses field data to build a case for presenting sexual orientation as another form of diversity that preservice teachers must recognize, understand, and be prepared to live with, exploring the power of democratic principles to support the conceptual framework and examining the role of teacher educators in promoting democratic values that extend to…

The soul of our educational system is sick, reflecting society's sole expectation of education as preparation for the marketplace; the "tough love" approach of raising standards merely perpetuates such extrinsic values. Healing the system requires an infusion of feminine qualities that encourage schools to honor each child and nurture…

Disappointing high-stakes test results matter far less than the type of future citizens that schools produce. Citizenship values (teamwork, leadership, and neighborliness) are not assessed well by multiple-choice exams. Poor performers should not be segregated, data should be reinterpreted, and remediation should stress tutoring interventions, not…

Investigated age and context differences in children's judgments about excluding peers from group activities on the basis of gender and race. Found that the vast majority of children rejected exclusion in contexts in which only stereotypes justified exclusion. Older children (13 years) were more likely to allow exclusion than younger (7 and 10…

Measured value-order responses of 31 Arab (Jordanian) and 27 American business students and studied how culturally-ingrained values were reflected in students' perceptions of people they met. Economic, political, social, and theoretical values were nearly the same for both groups; slight differences were found for aesthetics and religion. (SLD)

Qualitative study examined issues and events that led 221 women to an urban commuter campus of 16,000 students. Role exit theory was used to explain why the majority of these women stated past experiences played a major part in determining academic major and level of involvement in campus activities. Includes questionnaire. (JBJ)

Analysis of current critiques of gifted education considers four common concerns: (1) whether giftedness exists; (2) whether students who possess giftedness can be identified; (3) whether such students can be provided with quality differentiated programs and services; and (4) whether it is morally correct to provide such programs or services. (DB)

Examines the scope of pedagogic discourse, which involves the operation of a set of principles by which persons are apprenticed into ways of working valued in a culture. A pedagogic discourse is realized in two sets of language choices: (1) those connected with the goals of the teaching-learning activity, and (2) those concerning the content to be…

A study of 250 new teaching assistants and 122 tenure-track faculty investigated their endorsement of 4 norms defining appropriate and inappropriate teaching behavior: (1) interpersonal disregard; (2) particularistic grading; (3) moral turpitude; and (4) inadequate planning. Both groups accorded the norms similar levels of impropriety. Questions…

Suggests that while doubting that the dichotomy introduced by Subbotsky can cover the entire domain of motivation, he should applaud the emphasis on the neglected but critical importance of motivation in developmental psychology, and the attempt to distinguish different types of motivation, even as contributors to a single behavior. (AA)

A framework within which college teachers can examine how they think and act in difficult teaching situations is presented, focusing on the rules that inform actions. The discussion looks at standards for professional teaching practice, exploring discrepancies between values and practice, identifying personal action strategies, assessing their…

Examines the debate between liberals and communitarians, offering a sympathetic reading of the communitarian critique of liberalism and discussing its implications for school reform. The article lays a foundation for a series of articles that focus on the community-individual nexus as it relates to educational theory and practice. (SM)

Describes the mentorship programs of the Midtown Education Foundation (MEF), Chicago (Illinois), an initiative that began as an outreach of the Catholic Opus Dei movement. The MEF emphasis on biblically based character development, taught by role models, and embedded in an academic curriculum, is very popular. Early evaluation indicates that best…

Schools in Arthurdale (West Virginia), a New Deal resettlement community for displaced coal miners, made landmark efforts to bring Deweyan ideals of progressive education to bear on community life. The article examines Arthurdale's pedagogy and history in order to illuminate ambiguities of educators' efforts to promote community, emphasizing…

A Nebraska district surveyed parents' reasons for sending their children to private or Catholic schools. Reasons could be grouped in categories: concerns and issues (such as religion) that public schools cannot address; and concerns (such as discipline, values, curriculum, and academic rigor) public schools could address by changing their programs…