Schools must stick to core issues--those concerned with teaching and learning and provision of material resources to maximize intellectual and personal growth. They must develop a fluid change model and a vision promoting abolition of violence, humanitarian standards, and global justice. Schools should also adopt a developmental learning cycle.…

The complexity of principals' work may be characterized according to three dilemmas: accountability, autonomy, and efficiency. Narrative vignettes of 74 Australian principals revealed that principals were fair and inclusive. When faced with restructuring dilemmas, however, they favored strong over shared leadership, efficiency over collaboration,…

A study involving 257 Navajo and Mexican-American elementary students investigated the internal structure of the DISCOVER assessment, a performance-based assessment grounded in Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence. Results showed low interrating correlations among the five assessment activities, indicating students gifted in one intelligence…

Studied the imitation behavior of thirty 14- to 18-month-olds using peer and adult models in an elicited imitation paradigm. Indicated significant memory for 3-step behavior sequences both immediately after modeling and 1 week later compared with baseline performance. Found that children in the peer model group outperformed children in the adult…

An interview with Wilbert McKeachie, a leading figure in college teaching and learning, focuses on advice for beginning faculty, including the importance of effective testing, mid-term student evaluations of teaching performance, discussion and questioning techniques, cooperative learning, and peer review strategies to improve college students'…

Discusses individual differences between users of information systems that can influence search performance, and describes two experiments that addressed user-centered design of information systems. Highlights include interaction between cognitive abilities and design features; compensation and capitalization perspectives; recall and precision;…

Presents two empirical case studies concerning the role of individual differences in searching through a spatial-semantic virtual environment. Discusses information visualization in information systems; cognitive factors, including associative memory, spatial ability, and visual memory; user satisfaction; and cognitive abilities and search…

Examines how many teacher education programs are using authentic assessments of teaching (cases, exhibitions, portfolios, and action research) to support teacher learning for today's diverse schools. Using specific teacher education programs as examples, the article discusses how and why these strategies support teacher learning and more valid…

A study compared continuous discourse tracking rates in eight children (ages 8-14) with hearing impairments and eight typical children using three competing noise conditions: classroom noise, videotaped classroom activity, and combined noise and visual activity. Statistical analyses showed no significant differences among tracking rates due to the…

Describes the Team Environmental Assessment Mapping System (TEAMS), a practical tool for inventorying the environmental demands that a student faces, while also mapping the social influences that drive or hinder a student's performance in those environments. A sample TEAMS map for an adolescent with Down syndrome is provided. (CR)

Describes how one geology teacher relies on written and oral assignments both as learning tools and as a means to motivate students and assess their work. Frequent written and oral assignments dramatically improve the levels of engagement and learning. Presents some advantages of written and oral assignments and includes examples. (PVD)

Asserts that assessment requires measuring of results, evaluation of the processes that lead to results, and a commitment to promote change for the better. Describes several formative tools that have been used in both laboratory and lecture geology classes, shows how they complement the fairly universal summative evaluation, and demonstrates how…

Considers key issues in implementing authentic assessment systems in middle schools, including its implications for content organization and classroom instruction, teacher and administrator involvement, and legitimizing teaching to the test. Presents concerns about authentic assessment related to outcomes and measurement, time constraints, labor…

Reviews current trends away from multiple-choice testing to alternative forms of student evaluation. Discusses elements contributing to these trends: emphases on critical-thinking skills and active learning, research supporting a constructivist view of learning, efforts to develop academic standards and companion performance-based assessments, and…

Previous research showed associations between students' perceptions of teacher interpersonal style and several variables. This study examined associations between the students' perceptions and judges' ratings of interpersonal aspects of videotaped teacher behavior. Survey data indicated that there were strong correlations between students'…