Educationally, pastoralists appear to be a paradox. From the perspective of official education, they are a complete failure, scoring badly in terms of enrollment, achievement, attainment, and gender balance. However, pastoralists are far from being unskilled. Their daily lives require them to perform tasks involving high levels of individual and…

To examine the hypothesis that alternative routes to teacher certification are more likely than traditional routes to recruit successful urban school teachers, beliefs and practices of 45 secondary English and mathematics novice teachers from both routes were studied. Findings confirm the importance of teacher sensitivity to urban multicultural…

Explores some widely held assumptions concerning the role of child development knowledge in teaching young children. Issues explored include What does the term "development" mean? What child development knowledge should be learned? Can we agree on a body of child development knowledge and principles? Why has the role of child development knowledge…

Examines issues pertaining to the development of a formal knowledge base to guide the thinking and practice of early childhood teachers. Discusses the authors' views on formal knowledge, practice and reflection, and the process of teacher education, and how these views are operationalized in the master's level program at Erikson Institute in…

There has been much debate concerning the pros and cons of special and mainstream education for young people with a disability. This paper adds data to this debate by reporting the educational experiences of 20 high-achievers with congenital disabilities who live in the United Kingdom and were born between 1950 and 1970. It presents personal…

This book examines how individuals from low-income families in the United States are able to attend college. Part 1 focuses on the odds against a poor person attending college, looking at the reality of growing up poor in the United States and the odds against escaping such poverty. Part 2 examines how poor people beat such odds, presenting a…

This study investigated the learning style preferences of Taiwanese junior college students of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and student characteristics, language experience, and attitudes that appeared related to learning style preference. Subjects were approximately 1,000 EFL students in the first through third years of study at seven…

A survey measured the attitudes of sixth-graders in one school district concerning the school's elementary foreign language program, with the intent of improving the program's design and content. Students identified these program strengths: organized and prepared teachers; respectful teachers; interesting lessons; positive student attitudes toward…

This document contains five research reports selected for presentation at a North Carolina research conference. The following are included: "An Examination of Various Shorthand Types and Their Usefulness in the North Carolina University Business Education Curriculum" (Carolyn S. Jewell); "Attitudes of North Carolina Principals…

This report overviews the rationale for conducting an ethnographic study of cultural factors that influence student aspiration in Tremont, a small rural community on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Although Tremont is the poorest community on Mount Desert Island, Tremont students scored as well or better on the Maine Educational Assessment than did…

This report identifies some of the different forms that in-school commercialism takes, from outright advertising in school hallways to sponsored educational materials that often contain brand-name plugs and biased messages. It examines the reasons why corporations and other commercial organizations are interested in marketing to kids in the…

This paper reviews the history of undergraduate curriculum in the United States from the colonial period to the present, arguing that the drive for utility has been the main force shaping curricular trends. It discusses the purpose of early colonial colleges and their curricula, which emphasized Latin, Greek, Hebrew, ancient history, theology,…

The Los Rios Community College (LRCC) District conducted student follow-up surveys annually from 1984 through 1987 and biennially since then. These surveys are designed to determine the educational goals of the students, current employment and/or educational status, and whether LRCC's offerings had met their individual needs. Each survey…

Presented in the belief that it is time for parents and teachers of primary school children to add a primary perspective to the national conversation about education, this booklet provides an up-to-date introduction to the work of primary schools across Australia. It also offers parents ideas they can use to support their children's learning at…

Four papers follow and document the progress of the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing in understanding questions related to alternative assessment based on case studies in three elementary schools. The research questions include consideration of the logistical constraints that must be respected in developing…