A study was designed to provide an initial context for framing the most pressing questions in the teaching of literature. To do this, the teaching of English in the high school classrooms of teachers whose departments were considered excellent by other professionals in education was examined. The issues that emerged in the programs with…

Reporting on the work of a task force formed for the purpose of improving writing skills in the Memphis (Tennessee) City Schools, grades K-12, this paper identifies the efforts of the task force and its recommendations and traces the development and implementation of the Writing Across the Curriculum Project. An introduction notes the importance…

The 23 original essays on sentence combining in this volume range in focus from classroom methodology and effectiveness, through theoretical issues and syntactic constructions, to current issues in the field. The essays and their authors are as follows: (1) "The Role of the Elaborated Dominant Nominal in the Measurement of Conceptual and…

One of the changes advocated by the Regular Education Initiative (REI) is the placement of all students with disabilities in regular education classes. This paper analyzes this REI proposal and discusses four objections, with citations to relevant literature: (1) restriction of the continuum of services, which may result in students being put…

How can research and practice can be linked together to improve vocational education? Vocational education researchers should conduct research that can directly benefit policy makers and practitioners and present their findings in ways that influence the improvement of policy and practice. Three basic assumptions need to be recognized: (1) the…

This overview of the literature on teaching, learning, and assessment was prepared to help develop a shared understanding by educators, researchers, and students to inform subsequent research conducted by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) into the National Certificate in Scotland. Section 1 serves as an introduction to the…

A coauthor of a book on the history of thought and practice in educational administration reflects on issues raised during the writing of the book as follows: (1) Categories of administrative thought are difficult to establish. Two categories were derived from Richard Scott's rational systems approach--scientific management and bureaucracy. The…

Given that the task of freshman composition is to initiate students into the multidisciplinary academic discourse community, English teachers can speed up the novice's introduction more effectively than can specialists in those disciplines by having students observe, analyze, and produce the salient features of a discourse community's…

This monograph discusses Thomas Greenfield's writings and those of his two major detractors, Daniel Griffiths and Donald J. Willower. For nearly a decade Greenfield has attacked traditional theories of educational administration and argued for the centrality of mind in the construction of organizational and administrative reality. An introductory…

These conference proceedings contain four major papers presented by experts in the field of career guidance theory, with reaction papers written by practitioners. Papers include the following: "Career Development Theories--An Overview" (Edwin L. Herr), with reaction papers by Donald J. Page and Donald G. Zytowski; "The Status of…

Drawing from recent research, this paper focuses on communication games and activities that can be used to teach speaking and listening skills ("referential communication skills"). Following a brief review of the research, the paper offers a set of eight criteria for evaluating curriculum materials intended to teach speaking and listening, and…

For many years, educators from kindergarten to twelfth grade have approached the teaching of vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and so forth as isolated skills, unconnected with the everyday use of reading, speaking, and writing. Such practices are now viewed with less favor, as researchers and educators approach reading and writing as…

Noting that (1) current research suggests that technology may contribute to improved instruction in writing but it does not do so automatically, and (2) while teachers may successfully employ computers with their writing students, their choices of methods remain critical, this paper surveys computer approaches and appropriate software for…

Intended for teachers who want to improve writing instruction in their kindergarten or elementary school classroom, this two-part guide offers ideas for kindergarten teachers to help their students express their feelings through writing and reports on a district-wide writing assessment in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The first part, which is divided…

Intended for college-level basic writers, this booklet integrates training in selected oral communication activities with writing instruction in order to improve students' academic writing. The first section discusses oral communication theory, emphasizing the underlying rhetorical abilities of invention, audience adaptation, and argumentation, to…