Describes a pen pal project designed to meet the needs of a group of elementary special education students learning to become efficient users of language and of university education majors focusing on issues related to the literacy activities of nonconventional learners. (SR)

Describes how elementary teachers across the country deal with holiday issues by embracing new traditions that honor and respect many cultures and student diversity. The article suggests that good communication between schools and the communities they serve is vital to keeping holidays happy. (SM)

Presents four elementary school crafts that celebrate the cultural heritage of people worldwide. Crafts are a universal means of cultural expression that provide opportunities to explore multicultural understanding. The article describes how to make Russian dolls, Hmong story cloths, Guatemalan hand puppets, and Haitian steel drum cutouts. (SM)

This article examines and illustrates four assumptions of the sociocultural perspective for writing instruction of students with learning disabilities: writing is a holistic cognitive activity; cognitive processes are learned in dialogic interactions with others; cognitive development occurs in students' zones of proximal development; and…

This article reviews issues associated with the education of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It offers a definition of this population and compares practical classroom applications of commonsense attribution theory and information processing theory. It proposes a pragmatic learning theory that takes into account cognitive,…

This article recommends a holistic approach to student problems in mathematics. Teachers need to be aware of all paradigms (e.g., developmental, behaviorist, psychoanalytic) explaining causes of problems in mathematics. Examples of misunderstandings resulting from insufficient knowledge, insufficient mathematical vocabulary, and overgeneralization…

Describes the Diversion and Drug Treatment program, known as "Drug Court," in Miami (Florida) in which nonviolent drug offenders have prosecution of their cases deferred while they participate in a court-ordered drug-rehabilitation program. Those who successfully complete the program have their cases dismissed. Whereas typical recidivism…

Traditional American Indian education reflects beliefs that no single absolute truth exists, and that children learn by observing and interacting with others who know bits of the truth. Mainstream education sees teachers as the most important dispensers of universal truth learned in linear fashion. These views may be incompatible. (SV)

In the last essay of a yearlong series celebrating the hundredth anniversary of "The American School Board Journal," Barbara Bush encourages school boards to reorganize and empower the community around the school. Collaboration between helping agencies should be the goal. (MLF)

J. Robert Hanson responds to questions concerning the "learning style" and "perceptual and judgement functions," styles common among developmental students and members of particular ethnic/social groups, the modification of teaching styles to accommodate students, coownership of the classroom, and ways teachers can facilitate…

The whole-language approach is discussed as a perspective-in-practice anchored in a vision of a equitable, diverse society. (Contains four references.) (LB)

Preservice teachers need educational experiences that challenge them to connect disciplinary ideas. In a hyphenated curriculum, they work with ideas from various disciplines while thinking about their own practice, practicing integration in real classrooms. The article describes two programs that required preservice teachers to integrate general…

Michael Polanyi's 1958 book "Personal Knowledge" explains how models and world views form the core of human life. The paradigmatic context in which today's schools function derives from an outmoded 19th-century agrarian economy. The new millennium context turns around the explosion of information technologies and the globalization of…

Discussion of information systems methodologies that can contribute to interface design for public access systems covers: the systems life cycle; advantages of adopting information systems methodologies; soft systems methodologies; task-oriented approaches to user interface design; holistic design, the Star model, and prototyping; the…

For most English-as-a-Second-Language students, writing is the most difficult skill to master. By integrating writing within the daily routine of language learning, students become as comfortable with writing as they are with speaking and reading. This article presents practical examples for integrating writing within everyday K-12 classroom…