Explores the validity of the reading comprehension skills distinctiveness hypothesis. Finds that results argue for a unitary or holistic view of reading comprehension and suggest increasing the time students spend in sustained reading of self-selected materials as a means for improving students' reading comprehension. (MG)

Presents the profile of an elementary teacher who, dissatisfied with her teaching performance, returned to college, visited innovative schools, then created a nontraditional public elementary classroom with an interdisciplinary approach. Currently, she wants to open a charter school shaped around her teaching method. (SM)

Physical development should be classified using a multidimensional hierarchical model. Optimal physical development combines physical fitness and skill development. The paper discusses the history of physical fitness, hierarchical nature of fitness, and specificity of fitness, stressing the need for collaboration in facilitating optimal…

Examines the effects of the recent subdisciplinary research emphasis in physical education scholarship on whole-person issues. Social problems suggest a need for whole-person research in physical education, but research results are rarely put into practice. Another approach to scholarship is necessary to augment current research. (SM)

Describes attempts by agencies to integrate services. Programs that integrate services are innovative and effective, and provide continued support to families and children in crisis. Families and children benefit from accessible and comprehensive programs. Government benefits from elimination of duplication of services and reduction of costly…

Outlines a reading program at Butcher Children's School in Emporia, Kansas, that allows the teacher to create a literate environment in which beginning readers develop their abilities, meet district goals, and develop a lifelong love of reading. Asserts that flexibility and the integration of subject matter are important factors. (PRA)

An analysis attempts to reconceptualize a knowledge-acquisition style within a relative cultural framework for the purpose of establishing a more valid and affirmative theoretical foundation for understanding African-American learning styles. The paper describes the holistic character of African-American knowledge acquisition, learning, and…

Explains how education is essentially about expanding students' literacies by developing sets of social practices that help them understand and participate in different social worlds, describing how to expand literacies through a Hispanic influence across the curriculum and how to increase the Hispanic influence through structural variations in…

Despite six decades of leading researchers' research findings upholding progressive, whole-language reading approaches, consensus is lacking. Pundits tend to discredit educational research. News media promulgate tougher standards while overlooking progressive classroom successes. Parents may fear children's exploration of a wide variety of books…

Novice to expert teachers were tested for ability to judge student comprehension from nonverbal cues. Participants observed classroom videotapes, completed discussions with and without feedback, and made judgments. Experts made more accurate judgments, especially with feedback; were more confident of judgments following feedback; and had holistic…

A survey of 55 rural Idaho elementary principals examined developmentally appropriate practices in preschool and primary education. These principals understood the meaning of best practices for young children, but claimed that external factors blocked their efforts to implement them. Interviews suggest that principals attempt to be simultaneously…

Equity as absence of discrimination is an outdated concept and a measurement nightmare. Focusing on (academic) results can strengthen educational equity and contribute to economic opportunity; in fact, quality and equity go together. California's concentration of resources on professional development should help more students meet higher…

Documents the plight of children in poverty, examines the secondary effects of poverty upon the person and community, analyzes why the current subsidy approach has been ineffective, and seeks a holistic explanation for poverty. A universal, revenue-neutral approach to reducing poverty based on "supplementation" and…

Describes a project in which a small group of teachers of gifted students in primary and secondary schools in England used action research as an holistic way of undertaking professional development, which encouraged them to question their values, beliefs, and assumptions about teaching and learning. (CR)

The New Hampton School (New Hampshire) uses the holistic Total Human Development Model with both students and faculty to instill principles focused on relationships as central to teaching and learning; respect and responsibility; sense of community; whole person development within the community; compassion and service; and the meaningful,…