Recounts the author's, and his family's, relationship with tobacco. Identifies tobacco's role in traditional Native American ceremonies as encouraging communication and self-reflection. Describes Tionantati: Native Tobacco People, an intervention program that returns tobacco to its traditional use and eschews recreational use of commercial…

Claims that managed-care principles are rapidly entering the public child welfare system and are being implemented in the delivery of therapeutic services in schools. Claims that this switch increases the importance of professional credentials and high standards and that school social workers should look beyond entry-level certification. (RJM)

Languages reflect and reinforce cultural values, giving insights into their speakers' world view and relationships to the natural environment. Indigenous languages help us to respect local knowledge and extend our sense of community to the larger world. However, despite bilingual education in schools, all Native American languages are endangered;…

School business officials from 10 large urban school districts express their concerns about school size, deteriorating buildings, lack of parental involvement and parenting skills, obsolete business systems, loss of public support, retrofitting for technology, privatization, and low-bid construction results. Violent behavior and criminal incidents…

Although separate schooling for cultural minorities is not usually favored in Western societies, a strong case can be made for recognizing the legitimacy of Korean ethnic schools in Japan. The oppression of ethnic schools has resulted from a discriminatory assimilation policy, not the application of liberal principles intended to achieve greater…

The author describes the difficulties of achieving his life-long dream of going to an Ivy League college, and how his Shawnee grandfather advised him to acquire the white man's skills and bring them back to his people. He advises young Native Americans to choose the more difficult, yet honorable path of serving their own people. (TD)

Examples from upper primary classrooms in Scotland and Jamaica demonstrate the subtle ways in which teachers support or restrict the classroom use of community languages (Scots and Patwa) through their broad or narrow implementation of language policy. The metaphor of fractals, derived from complexity theory, can form a sensitive and appropriate…

Blending and spelling training were compared to determine which intervention would improve the decoding skills of two first-grade boys with learning disabilities. Although neither intervention proved superior, the children met the learning criterion with both interventions and demonstrated both maintenance and generalization of their skills. (DB)

An adult worker with moderate mental retardation demonstrated substandard productivity in cleaning bathroom, hall, and office sites in a community-based competitive work setting. Productivity increased at each site following (1) videotape-based self-monitoring, and (2) distributed verbal feedback and breaks which were systematically reduced over…

Misunderstandings about economic forces behind tuition hikes need to be cleared up. Price is what students pay in tuition and fees to attend college; cost is what colleges pay to provide education. Educational expenses include faculty salaries, academic excellence, deferred maintenance, government regulations, better service, borrowing, etc. (MLW)

Twenty-eight college students with normal hearing, naive to sign language, were trained on 30 American Sign Language signs using computer-assisted instruction or a videotaped presentation. Results indicated significantly higher scores under the videotaped condition when sign learning and retention were probed 3 and 10 days after training.…

Discusses the use of microcomputers as a first step toward library automation in developing countries, and describes microcomputer projects in Trinidad and Tobago to illustrate factors that need to be considered. These factors include hardware selection, installation and maintenance, hardware appropriateness, output requirements, software, the…

Questions and answers to help school business officials weed through the promotional material in order to determine the roofing system right for their buildings. (MLF)

The hispanicization of Mayan immigrants in Los Angeles is explored, focusing on the patterns of usage of Mayan, Spanish, and English among men, women, and children, and the trend toward Spanish-English bilingualism. (Author/MSE)

Contrasts two perceptions of bilingualism in German-speaking minorities in a Danish and a Belgian community. Considerable attention is given to the tension which exists between the maintenance of the minority's cultural identity and the realization of individual lifestyles and goals. (Author/CB)