Features a recent book ("Changing Our Minds: Negotiating English and Literacy") by and a conversation with Miles Myers, former Executive Director of the National Council of Teachers of English. Discusses changing work practices, historical shifts in definitions of literacy; "new literacies"; gaps between theory, policy, and lived experience; and…

Presents definitions and purposes of delegation, accountability, and empowerment as parts of a system aimed at high performance. It explores how advanced program evaluation methods can make delegation and accountability more effective and empowerment less risky. (SLD)

Presents 12 brief answers by editors and authors to the question of what a short story is. Includes a 23-item annotated bibliography of the best new (published between 1997 and 2000) short story collections for young adults. (RS)

Survey responses from 186 of 250 trainers/human resource managers and a Delphi panel of 21 rated companies' basic skills training provisions and the importance of basic skills. Although most stated their companies provide basic skills training, results show most are reluctant to hire, train, or retain workers with low basic skills. (SK)

Argues that, rather than trying to define technical communication in a nontraditional way, people should ask how those who already view technical communication in nontraditional ways can assist and challenge those who continue to view technical communication in a traditional way. (SR)

Discusses the need for totalizing definitions in rhetoric. Examines other aspects of Miller's and Kreth's individual comments (published in this issue). Distinguishes instrumental and rhetorical discourse to address Kreth's concerns that Moore lacks a precise definition of instrumental discourse. (PA)

Presents an interview with Moira Runcie, Editorial Director for ELT (English Language Teaching) dictionaries at Oxford University Press. The interview focuses on the work of A.S. Hornby in creating the first learners dictionary of English and shows how modern dictionaries draw on his work. (Author/JL)

Addresses the definitions of several mathematical concepts and the relationships between them based on a theoretical framework presented in the first part. Presents two examples of mathematical activities on equivalent and non-equivalent definitions constructed in the context of professional development workshops for mathematics teachers.…

Play has been difficult to define because it is an aspect of many activities rather than of just a specific kind of activity. Classic theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky emphasized representational play as play in its purist form, but both immediate and ultimate functions of play can be discerned in simple physical activity play. (Author)

Introduces the project on the European Public Relations Body of Knowledge (EBOK). Reviews proposals on the definition, dimensions, and domain of public relations. Confronts these with findings from EBOK. Presents ideas on how to bridge the differences. Proposes ideas for further investigation. (SG)

Finds that many activities that have been called "problems" are merely exercises or tricks. Offers a clearer definition of the word "problem". Notes some of the classroom implications of the new insight. (Author/CCM)

Introduces this special issue on electronic literacy, which refers to literacy activities (e.g., in reading, writing, spelling) that are delivered, supported, accessed, or assessed digitally through computers or other electronic means rather than on paper. Suggests electronic literacy is not just an additional component to the existing definition…

Focuses on the paradigm talk on display in two "Handbook" chapters on next-generation methods for studying educational administration and new research paradigms for improving schooling. Discusses how talk about paradigms shapes our thinking and affects what we say about research methods on one hand and substantive issues on the other.…

Attempts to allay the confusion between technology education and educational technology. Discusses their purpose and direction as well as the standards used in both areas.(JOW)

This article criticizes the term "comorbidity" used to describe the overlap of developmental syndromes or disorders. Data from 179 school-age children are evaluated for criteria of seven disorders. Since fully 50 percent of the sample met the criteria for at least two diagnoses, the premise that these disorders are discrete categories on…