A Michigan teacher involved her fourth-grade class in developing effective writing criteria by providing students with interesting writing samples and challenging them to select "plus" sentences from their own work to read in class. This modeling technique helped students recognize good writing and gain appreciation of the standards for…

Describes the assessment instrument developed by the author over a four-year period for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Argues that the instrument to be used by the NBPTS is nothing like the author and his assessment team originally designed. Criticizes the method of teacher evaluation being implemented by NBPTS.…

Describes the College Board's Pacesetter course, a proposed senior-year English curriculum. Argues that Pacesetter is not innovative at all but, in fact, constitutes a reactionary and teacher-dominated curricular package inspired by a conservative version of educational reform. (HB)

Describes the College Board's Pacesetter course, a proposed senior-year English curriculum. Argues that Pacesetter is a positive and a democratic curriculum. Defends the Pacesetter program against its most ardent critics. (HB)

Teachers deceive children when they concentrate on making them feel good regardless of their levels of accomplishment. Studies show great discrepancies between U.S. students' comparatively low academic performance and their "above-average" self-evaluations in mathematics. Deprived of appropriate standards, children could later face harsher critics…

Presents a revision of the standards for social studies teacher preparation by the National Council for the Social Studies. Discusses the selection for and continuation in social studies teacher educations of promising teachers. Suggests that program requirements include general education, social studies skills including global and multicultural…

In 1983, "A Nation at Risk" made policy recommendations in leadership and fiscal support; standards and expectations; and content, teaching, and use of classroom time and stressed importance of continuous learning and excellence for all students. Symptoms of education's low status remain prevalent--from inadequate student motivation and…

Surveyed parents of students attending a private day and boarding school in Queensland, Australia. Some important reasons for sending their children to the school were academic standards, moral standards, standards of student behavior, and commitment of the teaching staff. The most important source of information about the school was word of…

Discussion of the development of educational standards and the impact on school library media programs focuses on what constitutes information skills, or information literacy. Documents for 27 states are listed that outline the information skills actually taught in the various states. (LRW)

The Perkins Act mandated the establishment of standards, assessments, and certification to train the nation's work force. By ascertaining what is expected of their programs and students, marketing educators will be sure that their standards are met and that the future of marketing education reflects today's visions. (Author/JOW)

This article presents a rejoinder to the responses to EC 607 382, which evaluated the standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics as applied to students with disabilities. It questions the value and ethics of urging teachers to experiment with the methods advocated in the standards. (DB)

Discusses the development of content and student performance standards in 8 core curriculum areas (math, science, civics, history, geography, the arts, English, and foreign languages) to help meet goal 3 of the national education goals, which states that by the year 2000 students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having mastered challenging subject…

Describes a project-driven classroom that elaborates on the conventional role play, implementing the instructional goals of the National Standards in Foreign Language Education project, while presenting possible solutions to the issue of listening-comprehension anxiety. (Author/VWL)

Describes an outcomes accreditation study of 27 schools, undertaken after the 1985 North Central Association Commission on Schools' (NCA COS) two-year development pilot project on the same subject. Predicts that NCA COS will keep governance of the outcomes process at the local level, with peer review by visiting teams remaining an integral part of…

Assesses the value of looking at reading scores of cohorts of children to identify different changes in attainment. Analyses the reading standards of seven cohorts of Year 6 children from five British primary schools. Highlights the increasing numbers of poor readers and decreasing numbers of very good readers in upper-level cohorts. (DSK)