Education articles from September 1998

Education archives from September 1998

PARAEDUCATOR CAREER LADDERS: A DEAN'S PERSPECTIVE.
September 22, 1998... In observing the formation and administration of several Southern California career ladder programs over the past five years, it has become apparent that the single act of initiating this form of preparation program does not necessarily...

PARAEDUCATOR CAREER LADDER: A VALUABLE MEANS IF INCREASING THE TEACHING FORCE IN A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT.
September 22, 1998... With 33,000 teachers at 670 schools spread over 707 square miles educating 878,000 students, the Los Angeles Unified School District is faced with enormous challenges, as are all urban school districts, but one does not have to look very far to...

DEVELOPING A PARAEDUCATORS CAREER LADDER AS A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH FOR TRAINING SELECT FUTURE TEACHERS.
September 22, 1998... Many school districts are developing career ladders to train their own paraeducators as future teachers. Paraeducators are considered excellent candidates for this role. This article describes the inception and development of one of the largest...

CAREER LADDERS: MODIFYING TEACHERS' WORK TO SUSTAIN MOTIVATION.
September 22, 1998... Educational administrators must concern themselves with how a high level of teacher motivation can be aroused, directed, and sustained. Modifying teachers' work through career ladders, may make more meaningful incentives available to them,...

INSIGHTS ON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: SOME "SABBATICAL" OBSERVATIONS.
September 22, 1998... This report summarizes the author's observations of the communication effectiveness of 426 individuals whom he encountered in a variety of situations during a recent 6-month sabbatical leave. He conducted unobtrusive assessments of the quality...

CULTURAL REFLECTIONS: THE USE OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN THE TEACHER EDUCATION CLASSROOM.
September 22, 1998... ... I am not complimented by well-intentioned people who say to me "But, Cheryl, when I look at you I don't see color. While on one hand I understand the intended sentiment of pluralism and acceptance in the comment on the other hand I am...

CURRICULUM INNOVATION INTERVIEW: THE FOUR-PERIOD DAY.(Interview)
September 22, 1998... This paper examines an innovation in education, the four-period day (Block) scheduling. The purpose of this paper was to interview a classroom teacher and get the teachers first-hand experiences with the new program. The interview also takes...

TOWARDS THE MULTICULTURAL VALIDATION OF A WESTERN MODEL OF STUDENT APPROACHES TO LEARNING.
September 22, 1998... The reliability and validity of the Study Process Questionnaire is investigated for 750 South African undergraduates. The concepts involved in the SPQ are relevant to the South African students and the SPQ scales and subscales were found to be...

AN APPRAISAL OF THE ROLE AND TRAINING OF THE SCHOOL SECRETARY IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS.
September 22, 1998... In spite of the undeniable "linchpin role" of the school secretary, there is a lack of theorizing on this position. Inquiry reveals that this position is taxed with an infinitely varied set of demands and responsibilities, which requires sound...

IMPROVEMENT OF SCHEDULING IN A BOARDING SCHOOL.
September 22, 1998... Much can be learned when making comparisons pertaining to education in different nations. The boarding school concept is rarely mentioned in American education and yet it has its many merits. Pupils are supervised carefully in the curriculum....

ADOLESCENT HIGH RISK BEHAVIOR: A LOOK AT REGULAR EDUCATION, LEARNING DISABLED, AND CONTINUATION HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
September 22, 1998... This project examined the link between student status (i.e., regular education, learning disabled, and continuation high schoolers) and involvement in high risk behaviors. 251 students responded to demographic items requesting information on...

TEN WAYS TO MESS UP A MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM: SUGGESTIONS FOR AVOIDING COMMON MISTAKES.
September 22, 1998... Recently the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics have been the target of sharp criticism. Many of the proponents of the Standards suggest that thoughtful consideration of how...

RESEARCH ON TEACHERS' ATTITUDES AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, AND PUBLIC POLICY.
September 22, 1998... This interdisciplinary project involved science and social studies educators in an experientially-based program that emphasized the interrelationships among energy, environment, economics, and politics. The influence of the institute on...

CHURCH THROUGH THE EYES OF SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN.
September 22, 1998... Case study activities are proposed for seeing church through the eyes of children attending Sunday School. The activities include writing descriptive anecdotes, distinguishing objective from subjective observations, identifying recurring...

THE EFFECTS OF CURRICULUM PRACTICES ON FIRST GRADERS' ATTITUDES, ACTIVITY PREFERENCE, AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN MATHEMATICS.
September 22, 1998... This study was a collaborative effort of a classroom teacher, a special education teacher, and a professor from the local university involved in a professional development school project. Because previous studies indicated that improvement of...

USING A WEB PAGE IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION CLASS.
September 22, 1998... With as much hype has been put forth concerning the Internet, it is a wonder that anyone takes it seriously anymore. Still, as all of the industry experts tell us, it is here to stay, and now there is practically no one who does not agree that...

THE COOPERATING TEACHER ROLE AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT.
September 22, 1998... This study focuses on how cooperating teachers reflect on their own work and professional development. Survey techniques were used to collect data from 302 cooperating teachers working with four teacher training institutions in Wisconsin....

RESTRUCTURING UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES: THE STUDENT-FOCUSED PARADIGM.
September 22, 1998... Rising costs in education, accompanied by declining performance and productivity, indicate a need for a change. This article suggests a new focus to create higher education institutions that are more responsive to students' needs. A new...

WHAT EVERY TEACHER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.
September 22, 1998... The criteria for licensure of teachers in Texas are course grades in 18 semester credit hours and the passing score of 70 on the Professional Development component of the Examination for Certification of Educators In Texas (EXCET). The...

BRIDGING ACADEMIES AND ECONOMIES FOR FUTURE: LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP FOR "TOWN AND GOWN" COMMUNITIES.
September 22, 1998... Municipalities where colleges and universities are situated to provide timely and unique opportunities for connecting leadership and partnership among the community's myriad of organizations and institutions. This essay offers some suggestions...

LISTENING CONDITIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION CLASSROOMS: ONE METHOD OF IMPROVING THEM.
September 22, 1998... Minimal information exists regarding classroom acoustics in higher education. Sound level readings were performed, students and instructors were surveyed, and sound field amplification equipment installed in classrooms at one large university....

FAMILY HISTORY AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS AT A RURAL SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY.
September 22, 1998... A survey of alcohol consumption patterns and family drinking histories of rural southern college students was conducted. Seventy-two percent of the 447 students surveyed drank alcohol. Thirty-three percent reported having a family member who...

DRAWING ON LEVINAS TO REDEFINE EDUCATION: MAKING THE UNKNOWABLE THE NEW PRIORITY.
September 22, 1998... The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas challenges the educator to consider the vital role of the unknowable Other in the education process. In Levinas, the relation between the Self and the Other precedes even the Self. Knowing can be...

JOHN DEWEY & EARL KELLEY: GIANTS IN DEMOCRATIC EDUCATION.
September 22, 1998... This paper examines selected work of Dewey and Kelley. An overview of schools from colonial times through the 1960s proceeds an analysis of their vision for democratic schools. The essay presents Dewey's analysis of subject matter and teacher...

SITUATED COGNITION VERSUS TRADITIONAL COGNITIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING.
September 22, 1998... This paper reviews a variety of perspectives in reference to recent cognitive and situative theories as they relate to the process of becoming a learner. The context of this inquiry is seen as a creative tension between concepts of individual...

ARE AMERICA'S PUBLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ANTI-RELIGIOUS?
September 22, 1998... This article addresses the claim that America's public educational institutions are too frequently anti-religious. Examples are given, regarding why various people believe that anti-religious attitudes exist, especially in the public schools....

CURRICULUM INNOVATION INTERVIEW: THE FOUR-PERIOD DAY.
September 22, 1998... The following article looks at an innovation in education, the four-period day (Block) scheduling. The interview focuses on one teachers first-hand experience with the new program. The interview also takes into account comments from other...

AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF SELF-ESTEEM ENHANCEMENT IN A HIGH SCHOOL CHALLENGE SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAM.
September 22, 1998... Service learning has been an innovative approach to improve school practice across the nation (e.g., Conrad & Hedin, 1989; Crossman, 1989; Krug, 1991; Patterson, 1987). Following the former President George Bush who signed the National...

BRIDGING ACADEMIES AND ECONOMIES FOR THE FUTURE: LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP FOR "TOWN AND GOWN" COMMUNITIES.
September 22, 1998... The conditions and circumstances that face all of us in the academy and in the economy include: growing demands for product quality; increasing accountability of service; leading with limited resources in an era of decline; responding to...

ASSESSING STUDENT'S KNOWLEDGE OF THE AGING PROCESS.
September 22, 1998... Of the 260 million people comprising the population of the United States in 1995, approximately 13%, or 33.5 million, were 65 years of age or older (Atchley, 1997). Everyday during 1995, 5,575 people celebrated their 65th birthday (AARP, 1996)....