Effective assessment of mathematical problem solving requires more than an examination of student answers. Students tend to make calculations without explanations. Teachers need to analyze their processes and get students to communicate their thinking. This article suggests ways to understand students' thinking, their conceptions, their…

Discusses the difficulties inherent in trying to communicate such abstract concepts as those associated with leadership through the audiovisual medium of videotape. (PGD)

Four years ago, a very small group of teachers at a Stockton, California, high school recognized that the school must make some dramatic changes in curriculum, governance, and educational philosophies. This article shares pitfalls and surprises encountered in teachers' struggle to create a climate for change and implement their new vision. (seven…

Describes the use of television as a tool to start parents and kids talking to each other about sensitive, serious issues. (Author/JM)

A Bedford, Massachusetts, middle school lived through a series of critical incidents while moving into site-based management. Flaps developed over minute-taking responsibilities in faculty meetings and a student exchange arrangement with an inner-city middle school. A "pyramiding" process to close the communication gap helped maintain…

Identifies five types of parent participation, including basic obligations of parents and schools and parental involvement at school, in home learning activities, and in governance and advocacy. These types occur in different places, require different materials and processes, and lead to different outcomes. No one model serves all purposes. (MLH)

Argues that the generation gap is the collision of two distinct cultures--a youth culture and an adult culture. Each culture is expressed through verbal and nonverbal norms that enhance a feeling of group kinship but hamper communication with members of the other culture. (JG)

Excerpts from a few of the many papers submitted for inclusion in this issue. (Author/MLF)

When two upstate New York teachers analyzed the problems attending student presentations, it became clear that only students with Quadrant 2 (analytical) learning styles were comfortable listening to an oral report. After their gifted fifth and seventh graders created a 4MAT wheel, their new insights helped generate possible solutions to common…

Discusses the prevalence of "black" nonverbal behavior patterns among black and white adolescents alike and suggests that educators must learn to understand those nonverbal patterns in order to distinguish cues of active hostility from other types of behavior. (JG)