The argument being made here is that democratic life is more likely if educators actually "educate," rather than comply with quality of teaching approaches as promoted by the Australian federal government. Engaging with some philosophy of education can assist educators to resist being seduced by notions such as "quality…

Since the publication of the 2000 PISA results highlighting Finland's school children ranking #1 in the world for reading, and #3 for mathematics and science, fascination with Finland's educational system has piqued the interest of educational researchers worldwide. Researchers have been captivated by the paradoxes of the Finnish education system:…

For excellent teachers and those aspiring to excellence, and for administrative or education policy leaders, this brief provides an overview of how an Opportunity Culture can help teachers have the well-paid, empowered profession they deserve--while helping many more students succeed. [For the full report, see ED560179; for the summary, see…

The work of schools is teaching and learning. However, the current educational culture is dominated by three characteristics: (1) the mechanistic view of organization and its practice based on the assembly line model where students progress along a value added conveyor; (2) the predominance of the Essentialist philosophy of education, in which the…

Faculty members at a research extensive university who had been recognized as outstanding teachers stated that they enjoyed teaching and expressed a strong preference for actively engaging students in the learning process and placing a high degree of importance on receiving student feedback. They stressed the importance of setting clear…

Jesuit education has gone to a renewal process in recent decades as a response to the Vatican Council II and the Society of Jesus's own call for renovation. This process has been conceived as part of our living tradition that began with the "Ratio Studiorum" and the opening of many schools and universities through the world in the late…

The commentaries to our target article "Towards a systemic theory of gifted education" differed in their assessments of the various arguments we put forward. Of the more than 40 responses to our target article, 27 responses were chosen as being representative of all commentaries. We grouped the responses according to the main points in our target…

Highly productive educational methods have been identified through publicly funded research, but these methods or programs have not been widely disseminated or adopted. Problems with the work ethic, discipline, and competition are described, along with the public's need for learning but its desire for entertainment. (JDD)

Arguments in favor of and against the Regular Education Initiative (REI) are presented. Lack of appropriate qualifications of regular classroom teachers and a lack of empirical evidence on REI effectiveness are cited as some of the problems with the approach. (JDD)

This report presents an executive summary, in Spanish, of a study which examined the effects of curriculum compacting, a curriculum modification technique for gifted and talented students. The study involved approximately 436 elementary teachers and 783 students in 27 school districts throughout the United States. The study was designed to…

This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting, a curriculum modification technique for gifted and talented students, with approximately 436 elementary teachers and 783 students in 27 school districts throughout the United States. The study was designed to investigate the types and amount of curriculum content that could be eliminated…

This digest contains three articles which consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of special education programs. The first article offers guidelines for more fully including special education in the school community, in the context of broader educational reform and restructuring efforts. First the need for reform is addressed. Next, indicators…

Reiterates the oft-heard complaint that social studies instruction relies too heavily on textbooks and lectures resulting in disinterested and alienated students. Recommends social studies adopt more experiential and constructivist teaching methods (role playing, educational games, student projects) and utilize multimedia and the Internet. (MJP)

A project that sought to describe current policies and practices for the recognition, identification, assessment, and provision for the needs of Scottish children with specific learning difficulties associated with literacy is described. Other aims were: to identify criteria used to judge the effectiveness of different approaches; to report on how…

This book's aim is to define and clarify the issues involved in the education of deaf and hard of hearing children in local public schools, to bring to light the accumulating research in this area, and to recommend actions for organizing effective educational programs. The book offers a perspective on the current confusion in the field of deaf…