Some want schools reformed to produce high-performing future leaders. Others desire schools that teach students how to live, share, and serve others. Competition and high performance need not substitute for happiness, love, and service-values that counter America's culture of hyper-individualism, isolationism, and declining social/political…

Compares conversational styles of intermediate and advanced learners of English as a Second Language in language proficiency interviews. The article describes differences in amount of talk and rate of speaking, extent of context dependence and ability to construct and sustain narratives, but not in frequency of initiation of new topics nor…

Analyzes the mental organizations of two sets of fuzzy lexical items by 70 native speakers (NSs) of English and 185 learners of English as a Second Language (ESL). Findings suggest that a discernible approximative pattern exists in the acquisition of ESL semantics, with the differentiation of certain words acquired before the differentiation of…

Intelligence tests were administered twice to 426 members of 93 transracial adoptive families, once when the adopted children's ages averaged 7 years and again when they averaged 17 years. Correlations suggest that influences on intellectual development in this sample of black and interracial adoptees reared in white families are similar to those…

Focuses on the development and use of the attitude scale on a sample of Greek English language teachers whose classroom practices had been observed. The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using attitude scales to investigate teachers' attitudes towards the communicative approach. (46 references) (Author/CK)

The Road to Readiness component of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning focused on individual, family, and community supports and obstacles to school readiness. Several projects of the initiative are described, focusing on a chart developed to help parents encourage a child's early speech. (SLD)

Used alone, mandated standards and tests provide a dangerously narrow approach to accountability. Superintendents' proper response is layering and realignment-working to improve standards' validity and contribution to school improvement. Superintendents should provide leadership that increases schools' adaptability and spurs environmental changes.…

This special section outlines recent trends, including U.S. population projections (highlighting growth in aging and minority groups), public opinion about schools and school choice, accountability concerns, achievement scores, technology access, early childhood issues, and state and regional statistics on finance, school characteristics, and…

Reports on a study where subjects were asked to evaluate the level of musical intensity expressed in various music excerpts. Defines musical intensity as that which conveys strong, ardent, or concentrated emotion. Compares subjects' ongoing evaluation (continuous) with a single concluding (summative) evaluation. Includes a list of orchestral…

This article describes critical events that have shaped gifted education, including: publication of "A Nation At Risk," the Roeper School, differentiated curriculum, concepts of intelligence, the Marland Report, the Torrance Tests, Teachers' College at Columbia University achievements, the legacy of Leta S. Hollingworth, Sputnik, and…

Examines a common misconception among English learners and teachers at high schools in Japan about what it means to teach and learn English pronunciation. Discusses what has caused this misconception, describes it in light of a recent trend in English education, and focuses on what needs to be done to put a new concept of teaching pronunciation…

Analysis of students' mean scores on two internal medicine clerkship tests at Wright State University investigated test sensitivity and specificity for identifying students with insufficient knowledge, and compared final examination pass rates of counseled and noncounseled students. Results indicate that in-clerkship tests can identify at-risk…

Describes a Web-based professional development curriculum that was designed at the University of Delaware for the internship portion of the Registered Dieticians program. Topics include distance learning; technology integration; combining in-class with online instruction; multimedia use for problem-based learning case studies; course management…

Addressed the internal consistency coefficients of scores on self-concept and other composites in different risk groups and the relationship between self-concept variables and variables measuring behavioral and psychological functioning. Scores from at-risk high school graduates and dropouts and not-at-risk students indicated that the reliability…

This article reviews the methods commonly used to evaluate journals, looking particularly at indicators relevant to journals in the humanities. It then applies these methods to a sample of Australian humanities journals. The indicators used are: level of holdings in large overseas academic libraries, coverage in international databases, standards…