Many schools are replacing checklists with performance-based assessments (portfolios and self-evaluation instruments), supplemented by cognitive coaching, student evaluations, structured simulation tasks, and action research. Evaluation is becoming a long-term, cyclical process linked to organizational goals. Teams of assessors are replacing…

Endorses recent arguments for more study of writing that shapes and directs the production of material artifacts and for considering writing as one semiotic mode among others. Considers a case of "nonwritten" symbolic production, architectural design, for what it may suggest for the study and teaching of writing. (TB)

Educators' ability to tap the potential of available knowledge will determine the success or failure of school-improvement efforts. The average school employee is unacquainted with methods, strategies, and structures that could revolutionize the quality of education and school life. The current system is information-poor and cannot promote change…

This article reviews the literature on the academic status of students with emotional and behavioral disabilities including student, placement, and assessment characteristics; functioning level of students; and trends in the research over the past four decades. Limitations of existing research are identified, such as incomplete reporting of…

Analyzes 50 recent Australian vocational education and training research studies using an organizational theory framework to assess the degree of organizational and socioeconomic complexity. Finds that most explore the familiar (organizational) domain and only three investigate problems involving both organizational and socioeconomic domains.…

Calls for more attention to literacy teaching practices and teacher education that acknowledge sexual identity and orientation as key aspects of youth identity development. Discusses experience-based pedagogy and classroom interactions around sexual identities and texts. Notes the need for research and scholarship in the field of literacy and…

This article reviews how tutoring systems have been applied across specialized subject areas (e.g., music, horticulture, health and safety, social interactions). It summarizes findings, provides an analysis of skills learned within each tutoring system, identifies the respective methodologies, and reports relevant findings, implications, and…

Three special educators (Brown, McDonnell, and Billingsley) respond to a review in the same issue by Wolery and Schuster. The first urges a paradigm shift in researching these issues, the second urges more study on the complexities of providing individualized instruction in the regular classroom, and the third stresses the need to examine effects…

Using statistical stereotypes may be a means of improving the effectiveness of information-filtering systems that are based on user profiles. Highlights include information and expert systems that use stereotypes, assigning users to stereotypes, integrating stereotypes into a model for information filtering, and future research. (Author/LRW)

Presents a series of speeches by three past presidents of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) about the future of the association and educational research in general. Two of the three explain why they are highly critical of the field they helped lead; the third suggests a redirection towards more comprehensive theories from the…

Offers observations and reflections on research and research issues in the field of language arts. Discusses issues and factors significant to the state and future of language arts research, including: sociopolitical context, new and old issues confronting the field, and research needed for the public good. (SR)

Finds several themes emerging in conversations about emergent literacy research: the field is alive and well; a new distinguishing factor is that the research frame has shifted from a cognitive to a sociocultural one; studies that extend over longer periods and across different sociocultural contexts are needed; and resist jumping to instructional…

Contends that the changing constellation of semiotic and spatial practices associated with new media and online literacies constitutes a very different object of research than has been addressed by literacy researchers. Concludes that literacy researchers need to develop new repertoires of literacy practices in relation to everyday use of…

Proposes that emotions should be regarded as important components of learning. Focuses on recent trends in composition relating to how the emotions have or have not been included in discussions emphasizing writing instruction. Suggests opportunities for further research that give attention to emotion. (PM)

Discusses problematic aspects of multilingualism, looks for plausible reasons to explain the deficits educators have to deal with, and gives a brief sketch of what appears to the author as recommended directions for future research. Concludes that multilingual reading instruction must rely on responsive instruction and reflective teaching. (SG)