This column presents a brief biography of Dick King-Smith. Born on March 27, 1922 and raised in Gloucestershire, England, he grew up with animals of all kinds. King-Smith was a farmer for twenty years and then became a school teacher. He was also a soldier during wartime, a traveling salesman, shoe factory worker, and television presenter. He…

This article presents a brief biography of author Beverly Cleary. Born on April 12, 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon (Yamhill County), Beverly Cleary celebrated her eighty-ninth birthday in 2005. Cleary is probably best known for creating "Ramona" and the other children's book characters who live on Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon. A selective…

Basan N. Nembirkow grew up as a pre-adolescent adoring the Brooklyn Dodgers, and his friends in central New Jersey applied the nickname of Buzz, to which he still answers. But in other respects, it would be hard to suggest Basan Nembirkow is simply a product of a middle-class American upbringing. Nembirkow, who is about to finish his second year…

This article offers a brief biography of Nikki Grimes, who is fast becoming one of the most prolific and versatile African American poets for children of this time. She takes risks in her work and brings readers humor, pathos and sensitive views of life as she has lived and seen it. Born in Harlem, NY, on October 20, 1957, Nikki was sent to live…

From the day he landed in the southeastern Washington community of Kennewick as district superintendent, Paul Rosier let it be known through his actions, as well as his words, that he intended to be the school district's instructional leader. Rosier is a big-picture guy who likes to spend time peering through small windows. In a masterful way of…

This brief article describes Charles T. Webber's oil on canvas painting, "The Underground Railroad, 1893." The subject of this painting is the Underground Railroad, which today has become an American legend. The Underground Railroad was not a systematic means of transportation, but rather a secretive process that allowed fugitive slaves…

This article details the work of Cathy Hartman of the University of North Texas Libraries. After 15 years alone in her studio, working as an artist, Cathy Hartman wanted to get out into the world. Career testing suggested librarianship (also military officer because of her penchant for taking charge). Her strong belief that citizens had a right to…

Sociological production is a situated and embodied activity carried out by individuals inserted in actual social relations. Considering that this feature has an influence upon the content of scholarly literature and that it can be revealed in the scientific text itself, I propound a new interpretation of the writing process of Robert E. Park's…

This article presents a profile of Joe L. Wood, the current superintendent of South Windsor Connecticut and the previous superintendent of Berkshire Hills Regional Schools, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In South Windsor, Wood has presided effectively over what had been a rural school district of 3,000 students when he started in 1986 to one that's…

This highly readable text demystifies the qualitative research process--and helps readers conceptualize their own studies--by organizing the different research paradigms and traditions into coherent clusters. Real-world examples and firsthand perspectives illustrate the research process; instructive exercises and activities build on each other so…

Released in June, 2010, this publication features excerpts from presentations by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) trustees, chancellors and presidents as well as other education experts who candidly discuss issues surrounding accreditation at a unique meeting sponsored by the Southern Education Foundation. The Southern…

Two cohorts of alumni, leading-edge and trailing-edge baby boomers, first tested in their college years, were followed to ages 43 (N = 136) and 54 (N = 182) on a measure of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to model the trajectory of growth for each psychosocial issue across middle adulthood. As…

In this article, the author recalls the time she met Gary Nash at UCLA on July 13, 1992, when they began the work of creating the National Standards in History. Professor Nash was the leader in the development of the United States History Standards. In creating the Standards, they were to focus on Historical Thinking. They needed to organize the…

This article is based on an ESRC/DFID funded research project on Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania: Developing an Equity Scorecard (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/education/wideningparticipation). There are questions about whether widening participation in higher education is a force for democratisation or differentiation.…

This article uses the themes of genesis, metamorphoses, continuity and change from a comparative perspective to show the links and relationships between the ideas of the New Educationists, progressive education and the counter culture of the late 1970s. The article discusses important educationists from different continents and different time…