Provides a comprehensive overview of methods integrating portfolio assessment into middle and high school social studies. Discusses specific interrelationships between instructional styles and portfolio assessment. Outlines tips for creating a portfolio, suggests relevant topics, and provides evaluative criteria. (MJP)

A Scottish council commissioned a study to inform development of policy concerning ability grouping, timetabling, and other practices related to the transition from primary to secondary schooling. Although the researchers became aware that the council expected a report supportive of their policies, the data supported the view that the key to…

Presents four articles discussing methods and activities that can help early childhood educators meet the demands of children with special needs. Suggests that helping those children participate in the center's activities can facilitate their social and cognitive development and support their inclusion in society. Creating the appropriate…

Reports on 2 studies to assess attitudes to and moral reasoning about class rules among 117 Australian secondary students and 87 student teachers. Finds students' moral reasoning to be more advanced than predicted by Lawrence Kohlberg and based on the general welfare of students and teachers. (CFR)

For this study, middle-school teachers, students, and principals completed surveys on organizational climate, quality of life, and use of recommended middle-school practices. Student attitudes toward school life were only slightly affected by openness in faculty relationships; they were more affected by classroom organization and use of accepted…

Maintains that Australian curriculum governance takes place at different levels and all are targets of competing debates. Reviews recurring social influences and themes between 1981 and 1991. Asserts that the trend toward the devolution of management and curriculum control to local schools is the key to restructuring efforts. (CFR)

An ethnographic study of 12 low-income Puerto Rican parents of children with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation found that different cultural meanings of disability and normalcy led parents to reject the notion of disability and focus on the impact of family identity, language confusion, and detrimental educational practices on…

Common instructional practices in the teaching of language minority students are described. The case study of a fourth grade classroom in Longmont (Colorado) illustrates how a teacher's enthusiasm for literacy instruction creates an environment where all students, including the Hispanic language minority, can be active participants. (SLD)

Experiences of the author support the contention that professors and practitioners in education face common dilemmas, and share the practice of teaching, but are not bound by any professional community. Professional communities based on commonalities in teaching can be constructed for those in higher education and the public schools. (SLD)

Argues that everyday school violence, as distinct from isolated sensational incidents, is caused at least in part by the educational policies and procedures governing schools and by the way these policies are implemented. Trends affecting school disorders, including erosion of teacher authority, are discussed, and some solutions are proposed. (SLD)

Teacher educators in Kentucky must prepare teachers who can meet the demands of the state's schools as articulated in the Kentucky Education Reform Act. Teacher educators themselves must demonstrate the kinds of practices that students are expected to learn and must recognize diversity and optimize the success of diverse populations. (SLD)

Reviews the multicultural perspectives that have operated in early childhood education in Australia, involving sociocultural issues, maintenance and development of the mother tongue, and development of English as a Second Language. The challenges of equality of opportunity regardless of differences in cultural or linguistic backgrounds are…

Provides preliminary draft of proposal to kindle thought about what a Montessori secondary school could look like. Suggests ways to think about integrating a farm model and its extensions to adolescent students. Emphasizes the universality of work, the nature of commitment and contribution, the meaning of community, and an optimistic view of…

This paper explores teaching strategies for communicating complex issues and ideas to a diverse group of students, with different educational and vocational interests, that encourage them to develop critical thinking, and explores pedagogies appropriate to the multidisciplinary field of Aboriginal studies. These issues will be investigated through…

This case study was an investigation of the role of the institutional culture of a university in the process of changing to reform-based practices for two college mathematics professors. A framework is presented for identifying and analyzing institutional norms and policies that are present and those lacking in supporting faculty efforts toward…