Discusses strategic teaching, a process for organizing and representing subject content, for helping students think about their own learning processes, for organizing skills instruction, and for managing classroom instruction. Provides an example of strategic instructional planning and a graphic that shows step-by-step procedures for the planning…

Case studies described 12 middle-school teachers' instructional yearly, unit, weekly, and daily planning on the basis of a background questionnaire, interview protocols, an analysis of written plans, think-aloud typescripts, and a questionnaire. A process model best characterized teachers long-term planning, while an agenda-formulation model fit…

Outlines a "curricular" approach to learning difficulties against the background of traditional conceptions and practices relating to special needs in British schools, and in light of recent developments in "mainstream" curricula. Examines calls for change in the organization of learning, distinguishes mainstream from special…

Presents a study that measured and compared the effect of an experimental drawing treatment upon the drawing performance of students from the United States and Jamaica. Designed to be a meaningful part of a multicultural curriculum, the strategy proved effective in teaching still-life drawing to both groups of students. (GEA)

Preservice teachers' needs as readers were considered during the development of a program intended to motivate these teachers to spend part of their summer reading education trade books, resulting in a marked increase in the number of trade books and books in general the teachers read. (CB)

Focuses on the value of informational books while presenting a module for teaching about children's literature. Includes a list of journal articles about using children's literature, as well as a list of informational children's books from the following genres: wordless picture books, picture books, biographies, fine arts, science, and social…

Discusses a method to motivate low level students in which a reading specialist attended class regularly as a "student." By questioning the teacher, comparing notes with students, and acting as a role model, the reading specialist helped these students improve their grades, their class behavior, and increase their self-esteem. (GEA)

Introduces Nicholas Silvaroli, founder and Program Coordinator of the Reading Program at Arizona State University. Discusses what he believes to be critical issues of concern to all of us, including the quality of tomorrow's teachers and recent trends in reading instruction. (JK)

Principals can and should develop strategies that will enable them to provide instructional leadership despite increased demands from other tasks. Recommended actions include: delegation; peer observation; commitment to instructional leadership; and effective communication with teachers. (CB)

Discusses the steps for selecting a suitable authoring system for computer-based training. The factors of power, ease of use, productivity and maintenance, embedded within evaluative scenarios, are used as evaluation guidelines. (SED)

Encourages practicing school counselors to present programs at conferences and to provide in-service training for their faculties. Planning strategies are offered. (BL)

A survey of instructional developers in academia and industry resulted in a list of 21 most recommended instructional development books in four categories: personal use, textbooks, reference, and reading for clients not knowledgeable about the field. Comparison of books recommended by the two groups revealed that they agreed on eight titles. (MBR)

Briefly discusses the evolution of duties of school media specialists and describes use of an attitudinal questionnaire to survey the school community to see how well media services are being received and whether improvements or adjustments are necessary. Items to be included in such a questionnaire are listed. (MBR)

Briefly describes stages of the systematic design process for educational software including learning goals identification; considering medium suitability; developing performance objectives, criterion-referenced tests, and instructional strategies; and product evaluation and dissemination. Events of instruction are discussed in detail as they…

Focused team supervision is a team approach for instructional improvement. By targeting instructional needs, it promotes support in priority areas and strengthens administrator-teacher relationships. (MD)