This seminar discussed the civic preparation that educators themselves need to enable them to better prepare elementary and secondary students to become more effective and responsible citizens. The proceedings began with a paper on "Civil Learning for Teachers: Capstone for Educational Reform," by R. Freeman Butts. Following this, the five general…

Key research in the literature on the relationship between parent participation and achievement is discussed, participation being defined in terms of activities both within and outside of the school. The research resists generalization because of the range of potential parent activities and the uncertainty about what they convey, but yields the…

Technological advancement has both facilitated and necessitated the development of distance education programming. In developing nations, distance education is often used to provide traditional education like that usually available in conventional institutions in the Western world. Whereas distance education in the Soviet Union focuses on…

Handicapped students are now protected by specific statutes in addition to the broad constitutional protection offered all students. As the number of related statutes, regulations, and case law decisions grew, assimilation became increasingly difficult. This publication attempts to meet educators' need for a succinct guide in special education…

The Language School in Seattle has conducted extracurricular foreign language classes in 31 local elementary schools for several years. Each school has a parent coordinator, the courses are tuition-supported, and the objectives are to establish language learning interest and cultural awareness using the Total Physical Response method. A dramatic…

A comparison of the salient characteristics of Canadian and United States bilingual education programs suggests various settings where it would be desirable to introduce children to schooling in their home language. These settings include: (1) the various ethnic communities in the United States, (2) multilingual developing countries, (3) parts of…

In 1980, Oregon State University began a program going beyond the usual procedure for students of English as a second language (ESL), which involved putting them in intensive English programs until they could pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language and then sending them on to a regular academic program. It was found that this traditional…

Comparisons were made of the contexts and incidence of child- and teacher-initiated behavior in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms in Japan and the United States. The "Child/Teacher Initiation Behaviors Checklist" was developed and used to obtain data on nine general initiation categories, such as: gains attention; initiates…

Highlights of a nationwide public opinion survey concerning the interest and involvement of Americans in the arts are summarized. Telephone interviews were conducted with 1,504 adults. Results showed that the arts are indisputably a part of the mainstream of American life. Because Americans have limited leisure time, the arts must increasingly…

This guide is intended for use in locally conducted inservice programs and university courses. It is designed to aid each school of a district and the district office itself in starting and maintaining a self-improvement capability by maintaining or improving (1) student achievement, interest, behavior, and citizenship; (2) effective…

Previous research on online discussions has focused on university students learning higher level subjects. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether online discussions could be used effectively by secondary school students attempting to learn introductory level topics. Forty-­five male students, ranging in age from 13 to 15 years…

This paper describes the experiences gathered in a Masters of Adult Education course at University of Botswana (UB), where 26 students of the University of Botswana and the University of Georgia (UGA) engaged in discussions within the University of Botswana Learning Management System WebCT. Individual participation patterns in the discussions…

This paper describes an internship program in Dade County, Florida, designed to educate future taxpayers and voters about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship; to stimulate an interest in the inner workings of local government; and to permit a close inspection and direct participation in government's day to day service operations. The…

To analyze income inequality in 32 nations, the research tested hypotheses based upon eight socioeconomic variables. The first seven variables, often tested in income research, were: political participation, industrial development, population growth, educational level, inflation rate, economic growth, and technological complexity. The eighth…

This third in a series of six learning modules on instructional planning is designed to give secondary and postsecondary vocational teachers experience in developing each component of the various kinds of instructional units and using them to create a written unit plan for improving instruction. The terminal objective for the module is to develop…