By comparing Alfred Korzybski's and Richard Paul's approach to critical thinking, this paper presents a procedural example of how an individual can learn and develop expertise in human communicating. The paper offers various exercises beginning with select Korzybski general semantics communication theories and moving into critical thinking…

The products of research and the successes of curriculum reforms are often inaccessible to teachers, administrators, and policymakers. This paper was designed to help researchers communicate their knowledge of successful curriculum reform to policymakers and practitioners, in order to influence practice. It focuses on making more effective use of…

Motivated by the introduction of a new secondary school language curriculum in Malaysia, a project was undertaken to examine its effects on classroom teaching and learning, particularly from the teacher's perspective. The portion of the project that involved training state officials to participate in a formative evaluation of the curriculum and…

A "dynamic priority" theory of Chinese second language instruction is outlined and discussed. The theory focuses on five aspects of language instruction: spoken vs. written language; universality vs. particularity; cultural vs. linguistic tasks; performance vs. competence; and proficiency vs. achievement. A dynamic relationship is seen between the…

Writing teachers and theorists face political and pedagogical dangers because of their increasing tendency to align themselves against each other on the side of either rhetoric or composition. As the differences between the two schools widens, writing teachers stand to lose political ground in English departments and their students stand to lose…

This paper examines the concept of "outcomes-based education" (OBE), how it was developed, how it relates to other current reforms that encompass the notion of outcomes, and how it relates to students with disabilities in theory and in practice. Outcomes-based education holds that all children can learn and succeed and that schools are…

This book serves as a resource for teachers who want to implement a whole language curriculum. More than half of the material in this second edition is new. The first half of the book updates and revises the discussion of the reading process presented in the first edition while retaining the "think-it-through-yourself" format. The…

This keynote address begins with a discussion of the difference between words and action, directed specifically to the practitioner's task of meeting the communication needs of children and youth with severe disabilities. Brief overviews of current perspectives and practices are provided, considering such areas as how communicative acts are…

This paper offers examples of the ways in which research influences national policies related to assessment and program evaluation. It describes an ongoing evaluation being conducted by the National Academy of Education (NAE) of the "Trial State Assessment," a piece of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). At this interim stage,…

This newsletter reproduces a discussion between Eskil Bjorklund, former director of The Council for Studies of Higher Education in Sweden and his successor, Thorsten Nybom, concerning the Swedish Research on Higher Education Program. This program was established in 1968 to direct the organization of research on higher education and award research…

The teaching of thinking has become the focus of a new interventionist paradigm in schooling. Four perspectives have been particularly influential in the development of the paradigm: (1) the cognitive view of intelligence, which asserts that intellectual ability can be changed; (2) the constructivist approach to learning, which maintains that…

Reflection and notation in communications in the School Renewal Network, a national collegium of practitioners engaged in school reform activities, are examined in this paper. The network was designed to create an interactive knowledge base for school restructuring that would link educators in meaningful dialogue based on research and current…

This monograph reports the proceedings of the Multimedia Technology Seminar and consists of presented papers as well as summaries of demonstration and discussion sessions. Sessions covered the following topics: the role of learning theory in the development and application of multimedia technologies in special education; multimedia research in…

Intended for high school literature teachers, this book reviews research in educational psychology and reading comprehension, and outlines classroom activities for direct instruction and practice of interpretive strategies. The book cites studies which reveal that if teachers distrust students' ability to interpret literature effectively, they may…

This packet summarizes the ideas, concepts, suggestions, and speculations growing out of a think tank which explored the uncharted region beyond cognitive learning. The packet shows that participants were divided into groups to discuss teaching, research, bibliographic information, theoretical ideas, and professional issues. The packet contains:…