Civic education plays an essential role in strengthening the democratic society, preparing informed citizens, and promoting their participation in the civic life of their communities. This project explores state K-12 civic education policies and related requirements nationwide, as well as factors that shape K-12 civic education policies and…

This paper reports on a school district's efforts to work collaboratively with parents, teachers, principals, and community representatives as they confronted concerns about their middle-level program. It recommends strategies for strengthening and refining a program that was undergoing severe strains as the district gathered data about program…

This paper presents a summary of some key findings from a UNESCO survey undertaken to assess the scale and reach of media education throughout the world. In June 2001, a questionnaire was sent to 72 experts on media education in 52 countries worldwide. These individuals, who included academics, policymakers and educational advisers, had been…

"Classroom Notes Plus" publishes descriptions of original, unpublished teaching practices or adapted ideas. Each issue also contains sections on Teacher Talk, Classroom Solutions, and Web resources. The August 1999 issue contains the following materials: Ideas from the Classroom-"Parody: Getting the Joke with Style" (Bonnie…

"The Illinois Commitment: Partnerships, Opportunities, and Excellence" requires an annual submission of a Results Report from higher education institutions and agencies to provide evidence of progress toward the six statewide goals: economic growth, teaching and learning, affordability, access and diversity, high expectations and…

This study sought to determine the relationships between teacher self-reported instructional and classroom assessment practices and scores on a state high-stakes test. Seventy-nine teachers participated. Average mathematics and reading test scale scores of students in each class were used as dependent variables, using a measure of aptitude as a…

This article discusses some of the various school-reform strategies that have been implemented since the publication of A Nation at Risk. It opens with an examination of standards-based accountability and some of the concerns and objections surrounding this movement. It asks whether standards are achieving their purpose, looks at the role of state…

This paper discusses reading instruction in the 20th century. The paper begins with a tour of the historical pathways that have led people, at the century's end, to the "rocky and highly contested terrain educators currently occupy in reading pedagogy." After the author/educator unfolds his version of a map of that terrain in the paper,…

This Proceedings reports on the Distance Education strand sessions at the NCA 2001 Summer Conference. Distance education in communication (DE-COMM) refers to communication teaching and learning that occurs when faculty and students are separated in time and/or space. This separation is bridged synchronously (live) or asynchronously (other than…

The United States still has citizens, but it is said that their commitment to the political community is more tenuous than it has ever been. Civic virtue and even civility are in decline, along with moral and political qualities that make a good citizen. U.S. people between the ages of 18 and 25 are conspicuously lacking in the attributes of good…

Today, many children enter early childhood programs with home languages other than English. This videotape explores the importance of supporting children's home language, while helping them learn English, and gives strategies for helping children become bilingual learners. The 21-minute video provides a rationale for developing both languages,…

This document comprises the remarks of Richard Riley, the U.S. Secretary of Education, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on September 7, 2000 for his annual "Back-to-School" speech. Presented in four parts, the speech focuses on important transitions through children's education. Part 1 maintains that it is imperative that a…

This volume integrates critical curriculum theory with best practice, extending John Dewey's and Maxine Greene's progressive educational philosophy into these two realms. The authors of the seven essays selected four theoretical topics and then applied these theories to practitioners' work. The book was constructed around a series of conversations…

The New Synthesis approach views learning as an active process by which learners create knowledge structures or mental representations. This book attempts to give classroom teachers alternative ways of assessing how their learners think, what they know, and what they can do. The chapters are: (1) "Teaching, Motivation, and Testing"; (2) "Academic…

Taking into consideration the motivational needs of different students, the book discusses both internal and external motivators such as attaining a sense of achievement or leadership versus earning a physical reward such as candy or a field trip. These and other motivating factors are then incorporated into discussions of how to create productive…