A survey assessed teachers' understandings and beliefs about process writing, their instructional decisions for teaching writing, and the training and support for teaching process writing in their classrooms. A 19-item interview schedule was administered to 66 teachers from urban, suburban, and rural schools in upstate New York. Results indicated…

Teacher education reform policies and proposals--particularly those of the Holmes Group--call for fewer education courses and more liberal arts. This paper examines the assumptions that underlie such proposals. A review of recent research on teaching and learning in undergraduate physics and mathematics raises questions about the effectiveness of…

This paper analyzes the origins, growth, and present state of communication research in Latin America. Based on empirical data, the paper identifies: (1) the factors that determined the kinds of studies that emerged in the region; (2) the major research topics; (3) the most influential scholars; and (4) the main currents of theoretical influence…

The controversial nature of the knowledge base of educational administration is discussed in this paper. Included are a definition of professionalism, a discussion of how to build and develop a knowledge base, and a review of the obstacles to knowledge base development. Elements of a consensual knowledge base include theory, practice, and other…

This paper describes and analyzes the relationship of research and practice and the goals and processes of staff development. It considers how a more clinical, developmental, and professional approach can help classroom teachers and staff developers use research on effective teaching and staff development in a reflective and analytical manner. It…

In 1982 an experimental program of weekly school observations was added to the required Education Psychology course for elementary education students in their junior year at Nazareth College of Rochester, New York. The program was extended to include secondary education students in 1985. Weekly reports from student observers became an important…

This paper focuses on critically analyzing both the potential and the problems of practitioner action research as a means of genuine professional development for classroom teachers today. Action research is a process of systematic inquiry and of knowledge, skill, and attitude growth in which classroom teachers on either an individual or…

This document contains a summary of the 3-day Conference on Research Related to the Prevention of Mental Illness, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse. Part I, Introduction, discusses the need to stimulate collaboration between service providers and university-based researchers as the primary goal of the conference and lists specific objectives…

The general purpose of this paper is to illustrate how social psychological perspectives on the self can enhance a clinical understanding of client problems and psychotherapy. This discussion, which bridges two highly divergent strands of literature, points out the value of complementing clinically derived theory with more rigorously researched…

A series of supervisory behavior studies that began at Mississippi State University in 1980 are summarized. The studies were instigated because of interest in effective supervision and dissatisfaction with an indepth literature search of supervision literature. The theories disclosed were fragmentary, contradictory, and impractical for use by…

Most agree, in general, that educational research benefits American schools. However, the specific relationship between research and application remain poorly cultivated, and too little educational research is actually utilized by classroom teachers. This paper selectively reviews the intricate association between educational researchers and…

Noting that research and theory building in the area of listening have evolved from a variety of disciplines, this paper examines the contributions to listening theory made by humanistic psychology. The paper first offers an overview of humanistic psychology, examining some of the basic assumptions and postulates that serve as a foundation for…

This newsletter presents a critical view of some of the perils of translating research findings into classroom practice without careful examination of the human dimensions involved. The first issue discussed is ability grouping; it is pointed out that this practice does not necessarily increase academic achievement, particularly in the lower level…

Teacher centers began as small-scale, particularistic, dynamic, and tentative organizational forms. Each center developed its own personality, and no single institutional norm became the mold from which centers were cast. This fact has important implications for the kinds of collaborative arrangements into which teacher centers and teacher…

Three possible directions for literacy research in the United Kingdom (UK), in terms of three comparative perspectives are (1) cross-cultural, (2) academic/practitioner, and (3) adult/school. Walter Ong's argument that with the advent of writing human consciousness and ways of thinking were altered fundamentally, underlies many of the claims for…