Presents a prototypical case illustrating what positivist research means and argues that even critics of positivist research are logically committed to propositions that can be tested only through positivist research paradigms. The relationship between the nature of a community's research enterprise and its educational provisions must be causal.…

Educational researchers are not engaged in discovering mechanistic universal truths sought by positivists or tidy prescriptions about what works. Instead, they provide guidelines and interpretive material to liberate the teacher's intelligence so that the teacher can use whatever ability he or she can achieve. (SLD)

Examines the relationship between English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers' theoretical beliefs about second-language learning and teaching and their instructional practices. Finds that most possess clearly defined theoretical beliefs reflecting one methodological approach (skill, rule, or function based) and that their literacy instruction was…

Schools are trying to do too many good things simultaneously. To improve, they need to simplify, reduce the overload on students and staff, and concentrate on a small group of key ideas. Instituting magnet districts, each with a separate theme, might eliminate confusion in trying out new ideas. (SLD)

Currently, little is known about knowledge and cognitive skills that underlie expertise in learning, performance, and instruction of sport and physical activity. The paper makes research suggestions, encouraging the exploration of expertise and the translation of research about expert knowledge and cognitive and motor skills to the design of…

Describes a former superintendent's disconcerting swim in the teacher candidate pool while trying to find a teaching position without "pulling strings." After landing a job teaching 36 fifth graders, he soon realized that espousing methodologies is very different from actually doing them. Allowing students more responsibility for their learning…

A social work education model that integrates field instruction with clinical and research curricula is described and compared with less comprehensive approaches. Issues discussed increasing accountability through developing evaluation skills, classroom techniques, materials, faculty role, field educator role, field advisor role, and use of both…

A former editor of this journal, 1989-91, selects an outstanding article from his tenure that illuminates the research merits of creativity, planning, and skepticism in the work of Milton Ezra LaZerte, a prominent Alberta educator in the first half of this century. The article selected describes LaZerte's learning theories and several…

Reports on a study of 11 preservice teachers' beliefs and practices about secondary social studies education. Finds that the preservice teachers held positive conceptions about social studies, stressing active learning techniques and knowledge construction. (ACM)

Reports on in-depth interviews with two Australian, secondary school, social studies teachers regarding beliefs and practices about questioning techniques. Finds that the teachers hold implicit theories regarding questioning that are unique, idiosyncratic, and incomplete. (CFR)

The development of a new national policy on achievement testing and how researchers sought to influence its development are chronicled. This development has been marked by the emergence of assessment advocates and educational researchers as two classes of assessment experts. Their differential effects on educational reform are explored. (SLD)

Reports on a study of 17 undergraduate music education majors to determine whether sequential instructional techniques acquired in a methods course were transferred to a private instructional setting. Finds that students who were told explicitly to use the sequential approach were more successful in applying the acquired skills. (CFR)

Recounts the story of one portfolio project in a large midwestern university and considers the process of the teachers and administrators initiating and adjusting to the changes implied by such shifts in assessment strategies. Argues that the implementation of such assessment represents more sweeping change than may be apparent at the onset. (MG)

Addresses prospect of approaching clinical inquiry as a scientific activity and considering counseling practice as a context for scientific training of counseling psychologists. Discusses problems in attempting to find common ground between clinical teaching and research training. Proposes that scientific training needs to include development of…

The beliefs of 39 intermediate-level teachers (9 males and 30 females) from 6 elementary schools concerning their practices in reading comprehension instruction were determined via interviews and compared with observations of their practices. Teachers' beliefs corresponded with their practices. One case study illustrates an example where this was…