Proceedings of a regional conference on teaching to potential are presented. The 48 papers address three areas of concern: training or educating--future requirements, cultural diversity in higher education, and relating disciplinary research to university teaching. Papers and authors include: "Training or Education: Future Requirements for the…

Teachers who want to act professionally need to participate in the decision making process. Sound knowledge of current theories is essential as is sound knowledge of students' needs as related to the goals of education. Of particular importance is the willingness to try out alternative approaches and to evaluate the effects of different strategies…

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores issues related to teaching English to the gifted student. The digest begins by examining the criteria used for identifying gifted/talented students, noting that some successful programs for the gifted in English and language arts do not restrict admission…

Written by teachers, linguists, psychologists, and reading specialists, this book elucidates the relationship between reading and language, and explains why reading should be regarded as a language-based process. The book is divided into eight sections, each of which includes an introduction and sources for further reading. The essays for each…

This presentation uses the premise that educational practice currently derives little benefit from the mass of ongoing research as a starting point for a reassessment of the values and goals of research. Particular emphasis is placed on the relation between research and educational practices involving 4-year-olds. The first part of the discussion…

This paper reviews staff development research related to rural schools. Only a limited number of studies have described, or evaluated the effects of, particular staff development programs in rural schools, or have assessed the perceived needs of rural faculty and administrators for inservice training. However, rural educators can draw implications…

The report presents results of a 1-year project whose purposes were to explore issues surrounding service provision to families with developmentally disabled members, to assess the status of family support programs nationwide, and to apply this information to the task of developing a family support program in Virginia. Part 1 reflects findings of…

A descriptive study investigated the ability of student teachers to translate and apply textbook knowledge in the daily reading instruction of public elementary school students. Subjects, 24 teachers, were surveyed regarding their student teachers' use of 36 reading and management strategies covered in college courses. The participating teachers…

Language Arts is an area which covers many subjects, each important, each one interdependent upon the other. Prospective teachers, first and foremost, should have the various language theories reviewed in their methods courses. Practical classroom activities--such as keeping spelling lists, practicing creative writing, and sharing…

This report describes the development and validation of the Test of Inference Ability in Reading Comprehension: a scaled-answer, multiple-choice test intended for use in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The report discusses the need for and conceptualization of assessment of inference ability; proposes standards and principles of inference appraisal; and…

Classroom dialogue is an important influence on students' learning, making the structure and content of dialogue important research variables. An analysis of two sample classroom dialogues using the Thematic and Structural Analysis (TSA) Technique shows a positive correlation between the quality of dialogue structure and the level of student…

Focusing on how computers can and should be used in intercollegiate forensics, this journal issue offers the perspectives of a number of forensics instructors. The lead article, "Applications of Computer Technology in Intercollegiate Debate" by Theodore F. Sheckels, Jr., discusses five areas in which forensics educators might use computer…

Representing works published between 1970 and 1984, this annotated bibliography identifies a variety of readings that explore fundamental issues of ethics in interpersonal, public, and mass communication, and that examine from an ethical viewpoint how to and whether to employ particular communication tactics or techniques. The bibliography…

An example of a project for teachers of English as a foreign language illustrates how relevant principles of innovation, common across a range of professions and including power-coercive, rational-empirical, and normative re-educative strategies, can be usefully applied to inservice teacher development programs. (CB)

Reviews recent research showing that creative composition should begin in kindergarten. Presents practical ways teachers can help young children learn to write and thus to read. (FL)