Suggestions are given for evaluation of school principals by teachers. In developing an evaluation instrument to appraise principal performance, one need not start from scratch. The Organizational Climate and Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) of Halpin and Crofts (1963) is a useful tool for pinpointing areas of strength and weakness. Four subtests…

Careful planning of lesson plans and units of study is important. Good planning does not mean success in teaching, but it certainly is salient to be well prepared each day for teaching pupils. It is unfortunate if teachers enter classrooms with little to show in the way of being prepared for teaching. Pupils do notice if a teacher is ill prepared…

Emotions, feelings, and values are important in an individual's well being. If pupils possess quality attitudes, the chances are that cognitive objectives will be achieved well, as much as the individual can be capable of doing. The teacher needs to emphasize affective objectives in reading instruction. Learning opportunities to achieve objectives…

Considering how literature for children provides more than just word recognition skills and thinking skills, this paper discusses several reasons why there should be a good children's literature curriculum in the school setting. It points out how children can experience life vicariously through good literature; how good literature can aid a child…

There is currently much interest in the assessment of student achievement in public schools. This guide to forms of assessment discusses some of the most common tests and their uses. Standardized tests are described, and some of their limitations are outlined. State-mandated tests are common, and, because the creators of such tests are removed…

Middle school students should be involved in seeking and selecting reading materials that ensure the attention of the learner. A wide variety of topics for learners to select from in choosing sequential trade books is a must. Sequential books selected by the middle school student should harmonize with his/her present level of achievement in…

Teachers in the school setting need to emphasize quality handwriting across the curriculum. Quality handwriting means that the written content is easy to read in either manuscript or cursive form. Handwriting achievement can be assessed, but not compared to the precision of assessing basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts.…

This paper considers several philosophies as they relate to student assessment. Realists believe that one can know the real world as it truly is. As a philosophy of testing and measurement, realism is characterized by behaviorally stated objectives, measurement-driven instruction, and report cards, along with the use of programmed materials.…

The teacher needs to be well versed in the teaching of reading. There is content to read in each curriculum area regardless of the grade level taught. There also are clearly differentiated programs of instruction. Each is based on a selected psychological school of thought. Educators need to study and analyze each school of thought to see where it…

This paper considers some of the similarities and differences between education and business in view of the fact that there are many who advocate that the public schools follow a business model in their operations. Salaries of executives in education, and superintendents in particular, tend to be lower than those of business executives, and their…

This paper considers issues related to determining which students should attend summer school to bring their achievement up to standard. One of the first problems in selecting students who must attend summer school is determining the level of achievement students must meet. Determining the types of assessment that should be used, and possibly…

Reading, as one learning activity in science lessons and units of study, needs to be assessed to notice needs of pupils. The science teacher needs to be thoroughly grounded in science content and methodology and yet also needs to be an instructor of reading. For pupils to do well in reading science subject matter, there needs to be continuous…

Summative evaluation of student achievement in reading emphasizes determining learner progress at the end of a unit of study, end of course, or end of the school year. Generally, state mandated tests stress an end of the school year percentile which is to indicate the present state of learner achievement. This paper discusses and analyzes…

Understanding the structure of the English language can assist learners in getting the feeling for what comes next sequentially in oral or silent reading. Noting that the structure of knowledge movement during the 1960s-1970s emphasized the selection of what is relevant and important to teach and that pupils learn ideas inductively, this paper…

These eleven essays range across a variety of topics. They concern: (1) philosophy and the curriculum, with comments on accountability, humanism, programmed learning, hierarchies, structure, idealism, existentialism, realism, experimentalism, and essentialism; (2) philosophy in the mathematics curriculum, with comments on mathematics laboratories,…