Suggests that the articles in the book cover many of the aspects of discussion in the early years education debate. Notes that the articles are well-written, well-researched, and successfully link theoretical issues with practical implementation. Discusses some criticism related to the epistemological and conceptual framework presented. (AA)

Describes Pianta's book as a manual to guide teachers through a theory and analyses that should lead to more effective relationship skills in their work with individual children and groups of children. Highlights how Pianta argues effectively that instructional strategies are embedded in a system of interpersonal relationships that can enhance or…

Examines the writings of Burbules and Young, two major educational theorists committed to promoting and understanding the practice of dialogue in educational contexts, focusing on Jurgen Habermas's theory of communicative action. Their works have shown the necessity for researchers to move across disciplinary boundaries and developing theories of…

Any item response theory (IRT) researcher or practitioner will find something of interest in this book, which covers a broad range of topics in essays by well-known researchers. Chapters are organized into sections devoted to parametric and nonparametric IRT topics. (SLD)

Identifies problems with the portrayals by R. Prawat of the reform effort in post-Revolutionary Russia, the career of Lev Vygotsky, the hypothesized exchange of ideas between Vygotsky and John Dewey, and the theoretical views of Vygotsky. (SLD)

The clarification provided by Williams and Zimmerman on the reliability of gain scores is translated into recognizable patterns of change that tend to produce reliable or unreliable gain scores. The relevance of the traditional idea of reliability to the measurement of change is also discussed. (SLD)

Three subsidiary issues are discussed that raise further questions about the generality of conclusions regarding the effects of massed and distributed practice on the learning of motor skills: (1) duration of practice; (2) learning-performance distinction; and (3) data synthesis and theory development. (JD)

Margaret Speas'"Phrase Structure in Natural Language" is reviewed. It presents three recent innovations in phrase structure research that offer new tools to explain data and solve old problems: the VP-internal subject hypothesis, the layered VP hypothesis, and the articulated IP hypothesis. (Contains 19 references.) (LB)

Reviews two books: (1) "Advancing Family Preservation Practice" (E. Susan Morton and R. Kevin Brigsby, editors) which summarizes Intensive Family Preservation Services in the United States over the past decade; and (2) "Marketing Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations" (Siri Espy) which discusses marketing and its application…

In the 20 years since the publication of "Frames of Mind" by Howard Gardner, two major developments have altered the prospects for making a connection between neuropsychology and theories of how people differ. The first of these events was that electrical or magnetic recording make it possible to "see" inside the brain as…

Summarizes the results from four major studies under the Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) evaluation project and uses the diffusion of innovations theory as a theoretical framework to understand substance abuse treatment providers awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding TIPs. (SLD)

Notes that Prawat claimed that Dewey was indebted to Peirce, that Dewey never gave Peirce the credit he deserved, and that Dewey's acceptance of Peirce's ideas in 1915 represented a discontinuity in Dewey's thinking. This paper concludes that a comparison of two versions of Dewey's "How We Think" (1910 and 1933) does not provide the…

A critique of the lead article on the effects of practice distribution on motor learning points out that while this is not a new issue, it brings up some important concerns that are not unique to the practice distribution issue but are problems in any investigation of skill learning. (JD)

Yen and Burket suggested that shrinkage in vertical equating cannot be understood apart from multidimensionality. Reviews research on reliability, multidimensionality, and scale shrinkage, and explores issues of practical importance to educators. (SLD)

Discusses Victor Henry's innovative presentation of some underlying contradictions in the premises on which linguistics is founded, cast in the Kantian form of antinomies. The review argues that no science remains more strongly contested than linguistics, a science whose origins are paradoxical and that contains outdated concepts. (30 references)…