Instead of merely certifying administrators, the University of Northern Colorado is transforming its preparation focus from managerial skills to leadership development. The new knowledge base for future administrators stresses understanding self, using inquiry, shaping organizations, and understanding people and environmental influences.…

Before jumping on another corporate bandwagon, educators should recall the primary difference between business and education. Workers produce consumer goods, whereas students should be concerned with constructing meaning. The marketplace model, even correctly applied, does not belong in the classroom. Total Quality Management is a content-free,…

Oregon's statewide social-studies assessment (a randomized, multiple-choice maze) is part of a "democratic" national standards movement that threatens good teaching and multicultural studies. If multiculturalism's key goal is accounting for historical influences on current social realities, then Oregon's standards and tests earn a…

Kohn believes the "tougher standards" movement is incompatible with personalized learning, excellence, and marginalized kids' interests. Horizontal standards that shift how teaching and learning happen in classrooms are terrific, but vertical standards using traditional pedagogy are macho and mindless. Kids need freedom to design their…

As a facilitator of teacher learning, the author builds professional reading into her schedule and listens to her students more purposefully. To reinvent herself as a teacher educator, she began substitute teaching, is collaborating with area teachers, has modified assignments to create a more student-centered classroom, is completing assignments…

Deplores the demise of progressive education and the current movement to turn schools and other public institutions over to private greed and political self-interest. Instead of blaming teachers, critics should rectify teaching/learning conditions and level the school resources playing field. It is time to construct a new curriculum forged from…

Specific problems (involving power, implementation, mission, time management, expertise, cultural constraints, avoidance, and motivation) are keeping school-based decision making from improving teaching and learning. Educators must begin with a clear mission, set explicit goals for the decision-making process, alter governance structures to…

Integrating the arts into daily instruction can enhance at-risk students' learning of academic subjects. To overcome learning barriers, students need a talent or skill (like role playing) that takes them to a new environment, and they need a dedicated mentor to provide emotional support while they are still learning. (MLH)

The role of religion in American society has been ignored by textbook publishers and is not being taught in U.S. schools. The support for the separation of church and state is eroding as a result. Includes a sidebar providing supplementary resource materials on religion for use by teachers. (MD)

The History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, recently adopted by the California State Board of Education, focuses on three main goals: knowledge and cultural understanding, democratic understanding and civic values, and skills attainment and social participation. (TE)

A professor of educational psychology describes the goals of research in progress on the personal characteristics of expert teachers, compares classroom management techniques of expert teachers with those of beginning and student teachers, and criticizes existing teacher evaluation systems for their lack of uniform standards and experienced…

Research suggests that special tests of reasoning ability are superfluous. Reading comprehension and algebra scores on common aptitude and achievement tests are highly correlated with scores on several reasoning tests. Furthermore, three programs in reasoning skills have been shown to improve reading comprehension scores in various settings. (MCG)

This synthesis of research focuses on nine factors influencing learning, including student characteristics, instructional factors, and environmental factors. In conclusion, the need for devoting more time to academic learning both in school and out of school and the importance of enlisting families as partners in education are emphasized. (MJL)

A meta-analysis of inservice teacher education research determines the significance of the following factors for learning effectiveness: training objectives, training duration, training group characteristics, location and scheduling, sponsorship, participant incentives, structure, and instructional technique. Suggestions to help staff developers…

Three principals, a publishing company marketing manager, a director of instruction, a teacher, and an assistant superintendent express their opinions on the past year's major reports on schooling. Issues addressed include the "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," vocational education, administrative leadership, and social responsibility…