About 10 years ago, Robert J. Connors's article "The Erasure of the Sentence" questioned the disappearance of writing style and examined the validity of some of the reasons given for its disappearance. Since that 2000 article, the study of style has undergone a kind of renaissance, with numerous books and articles on its uses in composition theory…

Fourteen teachers present their views on the things that make English instruction difficult and the things that should be most important in English instruction during the 1980s, including curriculum design, writing instruction, student attitudes, teacher burnout, and grammar instruction. (RL)

Describes a conversation among veteran women teachers exploring the people and experiences that have shaped their professional development and led them to become learners who continually reflect on and revise their practice. (TB)

Examines the advantages, for both teacher and students, of using teacher writing in the composition class. (MM)

Notes the trend in educational research away from the model of the physical sciences toward a view that sees teaching, development, and research as interrelated modes of inquiry. (JL)

Presents a checklist for a good writing assignment, illustrating its value through the development of an assignment based on a short story by Jack London. (RL)

Presents the small group discussion techniques of eight English teachers from junior high through university levels. (JG)

Concludes that high school teachers are performing the task of teaching composition satisfactorily. (RB)

Argues that writing teachers who do write do not represent the majority of high school writing teachers and that their efforts should not be construed as a mandate for the rest of the high school writing teachers. Concludes that most writing teachers do not write because of a lack of time. (RS)

Argues that, even as they struggle to prepare students for a computerized society, teachers need to enlarge student experience of art, nature, and science, stressing the individual's connection with the natural world and developing society. (MM)

Two English teachers debate the pros and cons of their professional organization's involvement in political issues and activities, focusing on the definitions of politics and teaching. (RL)

Provides a sampling of gender discriminating behaviors in the classroom, a look at the psychological data collected by Carol Gilligan and her associates, and strategies and tactics to bring about gender equity in the classroom. Documents the falling self-esteem of school-age girls and the domineering behavior of school-age boys. (TB)

Reviews a teacher's approaches to her three language arts classes, taught during the same period of time but in different settings and to different ages: a seventh-grade class in an affluent suburb, a college class in a middle-class neighborhood, and a prison class housed behind razor wire. (TB)

Points out that bringing technology into the schools illuminates, and perhaps exacerbates, the advantage that students from wealthy families have over students from poorer families. Notes that advocates for technology often have an agenda that has nothing to do with students' learning. Discusses what educators can do in the face of all this. (SR)

Essays argue that (1) unions can translate professional concerns into action; (2) unions need to concentrate more on the professional concern of improving education; and (3) only a national teachers union has the membership, staff, and strength to deal effectively with the multitude of concerns facing contemporary education. (MM)