Based on a literature review, class observations, and interviews with teachers and students, this article offers a conception of higher order thinking (as signifying challenge and expanded use of the mind), discusses reasons for the difficulty of promoting it in high schools, and suggests ways principals can help. (MLH)

Explores the relationship between knowledge and change and asks what knowledge is of most worth. Outlines 10 knowledge skills providing learners with the basis for coping with change. Failure to master these skills will leave future adults powerless in a complex, power-driven world. (MLH)

Presents a detailed conceptual model for developing a thinking skills currriculum. Discusses whether it should be done through separate courses or integrated into subject matter courses. Includes four figures (MD)

Students who enjoy the advantage of a good world geography course in high school are receiving a firm basis for subsequent learning as college students and future citizens. Geography builds on a world image that furthers understanding of a totally integrated community by reaching beyond country and region. Includes two references. (MLH)

Provides a checklist to help principals assess whether thinking skills are being taught in their schools and suggests what needs to be done to improve such teaching. (DCS)

Middle-level teachers can avoid passive seatwork and encourage students to think using a "guided thinking" approach, designed to help adolescents develop more sophisticated thinking and reasoning skills. Essential elements of guided thinking are described, along with an implementation strategy and the principal's role in fostering…

Outlines leadership capabilities that effective principals can exert to improve the teaching of higher level thinking skills to students. An important initial step is to make the development of student thinking skills a building priority at the school. (MD)

A grant-funded program to use computers to develop thinking skills in gifted sixth- and seventh-grade students is described. Students learn to apply different types of thinking, use different types of software, and develop their own programs and programs for teachers in other classes. (PGD)

Growing up bilingual can have many positive effects. Research and anecdotal evidence suggests that experience with two language systems builds mental flexibility, superior concept formation, and a more diversified set of mental abilities. To encourage bilingualism, schools must teach foreign languages earlier and more efficiently, nurture…

The fourth R--reasoning--is prerequisite to successfully coping with life and its attendant and inevitable problems. (Author)

Administrators cannot afford to remain ignorant of the work of neuroscientists over the last 30 years. The findings of brain research can help administrators gain a better understanding of decision making. The author lists four benefits to education that administrators can provide through greater knowledge of the brain. (WD)

Although the successful middle level school was designed to address both the affective and cognitive development of young adolescents (NMSA 2003), academic achievement is the outcome of paramount importance in the current political context of accountability, high-stakes testing, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In their efforts to reform,…