One man recounts what he learned from returning to the elementary classroom after an absence of 24 years, during which he was an elementary principal, a director of elementary curriculum, a consultant, and a doctoral student. (IRT)

Discusses the role of the teacher in helping children to develop their intelligence. (MKM)

Effective communication is a two-way process. Educators must be willing to listen to parents and create convenient, comfortable avenues and forums. A Missouri school reversed the usual parent-teacher conference format, allowing parents to lead discussions about their children's strengths and weaknesses. Parents enjoyed this format, and teachers…

Shares a story about a young girl who gains confidence through encouragement from and interaction with a special teacher. (MG)

Examines teacher decisions, such as those involving planning, interacting with students and other professionals, and evaluating students' performance. Concludes that teachers' decision making might be described as more intuitive, resembling the creative process, rather than as a systematic weighing of alternatives. (MM/JAD)

Discusses the trend towards voluminous study guides with work sheets and drills for children's books, subjecting great literature to the practices of basal reading textbooks and discouraging children from reading. Urges teachers to trust the book to do its own teaching, and to learn to get out of the way. (SR)

Suggests that the kinds of participation in the classroom conversation that are supported and encouraged by a teacher signals to students what learning is required of them. Introduces the articles in this special issue by discussing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Lev Vygotsky, James Britton, and Mikhail Bakhtin. (RS)

Argues that "whole language" is a philosophy that places meaning making at the center of learning and instruction. Suggests that literature and a literature-based program play a critical role in the classroom and in developing student motivation. Suggests that the teacher is the critical facilitator for meaning making in an interactive…

In a study of 1,312 Greek students aged 8-12, 68.8% reported that bullying bothers them; more boys than girls understand who some people bully and consider bullies "cool." About half do not know whether teachers are aware of it. They reported that parents talk to them about bullying more than teachers do. (Contains 21 references.) (SK)

Examines multiple perspectives in historical fiction and biography. By exploring point of view, students are inspired to look outward and investigate characters' experiences and the diversity in their world. Teachers should not allow their own cultures to bias selection and interpretation of texts. They should encourage students to develop…

Presents a way of interpreting mathematics classrooms, by advancing the notion of sociomathematical norms, to account for how students develop mathematical beliefs and values and how they become intellectually autonomous in mathematics. Includes episodes from a second-grade classroom to clarify the processes by which sociomathematical norms are…

This paper describes the role of the school-based mathematics specialist of the Project IMPACT (Increasing the Mathematical Power or All Children and Teachers) whose primary purpose is to design, implement, and evaluate a model for primary mathematics instruction that will enhance student understanding and support teacher change in predominantly…

It is an understatement to assert that American basal reading programs have come under considerable scrutiny. One of the central criticisms of these programs is that they result in the deskilling of teachers (relinquishing control over the goals, methods, materials, and evaluation of reading instruction to the basal reading materials). A critical…

Fourteen children's books which may help classroom teachers understand children with handicaps are described. The books deal realistically with a variety of handicaps (mental retardation, hearing impairments, blindness, physical disabilities, and multiple disabilities) and can be an effective tool in helping nonhandicapped children empathize and…

Discussion explores values that ought to be taught to young children in the public schools. Attention is first given to what values are appropriate to teach to children at different ages and appropriate contexts of value learning. Several classroom incidents are offered as examples. Arguments developed in the discussion conclude that schools…