This edition of the newsletter of the National Information Center for Handicapped Children and Youth describes the actions that are necessary to prepare students to achieve and maintain independence and highlights aspects of the roles of parents, professionals, and the young people themselves in transition planning. Brief articles have the…

The various roles that a teacher enacts are examined from four perspectives in this paper. Part one: "The Curriculum Text" presents a series of observations of classroom activity, and part two: "A Student Perspective" includes a collection of interviews with students who had been previously observed. The teacher's tape-recorded thoughts are…

Argues that (1) secondary school students can and should be involved in educational decision making, (2) the educational advantages of this involvement outweigh the disadvantages, and (3) the secondary school, as a social organization, provides a propitious setting in which to train students in the decision-making process. (FL)

Maintaining that the judicial process is particularly effective as a form of program evaluation, this article details organizational procedures and lists the following advantages for use of the judicial process: issues are investigated in an open forum, the community can participate, and exciting opportunities for teaching and learning are…

An educational planning strategy is presented to assist students in assuming an active role in individualized education program conferences. Using the acronym "I PLAN," students learn to inventory their strengths and weaknesses; provide the information on inventory sheets; listen and respond; ask questions; and name their goals. (JDD)

Advocates using the inquiry method to teach history. Maintains that gifted students will be more interested in history if history is approached as inquiry. Explains how the teacher can play the role of moderator in the high school history classroom. (Author/DB)

Describes a method of arranging group discussion of a novel in a high school English class that encourages each group member to participate. (AEA)

Proposes strategies for teachers to use when they first use portfolios to assess mathematics learning in the classroom. Includes discussion of a collection with a purpose, student involvement in the process, criteria for evaluation, benefits and opportunities, and a sample focused-holistic-scoring rubric. (MKR)

Teachers need not drop entirely the nonliterary aspects of classroom talk and response to put students back in touch with the aesthetic role of classroom reading. Affect is the "gut reaction" a reader experiences when his or her raw emotions are touched. This first level of response must be acknowledged, even encouraged, before moving on…

Suggests ways teachers can involve themselves and their students in local action as a means of furthering effective and practical global education. Considers possible barriers related to the ideology of the state system, and current breakthroughs, e.g., the nuclear freeze movement, anti-apartheid activism, and the sanctuary movement for Salvadoran…

Discusses what is meant by quality mathematics in school and how teachers can bring students to share this vision of a quality mathematics performance. (MKR)

The paper is intended as a guide to the levels curriculum for teachers of emotionally handicapped secondary students. The levels curriculum is introduced as a motivational system for behavioral improvement based on a series of steps with increasing student priveleges and responsibilities. Students develop individual goals and learn communication,…

The paper examines research on social skills instruction for learning disabled young adults. It is suggested that learning disabled young adults must develop methods of analyzing their social inadequacies. Such analyses may come from the young adults, when they are able to apply metacognition skills to social situations. Parents, teachers, and/or…