Analyzes the conversations and writings of 2 ethnically diverse populations of fifth-grade children (ages 10 and 11) in response to the powerful and difficult themes contained in two award-winning children's books. Discusses the child's voice; the teacher's role as cultural mediator; responses at the literal level; reading between the lines;…

Summarizes three studies presented at the 1997 Ohio Council of the International Reading Association Fall conference: (1) a study of students' response to text in a university classroom; (2) systematic spelling instruction for learning disabled students; and (3) a one year investigation of the internship experiences of two preservice language arts…

Discusses how psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott's framework of "potential space" can help teachers deal with students' emotional response to literature. Describes creating the right classroom environment and outlines teaching strategies to counteract either a too literal or a too emotional reading of a text, reducing anxiety and helping students…

Explores third graders' responses to the question "What's Canadian about Canadian Children's Literature?" Describes 6 picture books and summarizes students' responses to each. Finds students mentioned geographical aspects as characteristic of Canadian literature, and they felt Canadian children's literature should reflect Canadian "experiences."…

This research examines adolescents' learning about a historical issue from multiple information sources. Adolescents read 2 contradictory texts explaining the Fall of Rome and thought out loud after each sentence. After reading, a series of questions probed their understanding and ability to reason with the information. Think-aloud protocols were…

This reaction piece briefly reviews the findings from the Bober and Bartlett study of training evaluation use in corporate universities. It then focuses on the importance of context in understanding and facilitating evaluation use. The author suggests an alternative interpretation of particular findings based on a deeper consideration of the…

In this response to Gould, the author has two goals: first, to forward another, not necessarily competing, postmodern understanding of feminism and power; and second, to expand Gould's project of examining professional climate. Koza defines feminism as a constellation of dynamic political positions that address and attempt to change the unequal…

This article examines the responses of eight sixth grade students discussing four realistic fiction Hispanic-American multicultural stories with universal themes by Gary Soto in peer-led literature discussion groups. The results indicate the importance of a reader's sociocultural frame--class, race, and gender, on their interpretation of…

Since the early nineties, David Novitz and the author have been engaged in an ongoing debate about mass art. The latest installment in that exchange is Novitz's article "The Difficulty with Difficulty" which represents a sustained attack on the conception of mass art advanced in the author's book "A Philosophy of Mass Art." In this article, the…

I take issue with several points in the Howleys' reanalysis (Vol. 12 No. 52 of this journal) of "High School Size: Which Works Best and for Whom?" (Lee & Smith, 1997). That the original sample of NELS schools might have underrepresented small rural public schools would not bias results, as they claim. Their assertion that our conclusions about an…

There is evidence that the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) has led to a sustained increase in literacy attainment, especially in reading, although recent international comparisons also suggest some additional issues regarding pupil performance in England. The relative success of the NLS may at least partly lie in the policy application of several…

Ulrich Beck's model of the "individualised individual" in a second modernity has generated interest from social scientists in education, particularly in terms of what he has to say about the demise of social class. What has attracted less attention from educationalists is his argument regarding transformations in the nature of work. This article…

This study offers an alternative to traditional notions of scaffolding for reading comprehension by tracing the evolution of a fifth-grade small group literature conversation in which the teacher sought to displace himself as "primary knower" (Berry, 1981) in the conversation. The study examines how the teacher shared evaluation with his…

This article offers responses from Lori Moreau, a principal, Roberta Weaver, associate dean, Shauna M. Adams, associate professor, Mary F. Landers of University of Dayton, and Mary Jane Owen, a founding director, to the article "The State of Special Education in Catholic Schools," by L. DeFiore (2006). Jesus, the master teacher, reached out to the…

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), introduced in 1992-93, is a credential and formal qualification within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). SACE was recently subjected to a review that led to a series of significant recommendations. These recommendations came out of a process that began with the Review Panel…