"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Response to Intervention: A New Approach to Reading Instruction Aims to Catch Struggling Readers Early (Nancy Walser); (2) Getting Advisory Right: Focus and Commitment Are Keys…

"Every Child" is Australia's premier early childhood publication, aimed at anyone involved in the care and education of children from birth to eight years-in particular child care professionals, teachers, child care students and the parents of young children. Published quarterly, it contains informative and entertaining articles on such issues as…

Remarks by the Minister for Education and Skills underscore the accountability that public institutions and the teaching profession carry for assuring the success of the nation's education enterprise. This article challenges assumptions about the nature of education that are critical to the accountability and testing regimens currently in favor…

This article argues that ELA teacher candidates and inservice ELA teachers need historical perspectives in their coursework and their practice. Using the life and career of Lou LaBrant, the author examines the value of placing current practice in the context of practice throughout the history of the field of teaching ELA. Patterns examined in…

The release of the "Australian curriculum: Mathematics" has generated considerable debate in the education community. Some educators warn that this debate has centred on mathematical content and skills, setting the conditions for a "back to basics" movement in line with the political rhetoric that accompanied the national curriculum development.…

The author's career in professional education is intertwined with the history of language arts education in the United States and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The author joined NCTE in the 1960s, though she was already teaching for about 10 years with a well-developed constructivist perspective on teaching and learning.…

Political leaders like to put forward guiding ideas or themes which pull their individual decisions into a broader narrative. For John Major it was Back to Basics, for Tony Blair it was the Third Way and for David Cameron it is the Big Society. While Mr. Blair relied on Lord Giddens to add intellectual weight to his idea, Mr. Cameron's legacy idea…

The participation of children with disabilities in regular schools is too often the prerogative of education boards, who decide whether a child can learn within existing educational environments, rather than pressuring for systemic change and organization in school curricula that would grant the right of education to all children. This article…

The existence of standardized tests drives the school curriculum, marginalizing nontested subjects. In particular, the arts (fine and applied) are all too often the first to be reduced or eliminated in a budget crisis. Even without a budget crisis, their position is precarious in today's "back to basics" environment, and teachers of these subjects…

The obligatory use of the preposition a with animate, specific direct objects in Spanish ("Juan conoce a Maria" "Juan knows Maria") is a well-known instance of Differential Object Marking (DOM; Torrego, 1998; Leonetti, 2004). Recent studies have documented the loss and/or incomplete acquisition of several grammatical features in Spanish heritage…

Research begun in the 1960s provided the impetus for teacher educators to urge classroom teachers to establish classroom rules, deliver high rates of verbal/nonverbal praise, and, whenever possible, to ignore minor student provocations. In that there have been significant advances in the knowledge of what constitutes effective classroom…

Celebrating and responding equitably to diversity have become increasingly essential for teachers' work in the new millennium, which is characterized by shifting local and global communities. Aiming to broaden conceptions of teacher education within a predominantly "back to basics" literacy environment, this article draws on selected results from…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) A Few Good Men: The Success of the Male Mentorship…

Summer is a time for personal enrichment for teachers. Many travel, take formal classes, or work as interns or volunteers in scientific endeavors. But whatever the schedule, it's also a time for teachers to get back to basics. Instead of being forced to keep one step ahead of the textbook, teachers find that summer provides opportunities to catch…

A century ago, John Dewey proposed educating children through a curriculum rich in real-life problem-solving experiences. While many traditional schools have been slow to adopt such methods, experiential learning is making a significant impact in alternative education, youth development, and treatment settings. Challenge and adventure activities…