A policy adopted in 1921 by the Scottish Education Department called for segregating postprimary students into two groups: those who had the "mental capacity" for secondary education and those who would be required to leave school at age 15. The unpopularity of the plan, combined with social, economic, and demographic factors, led to its failure.…

Explores distinctions between educational and confessional aims of religious education, examines the meanings of indoctrination, and addresses how these issues affect religious education in Scotland's nondenominational state schools. Offers an approach for meeting the requirement of religious observance in public schools that avoids both…

Describes the career of Scottish artist and art educator William Johnstone (1897-1981) and how his achievements, which are traced to 20th-century modernism, have influenced both art design and childrens' art education. Concludes that through Johnstone, progressivism in art and education converged, producing a model for creative expression in art…

Provides a context for discussing the function of a teachers' code of conduct in Scotland. Addresses the purpose of a code of conduct, what form it would take, where it would originate, what the content would be, the status of a code of conduct, and how a code of conduct would influence both professional practice and professional identity. (LP)

Questions the validity of much current educational research in Great Britain, suggesting that researchers lose sight of the "educational" in search of the "fundable." Offers examples of how education is missing from the purposes and language of research into "effective schools" and into the "learning society." Suggests that educational research…

A survey of 514 Scottish elementary teachers, 60 teacher interviews, and interviews with 30 staff at teacher-education institutions examined teacher understanding of scientific ideas, teacher self-confidence when teaching science, and the provision made during preservice and inservice education for the development of elementary teachers'…

Survey of provision for specific learning difficulties in 41 Scottish secondary schools examined dilemmas generated by the incompatibility of strategies for specific learning difficulties with established "learning support" approaches used for general learning disabilities. An emerging model of provision builds on learning support approaches but…

Attentional skills (distractibility, attention span, goal directedness) are crucial in promoting or hindering progression through curricular targets, yet these strands are not included in "5-14" (national curriculum) guidelines. Proposes an additional 5-14 learning outcome with its associated strands and targets to encourage growth of attentional…

Examines 30 annual reports, published by the Scottish Education Department (SED) in 1950-79, to illustrate important themes in SED policies for elementary schools. Themes include the importance of "infant teachers'" work, promotion examinations, county curriculum guidelines, group methods of teaching, shifting curriculum emphases, the leadership…

Interviewed staff from seven Scottish further education colleges describing themselves as "community colleges" and analyzed college mission statements and development plans. Examined the impact on the access and participation of educationally disadvantaged groups of colleges' deregulation and independent incorporation; subsequent underresourcing…

Over a 3-year period, interviews were conducted with parents, caregivers, teachers, and social workers of 29 young children with complex multiple disabilities in rural Alaska. Discrepancies were found between perceptions of parents and professionals about the nature of support and the focus of intervention policies and delivery systems. (RE)

As in a US study, the most problematic factors affecting delivery of special education programs in nonurban areas of New Zealand were recruitment and retention of qualified staff, resistance to change, and long distances between schools. Lists 19 problems in special education service delivery, suggested solutions to 12 specific problems,…

Analysis of data from the 1991 National Household Education Survey examined usage of various child care services by families with disabled children in rural and urban areas. Type of child care used was related to locale, parent educational attainment, poverty status, child age, maternal employment, and one-parent family structure. Contains 36…

The University of Kansas offered two masters-level deaf education courses via compressed/interactive television (ITV) to remote rural sites. In 1992 and 1993 surveys, 16 course participants expressed satisfaction with the ITV delivery mode, and participants and instructors provided comments on various aspects of course delivery. (RE)

Discusses the role of quantum mechanics in high school chemistry textbooks. Attempts to coordinate the presentation of theory with the empirical evidence that supports it. Lists empirical generalizations and observations explained by quantum mechanics and exercises that require quantum mechanics to explain or predict phenomena in typical high…