Addresses the importance of reevaluation of teaching practices at the classroom and teacher education levels. Reviews the term "reflection," as defined by Dewey, and its process. Discusses whether preservice teachers are capable of reflecting and how a climate of critical inquiry can be fostered. Suggests strategies that promote reflective…

Discusses teachers' use of portfolios by teachers for instruction. Describes ways to use them effectively: integrating portfolio assessment into the instructional day, making decisions about its content as the teacher works with the child, and holding portfolio conferences frequently. Reviews research on the contribution of portfolios to teachers'…

Reviews five books on talk in the classroom; teaching with humor and play; how children talk, write, dance, draw, and sing their understanding of the world; talented teenagers; and life histories of women teachers working for social change. (BAC)

Reviews two reports by National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): (1) Listening to Children Read Aloud: Data from NAEP's Integrated Reading Performance Record (IRPR) at Grade 4 (oral reading and factors associated with reading fluency); and (2) Windows into the Classroom: NAEP's 1992 Writing Portfolio Study (types of writing and quality…

Reviews four CD-ROM titles: (1) "The Way Things Work" provides explanations of machines and scientific principles that make them work; (2) "Stowaway" teaches about intricacies of an 18th-century warship; (3) "Explorapaedia: The World of Nature" teaches about plants, animals, ecosystems, and universe; and (4) "My First Incredible Amazing…

Reviews the history and purposes of the Association for Childhood Education International. Emphasizes the importance of play as the child's first expression of continuity. Points out that Confucius' concepts of teaching are universally practical and that his philosophy is carried out today in Taiwanese schools. (Author/RH)

Argues for a renewed effort to counter divisiveness among persons concerned with education. Calls for increased connections in support of mutual goals among educators as well as between school and home. (Author/RH)

Indicates pressures for early reading activities faced by kindergarten teachers, illustrates the effects of these persons on children, and describes a reading program that includes reading aloud, storytelling, poetry, wordless books, and science, blocks, woodworking, food and art activities. (Author/RH)

Reports on the Association for Childhood Education International's summer seminar on "The Arts and Child Development," held in Taipei, Taiwan, July 9-11, 1980. (Author/RH)

Describes the sequential development of art in young children. Suggests teaching methods for working with children in various art activities at several developmental stages. (Author/RH)

Points out the importance of play for child development and indicates characteristics of effective adult participation in children's play settings. (Author/RH)

Provides guidelines to teachers for managing smooth transitions from one preschool activity to another activity. (Author/RH)

Describes programs designed to produce positive attitudinal changes among students toward their handicapped peers. Discusses planning, implementation and outcomes of a program that made inservice presentations to 22 classes of children from preschool through the sixth grade levels. (Author/RH)

Counsels teachers to become aware of their students' family life. (Author/RH)

Reviews the history of early childhood education. Delineates present accomplishments and cites several emerging issues for the 1980s and 1990s. (Author/RH)