Questions the quality and accuracy of the phonics research base. Widely taught and promoted in official publications, the system is being even more heavily promulgated by current educational reformers. Extensive discrepancies between Jeanne Chall's findings and actual data show design flaws in "The Great Debate" that contradict phonics'…

Describes the methodology and research design of SEE, the study of the Education of Educators. The approach is multimethodological, exploratory, descriptive, and evaluative. The research design permits examination of working assumptions and concentration on the individual site--the college, the education departments, and specific programs within…

Federal and state efforts to enhance equal education opportunities through narrowly framed special programs have become problematic, as core curriculum instruction is slighted and children are classified in highly dubious ways. This article discusses problems and needed reforms of both the "second system" and regular education. Includes 20…

During a "planning" period in the teachers' lounge of a large American high school, conversation turned to uniform, numerical grading systems versus locally determined letter grades. Then various teachers attempted to apply numerical grades to a colleague's coffee-making skills, and a visiting superintendent missed out on a grade-A cup of coffee.…

Writing need not be a minefield of run-on sentences, misspellings, and trite expressions, but should serve as a powerful catalyst for learning. Teachers focusing on the writing process in various disciplines take students through prewriting activities, writing a draft, peer review of a draft, revising, editing, rewriting the final draft, and…

To take elementary compositions beyond sloganeering and interior decorating, teachers should use many processes to help students render experience and knowledge into writing. A writing curriculum should emphasize student ownership, the translation of experience into text, the primacy of narrative, the importance of context, cooperative learning,…

Secondary teachers returning from Cummins Engine Foundation Writing Project seminars (Indiana) shared their ideas about integrating writing skills with various academic subjects. This article provides helpful hints to teachers of business, electronics, English, foreign languages, home economics, mathematics, science, social studies, and vocational…

Given that writing should be an instructional vehicle in almost every curricular subject and that college students should learn to think while reading and writing effectively, what techniques might help a hypothetical history instructor challenge students to learn something new while answering essay questions? This article provides some sample…

Even self-confident adults can lose their aplomb when talking with English teachers. Persons taught to write by avoiding errors often learn to avoid writing altogether. Contemporary research shows that teachers must intervene in students' work-in-progress to help them develop full writing potential. An inset outlines writing stages and journal…

In 1985, Indiana University established the Cummins Engine Foundation Writing Project, a writing-across-the-curriculum project for nine school corporations in the Columbus (Indiana) area. This article presents 14 conclusions and observations drawn by seminar directors after the project's first three years. Includes a bibliography of 20 books. (MLH)

Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools have exchanged their confrontational approach to contract negotiation for a more collaborative relationship among the teacher union, the school board, and the central office. This article explains how harmony was achieved in a difficult situation. Teachers benefited by gaining access to policy-making opportunities.…

Discusses the rudiments of writing articles for publication in education journals. Highlights refereeing processes, theme issues, rejection rates, query letters, and publication timetables, and offers writing and submission tips to prospective authors. Includes a table of selected educational journal characteristics. (MLH)

Critiques Allan Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind" for idealizing "mind" as a container (casket) open only to indifference or the quest for certitude. Unlike Bloom, teacher educators deal with young people reared in a consumerist world dominated by the electronic media and beset with social realities like AIDS, homeless families, and…

Refutes Leslie MacLean and Harvey Goldstein's charges (in the January 1988 "Kappan") that the National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Proficiency Scale is based on a single assumption (reading proficiency) accounting for responses to all reading tasks. Characterizes the scale as developmental, with points corresponding to various…

Rebuffs Leslie Maclean and Harvey Goldstein's claims that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Proficiency Scale is unidimensional. Critics' confusion may stem from failing to separate what a test measures from a score's usefulness. The Lexile Reading Scale should be integrated with the NAEP scale. Includes eight…