In Oklahoma, a new law (H.B. 1706)--the product of efforts by educators at all levels--promises to provide a framework to strengthen the preparation, induction, and continuing education of teachers. (Author/WD)

South Carolina's Educator Improvement Act provides for a "cradle-to-grave" system of training, certification, employment, and evaluation of teachers. The author fears this type of legislation is the precursor of a nationwide shift in the locus of policy making. (Author/WD)

In light of current predictions of an imminent teacher shortage, this article suggests using statewide data collection systems to provide more accurate measures of teacher supply and demand. The Michigan Department of Education has implemented such a system. (Author/WD)

A tongue-in-cheek account of tutoring in a Writing Lab offers a different perspective on effective teaching of writing skills. (WD)

The decline of the American educational system is due not to teacher incompetence, but to funding systems that depend upon body counts rather than excellence, to weak discipline policies, and to egalitarian admissions policies that reward students according to need rather than ability. (WD)

Argues for a "zero-base" revision of school curricula in order to weed out poorly functioning components. Outlines procedures for carrying out such a revision at both the district and building levels. (WD)

Discusses the problems inherent in student ratings of professors as a method to determine salary increases, promotions, and teaching awards. Offers possible alternatives that avoid diminishing the quality of higher education. (Author/WD)

Quest is a seven-year-old course that can be incorporated into the regular secondary school program to teach students how to relate to others and handle real-life problems. Parents are encouraged to become active in the program and in the total education of their children. (Author/WD)

Despite demonstrated success of a graduation competency testing policy in Tatnall County (Georgia), a judge ruled that the policy violated due process because the school district could not show that the items on the test were actually taught in the schools. (WD)

Recent efforts to develop a Canadian studies curriculum have focused on finding a national base for curriculum development and on better ways to promote understanding of the nature of Canada as a whole. The goal is to answer the question, "What should young Canadians understand about their own country?" (Author/WD)

Educators have a responsibility to learn as much as they can about the relationship between nutrition and the teaching/learning process. This article presents a model to help local school boards draw up their own policy statements. (Author/WD)

Teachers are being reassigned outside their primary specialities because of budget cuts, declining enrollments, school closures, and teacher layoffs. This article offers guidelines for developing a program, based on one implemented in Garden City (Michigan), that serves the retraining and emotional needs of reassigned teachers. (WD)

Testing of 4,899 freshmen in the Massachusetts State College System using the system's domain-referenced Mathematics Placement Test suggests that male/female differences in mathematical ability have been exaggerated. (WD)

Students in three vocational/technical schools in Missouri participated in a study to evaluate their reading skills. Findings suggest that most vocational students do not read at a level that enables them to profit fully from textbook assignments and that the textbooks are written at too difficult a level for them. (WD)

A panel of coaches, sports writers, and a high school principal discusses the causes of and remedies for recent scandals in intercollegiate athletics. (IRT)