Reflects on a long career concerning teaching and testing at the secondary and college level. Talks about the relationship between secondary school testing and preparation, college entrance standards, and trends in college course organization and testing. (TB)

Takes issue with an essay by Lewis Lapham that criticizes the literacy and historical knowledge of school children and suggests that democracy depends on an informed and literate citizenry. Gives historical context to the idea of an informed citizenry by looking at public involvement and response to the Lincoln-Douglas debates. (TB)

Examines the history of research on the teaching and learning of English as reflected in the 20-year history of the Promising Researcher Award. Focuses upon changes over time in the kinds of questions asked, topics addressed, conceptual frameworks employed, and methodologies used in the studies. Reveals a strong but shifting influence of…

Examines English teaching practices in American rural schools from 1900-40, emphasizing schools in Iowa. Discusses the Country Life Movement, which proposed significant reforms for rural education and rural living. Surveys English teaching practices undertaken in its spirit. Concludes with an assessment of the movement and a discussion of its…

Argues that, although Matthew Arnold was instrumental in launching English literature in Britain as a proper school subject, he purposively limited the extent of literature's educational value. (MG)

Describes the cooperation movement, the first in a series of twentieth-century attempts to broaden responsibility for language instruction by involving faculty across the curriculum. Notes that the movement raised central issues of curricular organization and language pedagogy to which later reformers returned. (MG)