A growing number of educators are focusing their efforts on improving the work environment of teaching. In place of the typical school's norms and practices that isolate teachers from one another, collaborative schools have norms that encourage teachers and principals to cooperate for school improvement. Such schools are characterized by frequent…

Theories about adult development have been grouped into four models: biological, psychological, sociocultural, and integrative. Biological models (those that are concerned with how physical changes affect development) and psychological models (those that view development as either sequential--defined by life events-- or as a series of transitions…

This ERIC Digest explores the need for improvement in geography education in the United States, based on concern expressed by geography professors across the United States and findings from a number of recent state, national, and international polls and studies showing that many students leave high school illiterate in geography. A section…

In contrast to the educational reform reports of the 1970's, which criticized schools' irrelevance, inequality, and authoritarianism, the flood of reports that appeared in 1983 focus on the danger to the nation's global preeminence and military defense caused by mediocre education. Although most reports uphold a commitment to equity, this is…

Effective schools have staffs that stress the importance of educational goals and have a well-defined mission. They also clearly communicate the expectation that all students can and will reach the stated goals. Reviews of studies of exemplary schools find that the principals express high expectations for both teacher and student performance,…

This annotated bibliography contains 30 references and provides resources to understand the theoretical foundations of reader response--a literary theory that is currently gaining increasing attention in literature instruction. The bibliography ranges from 1982 to 1989 and is divided into four sections. The first section, "Teaching of…

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 requires mainstreaming, or the education of handicapped children with regular students, to the greatest extent appropriate. Although the provisions of the law call for each student to be assessed individually and provided with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), the costs associated…

Journals can be valuable tools for fostering adult learning and experience. Research has supported the following assumptions about learning from journals: (1) articulating connections between new and existing knowledge improves learning; (2) writing about learning is a way of demonstrating what has been learned; (3) journal writing accentuates…

This fact sheet provides an overview of the potential effects of new communications technologies on education. The topics which are addressed include: (1) examples of communications technologies including television, teletext and viewdata, Instructional Television Fixed Service and Multipoint Distribution Services, videodiscs, direct broadcast…

This research abstract is based on two studies: first, "Student and Instructional Outcomes under Varying Student-Teacher Ratios in Special Education" and, second, "A Case Study Analysis of Factors Related to Effective Student-Teacher Ratios", both by Martha L. Thurlow and others. The studies investigated the effects of various student-teacher…

The report includes three papers on the exceptional bilingual child and summaries of 22 bilingual/bicultural special education federally funded training programs. The first paper "Bilingual Special Education Report" by P. Landurand describes Massachusetts' Bilingual Special Education Project (BISEP) which has cooperated with regional education…

Intended to provide current sources of information about college reading selected from the many citations of material in the ERIC database, this 22-item bibliography offers research about college reading, the reading process, and strategies of instruction. The bibliography also includes references to discussions of specific content area study…

A decline in government funding for recreational services has stimulated the growth of private and commercial recreation. In this two-page information review, areas in which job opportunities in the recreational field are to be found are discussed, and trends in commercial recreation are listed. A list of 22 resource organizations and 6…

Presented are abstracts of 18 research reports. Topics covered include: (1) The effect of a numeration learning hierarchy on mathematics attitudes in kindergarten children; (2) Children's acquisition and production of mathematical rules; (3) Preschoolers' abilities to recognize counting errors; (4) Young children's solution processes for verbal…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans offers practical suggestions for developing high school students' writing skills. The 37 lesson plans in this book are divided into four sections: (1) descriptive; (2) audience/voice; (3) expository; and (4) creative. A user's…