Riding toys and push-pull toys are traditionally part of every early childhood program. Young children can develop a wide variety of skills and get numerous health benefits from riding toys if one is careful and thoughtful in setting up the riding-toy area. This article describes various types of riding toys and activity ideas to enhance…

Captioning--a visual representation of the audio portion of videotape material--enables deaf learners to have full access to materials used in the classroom. With an ever-expanding pool of captioning agencies providing a wider array of options, including modem technology, and because of the greater availability of other low-cost captioning…

This study examined factors related to survey response rate, particularly for teachers who participated in a nationwide survey. Using a newly developed statistical technique, the classification tree algorithm (CART), this study classified the lowest response rate and highest response rate groups based on their school demographic characteristics.…

This report provides a brief overview of efforts to establish standards, assess those standards, hold schools and students accountable for meeting the standards, and provide interventions to students who do not meet the standards. It argues that holding students accountable for passing standards' assessments is premature, that teachers should be…

This American Association of Physics Teachers/Physics Teaching Resource Agents (APPT/PTRA) spiral-bound manual features labs and demos physics teachers can use to give students hands-on opportunities to learn about impulse and momentum. "Make-and-take activities" include AAPT Apparatus Contest winners "An Air Impulse Rocket," "A Fan Driven…

Today, there are about four nonnative-speaking English teachers for every teacher who is a native speaker. More English teachers work in non-English-speaking settings than in English-speaking settings, and most are natives of the countries in which they teach. This volume focuses on the challenges faced by English teachers for whom English is a…

It is proposed that a remedial introduction based on linguistic principles of the English language should be incorporated into first-year college German courses. The purpose of the proposal is to make students consciously aware of their native English before studying any foreign language. (SW)

Examines the selection criteria and admission policies of university-based master's-degree-level principal preparation programs. Finds selection criteria largely based on standardized test scores, undergraduate grade-point average, and letters of recommendations. Also finds very limited use of personal interviews and heavy use of conditional…

Describes the use of video simulation for teachers' self-assessment of their training needs in five teaching skill areas. Explains the diagnostic/prescriptive training model for teacher professional development; simulation-based assessment, including feedback reports; and developing a teacher professional development program. (LRW)

A model demonstrating the relationship between the structure of blood vessels and the flow of blood is described and illustrated in the biology section of the newsletter. The apparatus also contains a functional (but not structural) model of the heart. Suggestions for the preparation of a relatively permanent dialysis bag from visking tubing are…

As a provider of disability services, you know that a gap exists between the needs of students on your campus and your ability to pay for the variety of services they require to attain their educational goals. At a time when resources, especially human resources, are stretched to their limits, a common directive on campus is "get a grant" to pay…

This article talks about how a teacher from Rail Road Flat Elementary School, Randall Youngblood, handles his class of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders through discipline. Discipline and the kind of teach-to-the-test learning that has become endemic in the era of No Child Left Behind has kept his students' energy channeled. Such rote learning often gets…

This study compares teaching and learning activities in 4th and 5th grade classrooms that were permanently equipped with one laptop for each student and classrooms that share a cart of laptops that create a 1:1 laptop environment on a temporary basis. The study originated from a question posed to us by Andover Public Schools (MA): "How does…

A major trend in children's literature is the growing academic recognition of the field--indicated by the large number of new texts that have been published since 1975. Scholarly periodicals in the field have likewise grown since the 1970s. Library science, elementary education and English literature have fostered the development of children's…

Sixteen readings dating from 1854 through 1969, many of which are primary materials excerpted from dated Minnesota newspapers, are intended for fifth grade students. Five themes describe past and present conditions in the Red River Valley: 1) show the importance of fur trade and describe the wooden carts in the train that carried the trade; 2)…