Provides directions to help teachers identify and articulate their assumptions about the teaching of reading. (Author)

Presents the findings of a study of the attitudes of classroom teachers toward reading consultants. (DD)

Presents a humorous treatment of trends in the literacy business: blaming somebody else and tackling complex problems as if they were easy. (SR)

Explains how using the term "Family English" to identify nonstandard English with adults in developmental classes at the junior college level keeps communications open without negatively labeling their language and without producing hostility. (SR)

Discusses recent books and articles on social class in the United States. Notes how U.S. citizens are lulled, first, into accepting the notion of classlessness and, then, into an Us-versus-Them stance that pits teachers against an ostensibly stupid and surly, albeit ill-defined, group of "others." (SR)

Discusses the three books "most important and influential" to the author: "Creative Power: Youth in the Creative Arts" by Hughes Mearns; "Teacher" by Sylvia Ashton-Warner; and "Books, Children, and Men" by Paul Hazard. (DD)

Discusses Tom Gilovich's book "How We Know What Isn't So," relating it to reading instruction. Discusses self-fulfilling and seemingly fulfilled prophecies, necessary versus sufficient evidence, and the distinction between skepticism and closed mindedness. (SR)

Muses about teachers' reading habits and their ability to trust themselves as competent, literate individuals. Refers to Howard Gardner's book, "The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach." (SR)

Discusses making content area reading an integral part of the curriculum. Discusses objections, fads, critical skills, and implementation. (SR)

Explores the factors leading to teacher burnout and offers strategies for alleviating them. (FL)

Explores ways in which two belief systems regarding teachers' concepts about knowledge (the "Interpretation" and "Transmission" views) are reflected in views expressed by nine teachers. Shows that teachers' basic beliefs about teaching influence their behavior across different types of programs and the ages of learners they teach. (SR)

Reports on a survey of reading consultants and school administrators concerning their perceptions of the roles of reading consultants. (JT)

Describes and discusses the biases inherent in human judgment and the difficulty of assessing the many facets of reading. Maintains that educators should be more tentative in the decisions they make based on assessment. (SR)

Points out the possible problems that can arise when people are "certain" about something. Suggests that readers need the power of uncertainty, which will allow them to consider new hypotheses, change conceptions, and use knowledge as a framework for constructing meaning, not merely to confirm ideas they already have. (FL)