The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) fulfills a congressional mandate to collect and report "statistics and information showing the condition and progress of education in the United States and other nations in order to promote and accelerate the improvement of American education." The "Quarterly" offers an accessible, convenient…

Opines that depth of characterization is most important for a book to be considered a classic. Discusses "The Human Comedy" and "The Cat Ate My Gymsuit" and why they resonate with readers. Provides 10 questions for stimulating student response to these novels. (PA)

Muses about Howard Gardner's theory of "multiple intelligences." Finds that, although learning should be defined broadly enough so that everyone can succeed at it, Gardner's theory does not teach educators much about talent that was not already known through common experience. (PA)

Discusses Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," especially the characters of Long John Silver and Jim, and why the novel continues to be read today by adolescents. Discusses, also, the character of Jimmy Little, the adolescent protagonist of "Somewhere in the Darkness," a contemporary novel. Furnishes questions for…

Discusses problems with scoring reliability of the Vermont Education Department's writing portfolio test, particularly the difficulties teachers face in agreeing upon scoring criteria. (PA)

Discusses the educational jargon that accompanies President Clinton's proposed national test of student performance and the jargon that describes assessment in "cutting-edge" Vermont. Asks who gets to establish national requirements; contends that national standards mean a national curriculum and the end of local school control. (PA)

Tells the plot of the novel "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt--the Tucks are invulnerable and immortal, but everlasting life holds trials for them. Provides seven questions for stimulating student response to the novel. (PA)

Reports on and responds to a list from the American Association of School Administrators detailing the "Top Ten Changes Affecting Students Since the 1960s." Argues that the list is part common sense, part nonsense, and part obvious. Concludes that there is almost nothing the schools can do about these problems because they are societal problems,…

Describes the book "The Day They Came to Arrest the Book," which tells the story of a controversy involving a teacher, students, parents, administrators, and school board regarding the attempt to ban in one school district Mark Twain's book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Lists 10 activities intended to stimulate student response. (SR)

Compares education summits led by businessmen, officials, and politicians to airplanes piloted by English teachers. Discusses the earth-shaking proclamations from a recent education convocation, but notes that much educational reform has been moving in the opposite direction, leaving teachers hanging in the middle, hamstrung between platitudes,…

Describes the story told in Lois Lowry's novel for young adults, "The Giver." Notes also the hyperbolic description of books on their book jackets. Suggests seven activities for stimulating student response to the book. (SR)

Claims that many education workshops are run by "experts" who have not set foot in a classroom in years. Suggests that teaching is not a science--it is and will remain an art and a craft. Argues that education is absorbed in "cultic obsessions with empty expertise and patent remedies." (RS)

Youth culture and counterculture in contemporary Western societies are complex phenomena that may be viewed from a variety of social science perspectives. The authors analyze these cultures as embodiments of demodernizing consciousness with which they hold they have considerable firsthand experience. (RJ)

The essays in this collection discuss multicultural issues in children's and adolescent literature, focusing particularly on African and African American cultures. They challenge everyone's understanding of what, in an age of globalization, multicultural texts really are. Cumulatively, these essays illustrate multicultural literature's power to…

Twelve prominent K-12 educators and educator librarians share their techniques and tips for helping students become effective, life-long information users. Through a series of skillful interviews, Joyce Kasman Valenza--techlife@school columnist for the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and herself a tech-savvy high school librarian--gets the experts to…