(1993). Keys to Disciplining Your Young Child: From Infant to Toddler. Barron's Parenting Keys. Close parent-child relationships begin with an early, effective approach to everyday discipline problems. This book focuses on children from infancy to age five and discusses practical ways to handle common discipline problems using an approach of identifying the problem and providing a goal behavior. Thirty eight chapters address the following discipline issues: (1) planning before discipline problems arise; (2) disagreements over discipline; (3) spanking and nonphysical discipline techniques; (4) punishments, time-outs, and loss of privileges; (5) thumb sucking and pacifier use"; (6) terrible twos; (7) problem-solving games; (8) toilet training; (9) lying; (10) stealing; (11) fighting with friends or siblings; (12) bedtime problems; (13) Crude language and name calling; (14) the difficult child; (15) chores; (16) destructive discipline and constructive discipline; (17) appearances; (18) company manners; (19) rewards; (20) discipline without sibling rivalry; (21) empathy; (22)…
(1998). Preparing Teachers for Leadership Roles. This study looked at teachers in their 2nd-4th years of teaching to compare their professional activities with what current studies indicate are teacher leadership behaviors and characteristics. The study sought to determine whether the University of Southern California's teacher preparation program taught the professional skills that elementary teachers needed in reform oriented schools and whether they exhibited the characteristics of teacher leaders. Researchers specifically worked with graduates who were considered good teachers at the end of their student teaching assignments. A total of 14 teachers in four school districts completed mailed questionnaires that examined their perspectives of their professional lives. Their principals also received questionnaires. After they returned the questionnaires, participants completed interviews about the school and district cultures. Results revealed patterns of professional behavior including: collaboration; sharing of expertise;… [PDF]
(1997). The Role of New Information Technologies in Facilitating Professional Reflective Practice across the Supervisory Triad. This study investigated the role of new information management technologies in facilitating student teacher supervision across the supervisory triad of student teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor. The study investigated how data routinely generated by teachers and stored within an Instructional Information Management System (IIMS) was contemplated by student teachers and their supervisors in promoting reflective practice. Four secondary student teachers participated. The Remote Area Practicum Supervision Project occurred over 1 semester. It was designed to evaluate the potential of new information technologies and the implications of these technologies for new ways to conduct preservice teacher practicums. An IIMS was networked within a remote school and linked to the university to share information across both sites. The student teachers and their university supervisors and cooperating teachers received extensive training in the IIMS before and during the… [PDF]
(2003). Financing Vocational Training in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Region Human Development Series. This document is part of the World Bank's comprehensive study of post-basic education and training in Sub-Sahara Africa and includes findings from three short field studies conducted in South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbawe in early 2001. Chapter titles are as follows: Executive Summary; Introduction; Conventional Patterns of Financing Training; Role of the State in Financing; Finance Flows: Three Scenarios; Development of National Training Funds; Training Levies; Finance Mechanisms: Augmenting Funding for Training; Funding Distribution: Transfer to Training Institutions; Enhancing Enterprise Training; Financing Informal Sector Training; Financing Mechanisms, Contributing Conclusions: Major Policy Messages. (The main objective of training policy was defined as follows: facilitating the development of effective, efficient, competitive, flexible, and responsive [demand-driven] training systems to meet national economic and social needs and the needs of individuals. The following were… [PDF]
(2003). Adults with Asperger Syndrome: How They Have Helped My Teaching. A qualitative study of three adults with Asperger Syndrome consisted of interviews conducted in person, over the phone, and via e-mail for 9 months. A main theme of the study was that they wanted to be considered experts in the field of autism and be consulted on issues related to autism. Consequently, these adults were asked to be part of a course at the University of North Dakota that provides parents, teachers, and caregivers of individuals with Asperger Syndrome with knowledge and experience of diagnosis and characteristics, assessments, functional analysis, methods, and support for families. This online course has a Web site that includes audio power-point lectures and other materials that are downloaded for each week's chat session. The adults did two interviews for the class. One was about their experiences growing up, their families, and their school experiences. The other was about their experiences transitioning into the adult world and what it was like being an adult with… [PDF]
(2000). Creating a Community of Distance Learners: Putting Technology To Work. Learning at a distance can be challenging for preservice teacher education students living in remote rural sites. The Department of Special Education at Utah State University (USU) uses technology to overcome student isolation by linking students to supportive university learning communities. Many students in the USU distance education, special education certification program are nontraditional students–older, employed, with family commitments. Distance education provides convenient access to a university degree program in local communities but can be stressful for these students, who may lack college experience and self-confidence and need support. The USU program enhances student learning and support through the easy-to-use, low-cost, Internet-delivered Sorenson EnVision technology. EnVision is a teleconferencing system, using a unique compression technology to deliver voice and video over the Internet, even at very low data throughput rates. This technology allows face-to-face… [PDF]
(2000). Migrant Children in the Rural Midwest: A Collaboration of Teachers and Administrators To Reform School Programs. Within a 3-year period, a rural Midwestern school district's Hispanic student population increased from 3 to over 180 due to the hiring of migrant workers by a local meat packing plant. A qualitative study using interviews and classroom observations examined the processes through which 23 teachers and 5 administrators in this school district formulated an effective instructional program for recently arrived Spanish-speaking students. Input was sought from teachers, the Hispanic parents, and the Hispanic students. The change process consisted of three phases. The Program-Exploring Phase established a common base of understanding among the three stakeholder groups about effective bilingual programs. In the Consensus-Building Phase, a steering committee of representative stakeholders drew on the discussions of the first phase to develop a Statement of Principles and Beliefs (SPB). During the "Response and Ratification Phase," the SPB was sent back to stakeholders for their… [PDF]
(1995). Mapping Out a Standards-Based Framework for Geography: The Colorado Geography Curriculum Framework. This curriculum framework is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide for redesigning curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development around the new Colorado state model of content standards for K-12 geography education. The framework enumerates strategies and ideas for implementing the new standards at the district, school, and classroom level. Part 1 of the framework, "Exploring Standards," provides an introduction to the new geography standards, and traces their evolution at the national and state level over the past several years. A set of model benchmarks offers examples of how each of the six standards can be woven into the curriculum at various grade levels. Part 2, "Charting a New Course," explores the "nuts and bolts" of redesigning curriculum, instruction, and assessment around the new standards. This includes: (1) developing a standards-based unit of instruction; (2) incorporating the standards into existing curriculum;… [PDF]
(1999). Cultural Differences and Similarities in Terms of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. This study investigates the controversy over whether or not culture has an effect on child and adolescent psychopathology. It presents the two opposing positions held in the field. The "universalists" argue that child and adolescent psychopathology is significantly similar across cultures. The "culturalists" argue that culture is a strikingly important factor when it comes to psychopathology. The study suggests that more cross-cultural studies of child and adolescent psychopathology are needed to make definite conclusions about the debate among the researchers since both sides are right to some degree. It suggests that the debate may not be a valid topic because some psychopathology can have a strong biological base and another psychopathology can have strong cultural influences. In addition, culture is too vague and global an area to study because it includes religion, community, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. Before studies in culture could be conclusive,… [PDF]
(1999). Sharing Our Pathways: A Newsletter of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, 1996-1999. Sharing Our Pathways: A Newsletter of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative, v1-4 1996-1999. In 1995 the National Science Foundation funded the Alaska Rural System Initiative (RSI), a joint effort of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Among its goals, the RSI aims to increase the presence of Alaska Native knowledge and perspectives in all areas of science and education in rural Alaska, develop culturally responsive curriculum models consistent with state and national standards for science education, document indigenous knowledge systems, and improve Native students' academic performance and entry into careers in science and technology. Five initiatives–Native ways of knowing and teaching, indigenous science knowledge base, elders and culture camps, culturally aligned curriculum adaptations, and village science applications and careers–were to be implemented over a 5-year period in Alaska's five cultural regions: Inupiaq, Aleut, Athabaskan, Southeast, and Yupik areas. Also, improvements in educational technology infrastructure were to… [PDF]
(1999). Budget Analysis, 1999-00. Review of the Enacted Budget. This report provides an overview of New York State's 1999-00 budget. The analysis states that spending for 1999-00 increased by $2.7 billion over the previous year. It portrays a dire situation in which projected budget gaps will be approximately $2.8 billion in 2000-01 and $4.6 billion in 2001-02. The budget does feature planned, year-end fund balances, but the level of nonrecurring resources also increased. It describes how most of the budget's spending increases are driven by current law and the legislative rejection of proposed cuts, rather than by program expansions. The text focuses on how education, local governments, and health and social services fared in the budget. It details how a 7.8 percent state-aid increase is provided for the 1999-00 school year, bringing total aid to more than $12.6 billion. However, this increase is diminished by the budget's failure to advance the equity of the aid distribution and by the lateness of the budget. Local governments received a… [PDF]
(1999). Praxis to Practice: Putting Qualitative Methods To Work for Rural Education. This paper examines issues and areas of concern for the educational researcher moving from the relative safety of academic research to the more perilous arena of practice-oriented or action-oriented qualitative research. The first question is one of purity or objectivity: giving credibility to research results by imposing adequate rigor on methods and interpretation to offset the agenda of a financial supporter or to balance the researcher's own perspective or ambitions. The second question regards the ethics of research. The action researcher has no more license to harm than does the academic researcher. It is argued that the applied or action researcher must have higher standards of ethics as the research subjects will not be anonymous and their lives or careers could be negatively affected. Next is the question of power–the aura around \research\ that elevates the researcher over his or her subjects, as well as the power of the qualitative research process to distort the… [PDF]
(2005). Curriculum Review. Volume 44, Number 7. Curriculum Review, v44 n7 Mar. Each month, "Curriculum Review" offers teachers mutual support, the sharing of ideas, and words of encouragement to help them face challenges in the classroom. The March 2005 issue of "Curriculum Review" contains the following articles: (1) "We Hear from Readers"; (2) "Correction"; (3) "What They're Saying"; (4) "Technology Update"; (5) "Surf These Web Sites"; (6) "Get Your Site Reviewed"; (7) "Two Ways to Jump-Start Learning Excitement"; (8) "Give Students a Taste of the Water Filtration Process"; (9) "Enlist Older Students to Buddy up with Younger Children for Science Fun"; (10) "Inspiring Words for Educators"; (11) "Last Month in Education"; (12) "What the Numbers Say"; (13) "Between Tears & Laughter"; (14) "Race to Knowledge along With the Iditarod"; (15) "Enlisting Parental Help to Teach Math Skills is in the…
(2004). Preserving a Legacy: Janice R. Franklin–Alabama State University, Montgomery–Loretta O'Brien–Parham Hampton University, VA. Library Journal, v129 n5 pS43 Mar. In 2001, Janice R. Franklin and Loretta O'Brien Parham attended a meeting of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) Board of Directors, an ordinary enough event. Observing the support that the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries provides its members, they realized there was no such mutual assistance program for the librarians at historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). They also discovered that the library directors of the 103 HBCUs had never even met. Franklin, director of the library at Alabama State University, Montgomery, and Parham, director of the Harvey Library at Hampton University, VA, resolved to do something. They approached Kate Nevins, SOLINET's executive director, who agreed to provide funding and support. She also helped secure additional funding from the Council on Library Resources and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Franklin and Parham co-chaired the first meeting of the HBCU library directors in October 2002. Parham led off the meeting…
(2006). Learning from the Youth Opportunity Experience: Building Delivery Capacity in Distressed Communities. Center for Law and Social Policy, Inc. (CLASP) In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of juvenile crime, violence, and gang activity. The Youth Opportunity Grants–ranging from $3.1 to $43.8 million over five years–provided the resources to put in place comprehensive approaches at considerable scale. The Department's expressed intent in awarding these grants was to demonstrate that the educational outcomes and economic prospects for young people in high-poverty communities could be dramatically improved by infusing these communities with resources; building capacity and infrastructure; connecting systems; and developing comprehensive, age-appropriate opportunities for youth. The observations in this paper are based on the… [PDF]