Education & Pedagogy

Critiques pregnancy policies in sub-Saharan Africa's education systems, examining expulsion, reentry, and continuation policies for students who become pregnant. Argues that both expulsion policies and reentry policies violate students' rights to education, suggesting that continuation policies provide the most opportunity for gender equity. Notes the close relationship between a country's sociopolitical environment and the type of policy adopted. (SM)

Discusses the foundation and growth of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, examining its benefits and requirements and how these standards may affect the continuum of teacher education programs, particularly with regard to aligning the programs to five propositions. Current studies advocating changes in master's programs are reviewed. A summary of revisions and considerations by several universities is provided. (SM)

Investigated preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions about adopting case methodology for instruction. Interviews with students in a graduate course on using computer technology and case methodology to integrate instruction indicated that for teachers to adopt innovations, the learning process must be individualized. Collaboration, meaningful content, and time contributed most to respondents' ability to learn and adopt case methodology. (SM)

The technical rationale that dominates education is contrary to educational ends. Schools are driven by a technological ideology focused on the power of tools, acquisition of methodological skills, and procedural representation of intelligence. The future of education depends on the type of person and type of world we want to create. The goals of an education for autonomy are discussed. (Author/SV)

The National Latino/a Education Research Agenda Project, an initiative developed at the Centro de Estudios Puertorriquenos at Hunter College, aims to give voice, perspective, and a research knowledge base to such issues as school reform and to improve academic outcomes and the long term life chances of Latino students and their families and communities. (Author/SM)

Interviews with three Native American telecommunications professionals explore careers in telecommunications for Native Americans. Included are discussions of the importance of telecommunications, courses and technical skills needed for various telecommunications careers, types of telecommunications degrees available, the importance of mentors and internships, and upcoming trends in telecommunications. Native Americans with telecommunications experience are needed to help tribes develop services. (TD)

Focuses on indicators that present data on numerous aspects of the condition and progress of education in the United States, including academic, social, and economic outcomes; enrollments and participation at all levels; and the quality of educational environments. Recurrent themes underscored by the indicators are academic excellence, equity of access, and new challenges to education. (Author/SLD)

Presents a contextually situated case study on the critical nature of early field experiences in teacher preparation, describing an exemplary program at California State University, Los Angeles, that focuses on a blended program in preparing secondary school science teachers. The blended option provides access to teacher education for those who decide to teach early in the college years. (SM)

Investigates the effects of environmental science classes on preservice elementary education majors using a model inquiry-oriented environmental science course that was offered to and assessed by preservice elementary education majors. The study asked (1) what learning environment profile reflects an inquiry-oriented environmental science classroom? and (2) were students' attitudes towards science affected by the environmental science course taken? (SAH)

Used data from questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and document analyses to examine how professional development was conceived and supported within a school-university partnership, examining perceptions of growth achieved by secondary school teachers and teacher educators. Participants perceived four sites for their professional development (school and university classrooms and departments, the teacher network, and teacher education locally and beyond). (SM)

Explores aspects of home and culture in teaching and teacher education, discussing teachers' positions as foreigners among students and in pedagogical considerations and the positioning of home for teacher educators within the larger university community. The article uses school-university collaborations and university-college collaborations to suggest an expanded understanding of home as a productive concept for teacher education. (SM)

Successful environmental stewardship education influences beliefs, values, and behaviors related to specific environmental issues. Programs should address the variables that have been correlated with behavior change. Behavior change takes time, and requires a combination of formal and nonformal sequential learning experiences within a supportive social environment. Teacher training should be an integral part of stewardship programs. (Contains 39 references.) (TD)

Traces the history of parental rights in education since the landmark case Pierce vs. the Society of Sisters (1925), when the existence of private schools was validated. States that initiatives promoting parental choice include : (1) tax relief/credits; (2) vouchers or scholarships; (3) public school choice; and (4) home schooling. Provides a glossary and a list of publicly funded choice programs. (Contains 15 references.) (CJW)

Interviews with 8 distance course developers, 22 tutors, and 14 students in Hong Kong found that coordinators agreed that values education should be incorporated into distance education through counseling, support services, specific courses, or appropriate examples. Coordinators and tutors thought adult students might resist, but students appeared to favor the idea. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

Identifies external communities of interest, among other factors, affecting secondary-level anti-racist multicultural education, analyzing schools' representations of their cultural characteristics to different communities of interest for different purposes. Concludes that schools must adopt more principled, explicit, organizational learning strategies in order to gain support for anti-racist multicultural education school improvements from their communities of interest. (Contains references.) (SM)