Education & Pedagogy

This issue of the Multi-State Consortium on Performance-Based Teacher Education (PBTE) newsletter focuses on the role collaboration plays in competency-based education programs. A diagnostic test is presented to rate reader knowledge of ten basic concepts of collaboration, and the correct answers are discussed. Wendell C. Allen comments on the role of collaboration in teacher education; while the difficulties of college-school-professional organization cooperation are not overlooked, the benefits accruing from such effort are stressed. A report is made by Richard E. Collier on formal procedures through which policies were formulated and malor recommendations were developed during the Undergraduate Urban Teacher Education Program in New York State. James M. Wallace discusses the evolving importance of performance-based education and performance-based teacher education in Oregon's educational environment and makes projections for the 1980's. (MJB)

Comprised of nine chapters, this book documents the educational history of the Navajo Nation. Written by one "who was there" as Director of Indian Education during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson administrations, this book describes the labors of many, many American Indians and Anglos who worked together to bring about universal education for the Navajo. The chapters are titled as follows: (1) "Navajo Education Before 1930"; (2) "Navajo Boarding Schools in the 1930's"; (3) "Navajo Day Schools in the 1930's"; (4) "Navajo Education in the 1940's"; (5) "The Special Navajo Program"; (6) "Navajo Education in the 1950's"; (7) "Public School Development"; (8) "Navajo Education in the 1960's"; and (9) "Navajo Education in the 1970's". (JC)

Intended for school districts and/or other agencies and groups in New York State (but having applicability to other states) which plan to begin career education programs or desire to improve or modify a program already in existence, this catalog summarizes the ideas contained in the more than 250 products reviewed. The catalog does this in two ways. First, it describes seven critical career education implementation areas: planning, curriculum, guidance, inservice, public relations, community involvement, and evaluation. Each description gives a rationale for the area as well as detailed information on procedures and products associated with the area. Second, the catalog presents descriptions of certain products created by twenty-two career education model projects which illustrate the information being presented. (TA)

The collection of California's exemplary practices in career education included in this document was chosen because each one illustrates an exemplary practice in a specific aspect of career education. It is also noted that each practice has demonstrated effectiveness and each can be replicated without unusual additional resources. Following the first two chapters, which discuss career education in general (definitions, basic concepts, common misunderstandings, change strategies, and concerns for the future) and career education in California (report of the Commission for Reform of Intermediate and Secondary Education (RISE), goal statements and career clusters), each of the remaining chapters discusses and describes exemplary practices/projects in one of the following areas: planning, management, staff development, curriculum development, instructional services, guidance services, community involvement, and evaluation. (SH)

The United States Commissioner of Education discusses a broad view of educational needs and ways in which society must begin to respond to them. The need for quality educators and the renewal of our present corps of teachers through teacher controlled and developed inservice education is stressed. Life-long education with equal opportunity for all members of society to learn according to their abilities and desires is a goal that must be realized. The integration of education with other portions of social life is also of primary concern--tying school, home, and work into a smoothly functioning whole. And finally, education must strive to make people cognizant of global concerns: making humankind responsive to the problems of environmental pollution and overpopulation, and the urgent need to develop a world society in which people can live in a civilized relationship with each other. (MJB)

On February 20-22, 1977 the Florida Postsecondary Education Commission, with several other agencies, sponsored a conference at which representatives of many states and agencies could share state policy and planning strategies accommodating federal legislation. The report is in four sections, and the contents include: (1) lifelong learning and state planning: Education Amendments, Title I; (2) educational information centers: Education Amendments, Title IV; The Rochester Consortium; and A Workshop Model on Educational Brokering; (3) community colleges and postsecondary planning: Education Amendments, Title X; Regionalism, A Postsecondary Education Strategy Yet Undefined; A Third Version of the Community College, the Contract College; and three case studies; and (4) the state and federal exchange. Appended are the conference program and a list of participants. (MSE)

Reports on legislative action affecting higher education in the Southern states that held regular or special legislative sessions in 1978 are presented and a preview of 1979 sessions is provided in this publication. In most Southern Regional Education Board States in 1978, higher education maintained or slightly increased its share of state tax fund appropriations. Initial 1979 higher education budget requests seem to indicate that there may be an even larger than usual gap between what governors and legislators may approve and what is being requested. Among the topics discussed are salaries, construction funding, competency testing, state aid to private higher education, veterinary medicine, and collective bargaining. States included in the analysis are Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina. (SW)

After a brief explanation of the economic and social background of Brazil, its educational system is described and the prospects for higher education there are explored. Like most nations, Brazil's higher education system is unique and adapted to its own needs. Its system bears similarities to both European and American traditions. In the near future, expansion of higher education is presumed to be substantial, and there is concern for providing equal educational opportunity. Increased democratization is expected, and the opening of opportunity is assumed to provoke debate on the structure of Brazilian society, institutional priorities, and governance. However, the university is anticipated to mirror the social strata of Brazil for a long time to come. A brief bibliography is included. (MSE)

This report examines the Federal and State financing of New York City's special education programs in the public schools and documents the inadequacies of current funding. The report seeks to determine the extent of the Federal government's involvement in financing special education. In addition, New York State's allocation of funds for special education is analyzed and suggestions are offered concerning changes in the finance structure which would benefit New York City's handicapped students. Recommendations for New York City include how additional revenues for special education might be obtained. A survey of 11 large cities in this report, which focuses on the fiscal impact of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142), demonstrates that New York City is not unique in its dilemma. The report maintains that it is the responsibility of all levels of government to share the costs of special education. (Author/APM)

A survey of secondary school English teachers employed by three school districts in Utah was conducted by the teacher education committee of the English department of Weber State College (Ogden) to determine the areas of English instruction for which their teacher education courses had not adequately prepared them. On a scale from one to five, the 72 respondents rated 36 areas of teacher education, including teaching methods, grammar and writing, literature, speech and drama. The resulting data indicated that teachers were undertrained in 13 areas--mostly concerned with writing--and overtrained in five areas, three of which dealt with literature. Based on these results, an optional curriculum was developed for students entering the English teaching program at Weber State. The new curriculum emphasized preparing teachers in the area of writing instruction and teaching methods, as well as literature instruction. (HTH)

Plans for units and lessons that help make elementary and secondary students aware of sexism are presented in this book. The plans encompass the following curriculum areas: art, athletics and physical education, career education, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and special education. Each plan includes a statement of the problem, strategy descriptions, performance objectives, teaching procedures and resources, terms and definitions, evaluation procedures, and follow-up activities. Also presented are strategies that school administrators can use to help overcome discrepancies that result from sexist practices. Each administrator strategy plan includes a description of the problem, a rationale, goals and objectives, procedures, a time table, and evaluation techniques. Copies of transparencies for classroom use are included. (MK)

A teacher education program designed for preservice students who will work with mildly handicapped students in a regular classroom is described. The program consists of four levels of special education to be completed during the students' last two years of college. The principle training takes place in an elementary school setting. At the first level, students are primarily observers in the class and learn to classify characteristics for different categorical areas of special education. At the next three levels, students are tested for progressive skills in the following competencies: (1) planning curriculum and instruction for exceptional children; (2) administrating and interpreting formal diagnostic measures; (3) implementing and evaluating a behavior management program; and (4) relating effectively with parents and children. The objectives, instructional activities, and evaluation terms for each level are discussed. (JD)

This informal summary of proceedings from a conference on the preparation of English teachers in the 1980s identifies several fields demanding development in the interest of better English teaching at all levels. After briefly identifying conference participants and explaining the conference program development, the summary presents both a detailed outline of the week-long program and observations about the program that include identifying themes that developed in the multicultural discussion groups. The topics for the discussion groups are listed as (1) the nature of English in teacher education, (2) role shift in the preparation of teachers of English, (3) teacher education in English and the multicultural society, (4) literature in the classroom, (5) oral communication and drama in the preparation of English teachers, (6) teacher education and the initiation of the beginning teacher, and (7) continuing education for teachers. (AEA)

This is the final evaluation report for the Urban, Rural, Racial, Disadvantaged Educational Programs (URRD) conducted in Seattle, Washington during the 1977-78 school year. URRD programs are defined as State funded efforts designed to provide services to students who are not succeeding in school because of disadvantaged, minority, or poverty backgrounds. Four specific evaluation areas are addressed: (1) URRD programs effectiveness as measured by State standards; (2) the average number of student absences, credits earned, and/or bilingual test performance in URRD programs; (3) academic gains of participating students; and (4) the degree of success in meeting individual program objectives. Data regarding these criteria are presented for five URRD program categories: re-entry motivation, preschool education, Indian education, academic achievement, and bilingual/bicultural education. Study results are summarized and recommendations for program and evaluation improvement are made. (APM)

The Education Amendments of 1976, Public Law 94-482, which revised the Vocational Education Act (VEA) of 1963, introduced major new requirements for the evaluation of federally funded vocational education programs. This paper describes the activities stimulated by these evaluation requirements and shows how evaluation results are used to revise and improve programs. However, since policy intentions--in this case, program revision and improvement--are not realized instantaneously, the paper examines a number of intervening steps in the implementation process before considering outcomes. Before the outcomes can be realized, for example, the message from Congress must be transmitted and implemented at federal, state, and local levels. Another purpose of this paper is to describe the way in which this message was transmitted through the Office of Education to the states and finally to the local level. (KC)