Education & Pedagogy

This paper is intended to guide small groups of vocational educators in discussions regarding work force education issues for the next century. The following work force issues are suggested: the aging work force; vocational education's role in reforming K-12 education; distance education for technical education programs; the labor shortages resulting from lack of interest in job training; work force preparation for the Knowledge/Imagination Age, which will follow the Information Age; and the lack of career selection in the middle schools. Presented next are selected comments from a labor economist regarding needed types of work force education. The next section is devoted to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which calls for the following: locally based work force development programs; key role for local elected officials; private sector-led work force investment boards; "one stop" systems with required partners; adult education and literacy, welfare-to-work, postsecondary, veterans, and older worker programs; and community service block grants. Concluding the paper is a brief description of the school-based work force education program offered at Horry County Academy for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (MN)

This bulletin explores the current status of federal and state, especially Pennsylvania, legislation and recent court decisions pertaining to gifted education. It notes the existence, at the federal level, of only one law related to gifted education, the Jacob Javits Act of 1988 which, however, does not mandate the creation of special programs and fails to provide due process rights. The brief review of legislation in various states finds that all 50 states have formulated policies in the form of legislation, regulations, rules, or guidelines that support education of the gifted and that 33 states mandate gifted education with widely divergent provisions and levels of funding. Pennsylvania currently mandates gifted education and, like 22 other states, places it under the umbrella of special education, thus providing the same procedural safeguards as are provided for children with other exceptionalities. A review of Pennsylvania court cases finds that they support the requirement that services be driven by an individualized education program based on student needs. A Connecticut case is highlighted as illustrating the importance of law that defines giftedness as an exceptionality which requires special programming. Eight recommendations are offered. (Contains 17 references.) (DB)

This paper examines the content and teaching methods in a 4-year decentralized preschool teacher education program using a combination of direct and distance learning at Stavanger College in Norway. The content of preschool education and the knowledge skills, communication skills, and the general professional competencies required for professional qualification are delineated. Open interviews conducted with teachers with experience in distance teacher education from 4 colleges and with 24 students are then analyzed to evaluate the distance teaching methods used. Findings noted suggest that distance education is suitable for some areas of preschool teacher education, planning is extremely important in distance education to ensure a match between content and teaching method, making the structure of the course explicit is important for students, and teachers note the difficulty in knowing when to challenge students and when to support them during distance learning. Strengths and difficulties in using each of the following methods are discussed: computer communication, study-letters or booklets for each learning module, video and audiotapes, telephone conferences, individual phone calls, and direct teaching. Finally, the paper discusses the special challenges of student assessment in distance learning. (KB)

This report by the New York State Comptroller states that the state is currently making decisions regarding higher education based on short-term fiscal and political concerns rather than basing such decisions on long-range strategic plans founded on carefully deliberated policies. Specifically, New York has been without a comprehensive review of higher education policies for the last quarter century, that the state's investment in higher education ($3.7 billion annually) is not being effectively managed, that the state's higher education governance and planning structure does not work, and that higher education too often is the target of budget cuts because the effects of such cuts are not immediately visible. Recommendations urge a comprehensive reevaluation of state policies and reform of the permanent governance system for higher education. Such reform would involve establishment of a new higher education coordinating board, and a revised appointment procedure for trustees of public university systems. Attached supporting information includes an historical review of higher education studies; facts and figures; data on the economic impact of higher education; and information on the College Choice Savings Program. (DB)

This monograph is designed to be used as a complete volume or as a set of papers that can be referenced separately. The monograph is organized into two sections. Section I: "Getting Ready" is designed to help educators get started, plan for, and integrate technology into adult education. The five papers in this section are as follows: "Making Technology Happen in Adult Education" (Christopher E. Hopey); "Planning and Funding for Technology" (Hopey); "Making the Right Choice: Software Evaluation" (Hopey); "Integrating Technology into Adult Learning" (Lynda Ginsburg); and "Recommendations for Using Technology in Adult Education" (Hopey). Section II: "Moving Forward," contains six papers that address the following topics: "Adult Learning Theory: An Argument for Technology" (Regie Stites); "Technology in Adult Education Programs" (Terilyn C. Turner); "Using Technology for Assessment in Adult Learning" (John P. Sabatini); "Distance Learning and Adult Basic Education" (John Fleischman); "The Internet and Adult Educators" (David Rosen); and "Adult Learning, Technology, and Public Policy" (Mary Lovell). The monograph contains a list of 12 national adult education agencies, including their website addresses, and 85 references. (SK)

This book examines the ideas of two radical heroes of adult education: Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) and Paulo Freire (1921-1997). The book is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces both men and their influences on adult education. Chapter 2 examines Gramsci's educative concept of politics, focusing on his concepts of hegemony and the intellectuals. Chapter 3 explores Freire's concept of education as political and the transformative role of adult education in liberating the oppressed. Chapter 4 looks at the points of contact and divergence of Gramsci's and Freire's ideas. Chapter 5 examines the references to Gramsci and Freire in the adult education literature and evaluates the linkage of their ideas in the context of a consideration of Gramsci's and Freire's status as radical heroes. Chapter 6 reviews the state of their ideas in adult education thus far and looks more closely at an account by one adult educator of her work with a social movement: Gelsa Knijinik's teaching and research in ethnomathematics with the landless people's movement in Brazil. (Contains 290 references.) (KC)

This national survey was conducted to examine institutions that offer graduate programs in education and to determine trends regarding master's degree programs. Three sources of information were utilized: (1) "Peterson's Guide to Graduate Programs in Business, Education, Health, and Law (Moore, 1979, 1989); (2) university catalogues from the 1980s; and (3) a survey questionnaire mailed to 664 U.S.institutions that offer such graduate programs. Results indicate, first, that the Master of Education (M.Ed.) is, by a narrow margin, the single most common master's degree title offered in schools of education. However, 45 percent of the institutions in the study offer the more traditional Master of Science (M.S.) or Master of Arts (M.A.) rather than the M.Ed. Second, previously obscure titles are becoming more prevalent such as the Master of Arts in Education (M.A.Ed.), Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.), and Master of Science in Teaching (M.S.T.). Third, research and statistics requirements are not significantly different for M.Ed. versus M.S./M.A. programs. The report concludes with a call for a national dialogue to strengthen the education profession by reducing the confusion that currently exists in its master's programs. (Author/LL)

The National Technological University (NTU), a consortium of approximately 30 American engineering schools which has been in operation on a continent-wide scale since 1985, uses telecommunications to broadcast engineering education courses to corporate sites across the country. Courses are produced at member institutions and are distributed to sponsoring sites via a communications satellite network. NTU represents a blend of distance education, corporate education, and continuing education in its pursuit of a cost effective, national engineering program. The uses of computer, educational television, electronic mail, and other innovative educational technologies have made distance learning opportunities possible, for corporate engineers and technical personnel, that compare favorably with those offered by traditional institutions. A program modelled after NTU has been developed in Europe. The European Programme of Advanced Continuing Education (PACE) is based on university and industrial cooperation and will ultimately link many corporations together in nearly a dozen European countries. NTU presents a model for the success of nontraditional education in an increasingly technology-based world by providing the opportunity for balancing national needs for a better trained workforce and the immediate needs of corporations for skilled professionals. (21 references) (Author/DB)

This booklet addresses the plight of pregnant teenagers and teenage parents, especially those in special education, and the role of program developers and practitioners in responding to their educational needs. After a brief introduction, a research synthesis notes similarities of predictors, extent, and consequences of teenage pregnancy and parenting for youths in regular and special education, as well as increased vulnerability among special education students. Implications for program development are presented next, including the need for a broad-based local team addressing the complex issues associated with creating sound family life/sex education/prevention programs for this population. The importance of administrative involvement and support is covered in the following section. Teachers of family life education programs are encouraged to increase their knowledge of this topic and to improve their assessment skills, teaching strategies, and access to support networks. Administrators are urged to take responsibility for policy, teacher education and support, collaboration with parents and community agencies, budgeting, evaluation, and monitoring. The book includes 45 references, a resource list of teaching materials, and a description of the Scarborough principle of teaching sex education to the mentally handicapped. (DB)

When evaluation is applied to teacher education programs in higher education, a myriad of issues emerge which make assessment complex and critical, especially during the era of reform. The purpose of this paper is to establish a comprehensive overview of assessment processes and reform efforts in teacher education programs. Organized into five sections, the report examines: (1) the nature of program evaluation (an historical overview, current trends in program evaluation, and Federal and State initiatives); (2) issues on restructuring teacher preparation programs; (3) teaching as a profession, alternative certification, the profession of teacher education, and clinical field experiences; (4) basic education reform efforts at State and Federal levels (mentoring programs, school-site management and teacher empowerment, outcome-based measurements, reports on basic education reform efforts, and Federal initiatives); and (5) school-university collaboration. In compiling a literature review, over 100 sources were utilized to discern historical and current practices regarding assessment procedures and resultant reform efforts. These sources are noted in a reference list. (LL)

Issues of the newsletter, "Dialogue," covering 7 years in the 1980s are compiled in this publication, which contains an introductory section that lists the articles published in each issue. The first issue of "Dialogue," which appeared in April, 1982, explains the Dialogue Journal Project at the Center for Applied Linguistics. Subsequent issues cover various themes related to dialogue journals, such as the following: applications; research; uses in higher education; uses with students with special needs; dialogue journals as a reading event; applications in English-as-a-Second-Language settings; developing literacy in refugee, migrant, and adult basic education; teacher benefits, strategies, and time; helping students change attitudes and behaviors; interactive writing in deaf education; international settings; teacher education; bilingual education; elementary education; and promises and practices of content area instruction. An 8-page history of dialogue journals is included, as well as abstracts of 16 research studies, and a bibliography that contains approximately 75 references. (LB)

A task force on private-public sector education in Virginia concluded that transfer and award of credit between public and private sector education providers should be facilitated. Based on the task force recommendations, the Virginia Council on Vocational Education made three recommendations to the State Board for Community Colleges and representative groups in the private sector and the military. The recommendations were as follows: (1) colleges in the Virginia Community College System should develop policies for evaluation and award of transfer credit from other postsecondary education institutions (including a process for transfer of credit from variously accredited private career schools, a process for transfer of credit from nonaccredited institutions, use of the American Council on Education's "Guide to the Evaluation of Military Experience") and should develop articulation agreements; (2) business, military, industry, and private career school providers should pursue accreditation and attempt to implement articulation agreements and to recognize transfer credits from the public sector; and (3) the Virginia Board of Education should review the recommendations of the task force and support the recommended actions. (The task force report is appended.) (KC)

This document contains three United Nations resolutions that emphasize the role and practice of prison education. The three resolutions were adopted in 1990: (1) the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1990/20 on prison education; (2) the General Assembly Resolution 45/111 on basic principles for the treatment of prisoners; and (3) General Assembly Resolution 45/122 on criminal justice education. The first resolution affirms the right of everyone to education and recommends that member states promote prison education in the following ways: raising the educational level of prison personnel; focusing on resocialization, literacy, and vocational training; and developing policies that aim at developing the whole person. The second resolution sets out 11 principles for treatment of prisoners, including the following: respecting them as human beings, avoiding discrimination, respecting religious and cultural beliefs, and providing access to employment training and health services. The third resolution encourages the development of criminal justice education, research, and publications. It advocates increased use of education in crime prevention and collaboration between criminal justice and educational agencies. Activities for the Secretary-General are also outlined. (NLA)

This paper discusses ways to link components of the adventure education and environmental education systems in Alberta, Canada. The province of Alberta has developed an Environmental and Outdoor Education Course of Studies which reflects an integrated, experiential approach to connect the personal needs of adolescent youth to the society of which they are becoming a part. The course of studies includes three progressive levels; foundations, exploration, and empowerment. The foundations level includes elements in personal and group development and environmental knowledge and skills. At the exploration level students apply their learning to a variety of situations and investigations. At the empowerment level, students form commitments to personal, social, and environmental harmony. To help link teacher comfort and competence with the demands of the new Environmental and Outdoor Education course of studies, the University of Alberta developed the Environmental and Outdoor Education Leadership School. The school offers undergraduate and graduate courses in an experiential manner with outdoor explorations. Innovative approaches are necessary to link adventure and environmental education. The paper lists examples of teaching units emphasizing a theme, a metaphor, or a cognitive activity. The examples categorize activities into the foundation, exploration, and empowerment levels. (KS)

This study examined expectations, with respect to the role of the special education administrator, held by key administrative personnel within West Virginia's rural school systems. Surveys were sent to all county superintendents, all county special education administrators, and a randomly selected sample of 150 school principals, resulting in 202 responses from a total of 260 individuals surveyed. The survey instrument consisted of 40 specific task descriptions organized and assigned to 7 types of administrative activity. Respondents were asked to rate the perceived performance and the perceived importance of the tasks. Significant differences were found: (1) between special education administrators and principals regarding the perceived performance of 19 tasks; (2) between special education administrators and superintendents regarding the perceived importance of 2 tasks; (3) between special education administrators and principals regarding the perceived degree of importance of 17 tasks; (4) between special education administrators and superintendents regarding the perceived degree of importance of one task. These differences imply potential areas of conflict among rural special education administrators, superintendents, and principals. The greatest potential for conflict exists between the special education administrator and principal. Implications for administrative endorsements and organizational structures are discussed. (KS)