Education & Pedagogy

This issue of the Multi-State Consortium on Performance-Based Teacher Education (PBTE) newsletter presents: (1) a portion of the New York State Board of Regents report endorsing a competency-based, field-centered approach to teacher education, dealing with "...the Preparation and Practice of Professionals for Elementary and Secondary Education"; and (2) an excerpt of an article by W. Robert Houston, originally appearing in "Strategies and Resources for Developing a Competency-Based Teacher Education Program," which discusses various approaches to developing a program of teacher education based upon teacher competencies. Also presented are short discussions on regional invitational PBTE conferences, the meshing of preservice and inservice education in one continuum, and the construction of tests predicting how well a teacher will perform after completing his or her training. (MJB)

This is the final report on the background and proceedings of the Regional Meeting on Environmental Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, convened jointly by UNESCO and the United Nations Environmental Program. The goal of this regional meeting was to examine the problems of the environment within the region, and to recommend lines for action in environmental education. These were to reflect the specific characteristics of the natural surroundings and the socioeconomic and cultural settings of the region and of the countries that form the region. Environmental education was studied with respect to eco-development and life-long education in Latin America, educational systems in Latin America, strategies to introduce and develop environmental education in Latin America, and institutional strategies for developing environmental education at national and regional levels in Latin America. (MA)

This module is one of twelve individualized performance-based modules, each based on a major competency needed by vocational administrators for effectively administering vocational education in local education agencies. The module focuses on developing competency in understanding the need for cooperation with industry and in planning cooperative programs through the following activities: listing motivational factors which encourage industry and people to become involved in education, identifying specific industry service areas available to public education, describing in writing the major techniques used by educators to involve industry with education, and demonstrating an ability to plan and communicate with industry leaders. Activities are primarily based on having the learner read suggested material related to the subject. Content is organized as follows: introductory section, terminal objective, summary of content, procedures, suggested resources, pretest, learning activities, posttest, and an answer manual. (SH)

Four concept papers prepared by the director of the Office of Career Education, U.S. Office of Education, during 1976-77 are presented in this monograph. "Career Education and Manpower Training" presents a treatment of jobs versus work, specific vocational skills versus adaptability skills, paid employment versus productive use of leisure time, community authority versus community responsibility, and adjusting to society versus adjusting society. The second paper, "Basic Issues in Implementation of Career Education," deals with implementation issues in infusion and in collaboration. "The Human Side of Work," presents a study of the meaning of "work"--what it is, what it is not, and the difficulties encountered with the definition of "work." The fourth paper, "Career Education in the Community College: An Evolving Concept," deals with the role of community colleges in career education, and the basic elements of career education in community college settings. (BL)

This monograph was developed to help K-12 classroom teachers infuse career education into the teaching/learning process as a regular part of their instructional responsibilities. After defining career education, this booklet briefly discusses the rationale, target population, and who is responsible for career education. Then follows a discussion on the relationship of career education and the teaching/learning process. To provide a better understanding of this relationship, the following four topics are examined in detail: (1) teaching philosophy; (2) purposefulness of learning; (3) variety of teaching techniques (includes interview, discussion, bulletin boards, and learning centers); and (4) the process of weaving/infusing/threading career education into the curriculum (includes the perspectives of both the program planner and classroom teacher). Finally, this monograph makes some concrete suggestions for the implementation of career education in terms of the readiness of school administrators, teachers, and the community. (EM)

Over 700 masters' theses and doctoral dissertations in adult and continuing education are included in this listing of microfilms available through the Syracuse University library system. Each entry is listed under one or more of the following descriptive subject headings: accreditation, administration, agencies, communications, comparative, counseling, evaluation, finances, foundations, futures, history, instruction, learning, legislation, lifelong learning, programs, program development, public relations, research, resources, statistics, students, teachers, and trends. Entries contain the microfilm call number, document title, number of leaves/pages, the author's name and university, and the date the thesis was written. (CSS)

The approximately 700 resumes contained in this report cover research projects, exemplary and innovative projects, and curriculum development projects administered by state departments of education through research coordinating units (RCUs) from July 1, 1979, to June 30, 1980 (fiscal year 1980). The projects are funded under Sections 131, 132, and 133 of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 as revised by the Education Amendments of 1976. Entries are arranged alphabetically by state and within each state by legislative section. Information provided in each entry includes the project director, organized address, sponsoring agency, contract/control number, funding period, fiscal year funding, ERIC descriptors, and a brief annotation of the project. A subject index is included in addition to appendixes listing state directors of vocational education and RCU directors. (Author/KC)

An overview is presented in this paper of the problems involved in making education universal and available at all levels in different regions in the world. It is pointed out that a majority of the world's children have no schooling; preschool education, though widely favored, has still to become universal even in the industrialized countries. The problem of dropouts is universal in all school systems, and failures and grade repetitions plague both primary and secondary education. Teacher training is under reexamination in all countries. Various forms of inequality exist in every country. Third world nations are struggling to maintain and expand imported systems of education unrelated to their cultures and unresponsive to their needs. Examples are given of remedial measures being undertaken in the world's educational systems, with particular emphasis on actions being taken in Asia and Africa. (JD)

The purpose of the practicum was to determine the societal factors existing in the accounting industry and accounting education, with the aim of integrating the changing regulations and environment of the industry into the classroom at Castleton State College (Vermont). A group of certified public accountants were surveyed by Likert scale to learn of societal factors in the profession and its training. Priorities for industry-education coordination were: cooperative education, joint industry-college committee, workshop, adjustment faculty members, advisory committee, guest lecturer, site visits, personnel exchange programs, and a joint governmental-college committee. Goals and objectives for a workshop were established for discussion of industry and education groups. The principal recommendation of the practicum is an industry-college workshop to further discuss these issues. (MSE)

The units in this curriculum guide are designed for use by state vocational education personnel to train teachers, administrators, and staff in the area of sex bias and sex-role stereotyping. The units are also designed to be used by local classroom teachers to supplement existing materials or supply in-depth information on sex bias and sex-role stereotyping in vocational education. Three units are included in the guide: (1) Classroom Strategies for Promoting Sex-Fair Education, (2) Promoting Sex-Fair Education through Instructional Materials, and (3) Skills for Implementing Sex-Fair Education in the Classroom. Each unit follows a typical format that includes eight components: performance objectives, suggested activities for teacher, information sheets, trasnparency masters, assignment sheets, job sheets, tests, and answers to tests and assignment sheets. Depending on the specific objectives, transparency masters, assignment sheets, and job sheets may or may not be included in the unit of instruction. (LRA)

A framework is given for providing comprehensive health education services within a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) setting. In order to be effective, an HMO's health education program needs to be administrationally and organizationally approached as an integral component of the HMO and not as an adjunct service. Three service units of the health education program provide health education for scheduled subscribers, non-scheduled subscribers, and for scheduled homogeneous groups. Subscribers to the HMO, upon arriving for a scheduled medical appointment, are directed to the health education unit where they wait until called. Health educators, through multi-media and live programs, use this waiting time for health education. A similar service is offered to subscribers who have no immediate health care appointments. A health education unit also offers small group programs for subscribers with similar health or medical problems. These subscribers receive education programs targeted for their particular condition. (JD)

The coordination of education faculty in interdisciplinary and interdepartmental teams to supervise teacher education programs unifies the knowledge base in professional teacher preparation. At Miami University, twelve teams are responsible for the professional education instructional component of teacher education programs. Through the team concept, field-based components are interrelated, teacher education becomes interdisciplinary, students participate in planning their own programs, and teacher educators become more knowledgeable about their own specialty area in relation to all other specialty areas in professional preparation. The team concept is described in this paper, and an overview of the structure is given. Descriptions are provided of how the teams work from the perspectives of psychological, social, and philosophical foundations of education disciplines. The program and sequences of courses supervised by an interdisciplinary team are outlined for several typical education majors. (JD)

The monograph contains a report on developments and trends in special education within the European community and a selection of the principal papers of a conference on special education in Europe. Chapter 1 contains results of a comparative study presented tabularly and narratively covering all handicaps in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Issues covered include administrative responsibility, private schools, financing, compulsory education laws, early childhood education, and integration of handicapped with nonhandicapped children. Nine trends in special education are identified in the brief second chapter. The third chapter provides a summary of special education for each nation and includes addresses of ministers and associations dealing with the handicapped. The questionnaire used in compiling the report is appended. The second section consists of the conference program, summaries of addresses, and summaries of the six discussion groups. A synthesis report notes differences in methods of achieving the goal of integration of the handicapped. (DB)

This report is a 1977 needs assessment for the State Urban, Rural, Racial, Disadvantaged Education Programs (URRD) in Seattle, Washington. URRD programs are defined as state funded efforts which provide special services to students from disadvantaged, minority, or poverty backgrounds. The study provides data on students in the Seattle Public Schools in order to assist administrators and proposal writers in determining concentrations of need in each of five funding areas which include: reentry motivation, preschool education, academic achievement, bilingual/bicultural education, and Indian education. Information regarding dropout rates, number of students served by preschool programs, low achievement, number of students from non-English backgrounds and their ethnic distribution, and the number of American Indian students is presented for each of the relevant funding areas. A summary of findings concludes the paper. (APM)

This report describes 1976-77 student enrollment trends, student and staff characteristics, assessment and placement procedures, and program costs for Seattle, Washington's special education program for the handicapped. The study's objectives were: (1) to compare current special education enrollment within and across programs with enrollment of past years; (2) to describe demographic characteristics of students enrolled in special education programs within and across programs; (3) to describe current special education assessment, placement and intervention practices; (4) to describe special education teaching staff in regard to sex, age, ethnic group, and educational background; and (5) to determine the cost per pupil enrolled in each special education program. The report states objectives one and four were fully met, and the remaining objectives were only partially met because of the lack of an adequate data storage and retrieval system. (Author/APM)