Education & Pedagogy

A New England College of Optometry (Massachusetts) faculty development program for clinical preceptors provides a forum for administration and clinical faculty to address problems in clinical education and to increase communication between affiliated faculty, program coordinators, and students. The on-site conferences have demonstrated significant institutional value. (Author/MSE)

An undergraduate pharmacy class in drug therapy was taught using a problem-solving approach and standardized case studies, with teacher feedback provided on case presentations using specific performance criteria. It was found that the teaching approach was successful in develop students' ability to apply pharmacotherapeutics in creation of patient care plans. (Author/MSE)

Compares the actors and ideologies that have shaped national educational policy on school choice, particularly the 1988 Education Reform Act in England and the America 2000 Excellence in Education Act in the United States. Explains how the focus of recent national education reforms shifted from access and efficiency to demand for free markets and concern for excellence. (KS)

Describes a survey of manufacturers in a midwestern state conducted to determine why businesses utilize postsecondary institutions for corporate training. Indicates that there was broader use of community colleges than of universities and that businesses used postsecondary education for emerging technology training, job training, personal development, and the reasonable cost of training. (MAB)

This paper presents a model for the preparation of Quebec teachers of special needs children across disability categories. The proposed model emphasizes collaborative consultation among regular and special educators, collaboration with parents, individualized intervention plans, and teaching of learning strategies. The paper recommends that a solid background in general pedagogy precede this special education preparation. (JDD)

Describes a vocational program for special education students at Kennebunk High School in Kennebunk, Maine, that guides students from the classroom, to an in-house business, to a community-based job-learning position, and then to placement in an appropriate job. Stresses opportunities in small business and entrepreneurship as well as school-community cooperation. (JHZ)

This discussion of the cost-effectiveness and cost-efficiency of media-based distance education focuses on a comparison of British Open University and conventional university costs. Expenses of instructional materials and their preparation are discussed in relation to student enrollment, and future possibilities for home-based systems are described. (LRW)

The 1980-81 Teachers Language Skills Survey shows dramatic increases in number and quality of professionally prepared bilingual education teachers since 1976-77, when the first training programs funded by the Bilingual Education Act were started. However, less than 25 percent of the teachers teaching bilingually in 1980-81 had basic qualifications to do so. (JHZ)

A follow-up study examined what eight preservice physical education majors saw in a 15-minute games lesson with fifth-grade students. Analysis indicated that, unlike the first study where student teachers recorded statements about pupils or pupils and the teacher, current student teachers recorded statements about the teacher, the pupils, and the lesson in combination. (Author/CB)

Recent reports and proposals for the improvement of foreign language education and general education (with implications for foreign language instruction) are examined and critiqued, and consideration is given to current developments for this field and the establishment of a national foundation for foreign languages and international studies. (CB)

Quality education and rehabilitation programs for blind and visually impaired individuals are threatened by recent changes in federal and state education policy that favor noncategorical approaches in special education. Current special education policies are reviewed and suggestions are made for ways to avert domination by the interests of severely handicapped students. (Author/VW)

Five aspects of higher education policy (the impact of goals, the role of underlying assumptions, evaluation, group support and resistance, and environmental changes) are examined in light of specific strategic changes made in the higher education systems of Norway, Sweden, Britain, France, Italy, West Germany, and Poland. (MSE)

The University Affiliated Program at the University of Southern Mississippi developed and implemented a model preservice transdisciplinary training program to prepare graduate leadership personnel in early intervention. The program components include a competency-based curriculum; options for field experiences; diverse training options; and links among state, community, and advocacy organizations. (Author/JDD)

A survey of 127 high school special education teachers revealed a number of deficiencies in vocational programming for mildly handicapped students, with deficiencies more widespread for rural than for nonrural schools. Fewer rural schools administered interest inventories, used inventory results for placement, or placed mildly handicapped students in vocational programs. (JHZ)

Examines the issue of equality of opportunity and social mobility in terms of differences between urban and rural young people in South-Western Nigeria, focusing particularly on those handicaps associated with female disadvantage. Reports results of interviews with 359 rural and urban female secondary school students. (JHZ)