Education & Pedagogy

This article discusses a pilot project at the Department of Special Education at West Virginia University of peer teachers' supervision of practicing, uncertified teachers in on-the-job experiences, describes components of training sessions to develop supervising teachers' skills in observing performance, providing feedback, and evaluating proficiency, and presents preliminary evaluation data. (Author/PB)

A questionnaire to identify and validate competencies, based on previous research, university special education programs, and feedback from rural teachers studying behavior disorders was distributed to 176 rural teachers of students with behavior disorders in West Virginia and 6 faculty members who taught courses in behavior disorders. (Author/PB)

Results of survey research into needs for early childhood special education personnel, competencies, and potential training models, together with data obtained through a summer training institute for early childhood educators and special educators, have implications concerning common and differential retraining needs through competency-based approaches in early childhood education personnel preparation. (Author/PB)

Provides a summary of the events occurring at the Ninth Biennial Conference on Chemical Education, held in Bozeman, Montana, on July 27-August 2, 1986. Contains brief descriptions of sessions on the role of chemists, demonstrations of laboratory experiences, learning chemistry with computers, teacher training, and chemistry for elementary school children. (TW)

Shows how Tunisia's national educational program is implemented unevenly in different regions with resulting disadvantages for rural populations, especially rural girls and women. Specifies ways the politics and public policy appear to influence regional differences in educational outcomes. Examines educational, economic, and political characteristics at the provincial level. (JHZ)

Chronicles the life of Mary McLeod Bethune and her commitment to the education of Black girls in the early twentieth century despite the overwhelming prejudices of the time. Discusses the American tradition in which both Black and White women used education as a means of advancing their cause and status. (JS)

The theme of these six articles is the recruitment of minority and nontraditional students into vocational education. It includes success stories regarding schools recruiting Black and Hispanic youth; methods for teaching nontraditional students; a discussion of the history of the land grant university program; magnet schools; cooperative extension; and retaining women in nontraditional occupations. (JOW)

Two government-induced distortions generate an excess demand for entry into the Greek higher education system. In Greece the private cost of higher education is too low and the government-set wage rate too high, thus contributing to the excess demand for higher education and an apparent "graduate unemployment" problem. (MLW)

The paper discusses the Regular Education Initiative as a conceptual revolution, as a political strategy, and as a flawed policy initiative. It argues that the REI focuses on a small number of highly emotional issues, such as integration, nonlabeling, efficiency, and excellence, which distract attention from deeper analysis. (Author/JDD)

This article reviews major trends in higher education of the twentieth century, noting they have often been beyond the direct control of higher education. He offers seven possible scenarios for the 1990s including restoration of the centrality of liberal education, a racial crisis, student revolts, increasing deficits in numbers of Ph.Ds, and accelerating internationalization. (MLW)

Argues that the following steps will effectuate educational reform: (1) provision of more latitude and flexibility in school governance; (2) business commitment to using and upgrading the inner-city workforce; (3) consumer understanding of rights and options available within public education; and (4) government understanding of the danger of wasting inner-city potential. (AF)

A movement in designing special education curricula in Illinois is to provide instruction in "natural community environments," including simulated and real job sites. Special education vocational programs have shifted emphasis toward a life-skills approach that incorporates vocational elements. Describes an Illinois curriculum model integrating special education and vocational training. (AF)

Discusses collaboration in teacher education in Maryland, describing the development of four projects addressing national issues in teacher education and involving school system, college, and state education department personnel. The projects have functioned at least two years and are successful because of common purpose, autonomy, incentives, mutuality/trust, vision rehearsal, and diversity/equity. (SM)

Asserts that art education promotes high culture and ignores popular culture and is thereby precluded from making a positive contribution to students' lives. Outlines the principles for a socially relevant art education. Maintains that such an art education would contribute critically to the meanings, values, and beliefs students form with dominant culture. (KM)

Describes study conducted at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto that investigated graduate education students' use of audio conferencing (AC) in distance education. Evaluation results of student questionnaires are discussed, including effects of absence of visual cues; student attitudes; and role of the instructor. (12 references) (LRW)