Education & Pedagogy

Discussion by Native American community groups of the design of relevant curriculum is encouraged through reading this paper, working on suggested activities and questions, and applying the information to improve local situations. Wholistic curriculum is compared to the tradition of how to perform a sacred ceremony, a description of what is to be learned and how it is to be taught, and a starting place of unfolding human potential. Involvement of family and community as well as school in generating curriculum is emphasized and the advantages of traditional native education are discussed. Examples of a wholistic curriculum based on the family are given including day care opportunities and family development program. A reading list and numerous quotations by historical and contemporary Native Americans are provided. (LFL)

The stages of developing a strategy for international and multicultural education at Ramapo College of New Jersey are described by the college's president. Principles that guided the development of the strategy, the objectives established, initiatives undertaken to achieve them, and progress to date are considered. The theme of international and multicultural education was integrated throughout the curriculum and this mission embraced research and training as well as undergraduate teaching. Six major objectives for the school's global strategy were: professional development of faculty and staff, curriculum development, student skill development, experiential learning opportunities, outreach, and the recruitment and retention of international and minority students. International and multicultural education was chosen to increase enrollments and improve opportunities at the college since it needed a distinctive identity and renewed vitality. (SW)

This second edition provides local administrators of vocational education with some basic guidelines and strategies for managing programs and services for handicapped and disadvantaged people. The new program requirements in the Carl D. Perkins Act, such as communicating program options to handicapped and disadvantaged students and their parents, conducting vocational assessments and facilitating students' transitions from school to work, are presented. More specifically, the seven sections of the guide cover the following topics: communicating program options to students and their parents; identifying students with special needs; individualized program planning; student placement in vocational education; student service provisions in vocational education; monitoring and evaluating special services; and program funding provisions. A 31-item bibliography is included. (KC)

This self-instructional module, one of 16 on techniques for coordinating work experience programs, provides preservice and inservice educational materials for teacher-coordinators supervising on-the-job training. The four goals for this module are (1) to understand the background and concepts of cooperative vocational education, (2) to understand the features of the cooperative vocational education program, (3) to understand the types of vocational experiences available for high school students, and (4) to understand the purposes and features of the work experience program. For each goal, these materials are provided: an optional pretest, informative material, and a self-check. Other module contents include a guide sheet for an optional slide/tape presentation, a module posttest, pre-and posttest answer keys, and a list of resources for additional information. (YLB)

Appendixes B, C, and D of the Conference Proceedings relate to coordinating bilingual and special education services in one school district. The first section considers steps in developing a plan for collaboration, noting the importance of dialogue and communication among special educators, bilingual educators, and staff of programs teaching English as a second language. Solutions are offered to situations in which staff do not speak the child's language and existing resources are shared. Guidelines are offered on approaches to identifying and serving limited English proficient handicapped students. A second section briefly summarizes a collaborative approach which features training of credentialed bilingual teachers in special education and recruitment of already trained bilingual special education teachers. A final section compares California state requirements for bilingual and special education in terms of purpose, student identification, assessment/diagnosis, student evaluation, placement, parent rights, and advisory committee function. (CL)

This part of the Third Monitoring Report on the progress of desegregation in the Boston Public Schools covers activities for the period from December 1983 through May 1984. First, the Boston School Superintendent's response is presented to challenges made after previous reports showed little progress in staffing, facilities, bilingual education, vocational and occupational programs, and school safety and security. Statistics and other documentation of progress are given for each area. Next, the findings of 7 of the 12 court-ordered monitoring areas are presented in full. The areas of concern addressed include student assignments, staff, special desegregation measures, special education, bilingual education, vocational and occupational education, and transportation. Each report presents objectives and questions, methods, findings, commendations, and recommendations, as well as documentation (letters, statistics, and memoranda in support of specific findings). (KH)

This paper identifies major education goals that conflict with educational choice and explores the context and causes of the conflict. Implications for family choice of the numerous reforms currently gaining nationwide support are examined, along with public policies that deny choice, such as attendance requirements, state-imposed curriculum requirements, teacher certification requirements, and tracking, either formally or informally through counselling. After an introductory overview, these issues are discussed first from the perspective of the consumer, then from that of society. Finally, in a section addressing the compatibility of choice and educational reform, prospects for increased choice are considered in light of the political and administrative relationships predominant within the contemporary public school system. Extensive footnotes and a 40-item bibliography are included. (TE)

This curriculum guide, an augmented and updated version of a guide developed at a June 1980 workshop, consists of materials for teaching a performance-based course in family life education. Addressed in the individual units of the guide are the following topics: establishing an independent family unit, managing interpersonal relationships, managing parenting decisions, using community resources, managing resources, and making consumer decisions and maintaining family unity. Each unit contains some or all of the following: a competency statement; a lesson plan consisting of cross-referenced performance objectives, performance guides, learning experiences and instructional resources; and a series of supplementary handouts, exercises, and information sheets. An annotated list of resources for family life education programs concludes the guide. (MN)

Three issues of the journal include special foci on student teaching/internships in special education and educating low incidence children in New York City 1853-1945 along with a potpourri issue. The potpourri issue addresses student tutors in the classroom, new directions in the education of the gifted, and a marine education and language development program. Among topics examined in the issue on student teaching and internship are preservice preparation of teachers to work with paraprofessionals, successful student teaching with visually impaired children, and student teaching and school discipline. The overview of New York City special education includes articles on the role of parents in special schools for problem children, the occupational training school, and a special day school for the socially maladjusted, emotionally disturbed child. (CL)

This five-section publication is the final report of Northern Virginia's George Mason University on its federally financed Dean's Grant Project of 1980-83. Section I of the report, "Four Views on Mainstreaming," gives an indication of the degrees of faculty awareness of the educational needs of handicapped individuals evident at the beginning of the project's second year. Section II, "Raising Awareness," contains edited transcripts of representative presentations made available to the faculty for informational purposes. The third section, "Reshaping Teacher Education," contains edited transcripts of presentations and copies of articles developed, for the most part, as course projects. Section IV, "Maintaining the Momentum," contains edited presentations given at the fourth retreat. The final section, "Analysis: Was the Gain Worth the Grind?," discusses evaluation of the project. (JMK)

This guide is designed to serve as a reference for teacher-coordinators involved in the delivery of cooperative part-time training that is part of a coordinated vocational-academic education program. Addressed in the individual sections of the guide are the following topics: related subject-area instruction for vocational students, the role of the coordinator, selection of students, selection of training stations, placement of students, coordination, training plans, advisory committees, classroom facilities, organization and administration of a chapter of the Vocational Opportunities Club of Texas, publicity and public relations, and procedures for closing out the school year. An appendix to the guide includes various forms and certificates for use in maintaining permanent student records and coordinating a cooperative education program. (MN)

A total of 12 teacher education faculty members, 23 current education students, and 40 alumni responded to a questionnaire eliciting responses to seven aspects of the teacher education program at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. The seven aspects evaluated were: learning environment: scholarly excellence; quality of teaching; faculty concern for students; curriculum; departmental procedures; and available resources. While the populations differed on the value of specific components, they all had a general sense for the quality of the program. Students and alumni agreed more closely with each other than either did with the faculty. Each population also rated highest those elements over which they had the most control. The study highlights the need for a teacher education program to maintain a proper balance among student, faculty, and institutional needs in an atmosphere characterized by openness and willingness to change as affected populations grow, change, and develop. (CB)

A number of documents were written in 1983 by groups seeking to improve American education. This digest was developed to review and examine some of the common themes (as they pertain to science education) from these documents. They are: (1) "A Nation at Risk"; (2) "Educating Our Citizens: The Search for Excellence"; (3) "Action for Excellence"; (4) "Educating Americans for the 21st Century"; and (5) "Images of Science." The digest includes: (1) a discussion of implications related to standards, time for instruction, and curriculum (noting that all documents urge increased rigor in education); (2) lists of desired science instruction outcomes for grades K-6, for grades 7 and 8, for biology, for chemistry, and for physics; and (3) a discussion of implications for teacher education. (JN)

The amount of attention given to global studies in early childhood and elementary settings is very limited. There appears to be a marked division in the thinking of educators over the advisability of providing any formal instruction in or about global studies at this level. Teacher preparation programs are confronted by the challenge of unformed or ill-formed global consciousness among faculty as well as among their students. A part of the problem is lack of any expectation that early childhood and elementary teachers should attain any significant level of sophistication in learning whether it is science, mathematics, or the complexities of international understandings. Impediments to introducing a global approach to the preservice education of elementary school teachers are discussed and suggestions are made for a cumulative and realistic curriculum for teacher education programs implementing global awareness studies into their programs. (JD)

The plan documents Minnesota's policies and procedures for implementing state and federal statutes concerning the education of handicapped students. The following topics are covered: right to education, full educational opportunities goal, policy on priorities, child identification, Individual Educational Programs, procedural safeguards, the least restrictive environment, protection in evaluation procedures, the comprehensive system of personnel development, participation and placement of students in private schools, recovery of funds for misclassified children, hearings on local education agency applications, annual evaluations, additional requirements of the state education agency (monitoring and complaint procedures, direct services, implementation procedures), and confidentiality of personally identifiable information. The plan concludes with a list of state education agency administrative personnel positions to be paid out of P.L. 94-142 Part B funds, major administrative responsibilities for each job title, and the percentage of salary paid by Part B funds. (CL)