Of General Interest
Education: Assumptions Versus History, by Thomas Sowell (Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. 94305; 199 pp., $8.95 paper). Essays on race and iq, tuition tax credits, affirmative action in college-faculty hiring, and other topics in education.
Educational Wastelands: The Retreat From Learning in Our Public Schools, 2nd edition, by Arthur Bestor, with retrospectives by Clarence J. Karier and Foster MacMurray (University of Illinois Press, 54 East Gregory Dr., Champaign, Ill. 61820; 292 pp., $19.95 cloth). A reissue of the controversial 1953 book, which argues that schools have lost their sense of purpose at the hands of professional “educationists” divorced from the world of scholarship. Two retrospectives assess the book’s significance.
The Incompetent Teacher: The Challenge and the Response, by Edwin M. Bridges (Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc., 242 Cherry St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106-1906; 212 pp., $24 cloth, $12 paper). A study of how administrators deal with teacher incompetence; argues that “preventive measures” are the most realistic way of handling the problem.
The Neglected Majority, by Dale Parnell (Community College Press, American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, 1 Dupont Circle, N.W., Suite 410, Washington, D.C. 20036; 184 pp., $17.95 cloth). Proposes a new course of study for students who do not plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree: a four-year “tech-prep/associate-degree program” that would start in the 11th grade.
Notes From a Schoolteacher, by James Herndon (Simon and Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020; 170 pp., $15.95 cloth). Reflections and reminiscences from 25 years of teaching, by the author of The Way It Spozed To Be and How To Survive in Your Native Land.
Preparing for Power: America’s Elite Boarding Schools, by Peter W. Cookson Jr. and Caroline Hodges Persell (Basic Books Inc., 10 East 53rd St., New York, N.Y. 10022; 260 pp., $19.95 cloth). A sociological study of the boarding-school experience--its social and academic climate and its “invisible curriculum.”
Schooling for All: Class, Race, and the Decline of the Democratic Ideal, by Ira Katznelson and Margaret Weir (Basic Books Inc., 10 East 53rd St., New York, N.Y. 10022; 258 pp., $19.95 cloth). Challenges “the patently specious choice of equality as opposed to quality” in education, with a focus on the evolution of working-class attitudes toward public schools in Chicago and San Francisco.
Sometimes a Shining Moment: The Foxfire Experience, by Eliot Wigginton (Anchor Press, Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, N.Y. 11530; 438 pp., $19.95 cloth). Memoirs of 20 years in the classroom by the founder of the Foxfire program, including a discussion of his philosophy of teaching and a dissection of one of his courses in grammar and composition.
When Children Don’t Learn: Understanding the Biology and Psychology of Learning Disabilities, by Diane McGuinness (Basic Books Inc., 10 East 53rd St., New York, N.Y. 10022; 310 pp., $19.95 cloth). Argues that “learning disabilities” are often, in fact, normal differences in brain function, talents, and abilities, especially between boys and girls.
Curricula and Methods
Micro-Myths: Exploring the Limits of Learning With Computers, by Joe Nathan (Winston Press, 430 Oak Grove, Minneapolis, Minn. 55403; 186 pp., $8.95 paper). Aims to “help parents, educators, and policymakers think carefully about appropriate and inappropriate uses of computers” in education.
The Read-Aloud Handbook, revised edition, by Jim Trelease (Penguin Books, 40 West 23rd St., New York, N.Y. 10010; 243 pp., $6.95 paper). How teachers and parents can foster a love of books among children by reading aloud; includes a guide to recommended books. “Completely revised and updated” since its first publication in 1982.
Reading, Thinking, and Concept Development, edited by Theodore L. Harris and Eric J. Cooper (College Board Publications, P.O. Box 886, New York, N.Y. 10101; 280 pp., $19.95 paper). Articles presenting ways teachers can help students master reading for comprehension and thinking as “an integrated process.”
Roots in the Sawdust: Writing To Learn Across the Disciplines, edited by Anne Ruggles Gere (National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Ill. 61801; 238 pp., $15.50 paper, $12 for ncte members). Presents writing as a means of teaching secondary-school students how to form concepts, analyze and synthesize information, make inferences, and draw conclusions.
Teaching the Fun of Physics, by Janice Pratt VanCleave (Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07632; 172 pp., $9.95 paper). Outlines experiments designed to introduce elementary-school students to basic relationships of matter and energy; includes an appendix on science-fair projects and a glossary of physics terms.
Research and Monographs
Low-Tech Education in a High-Tech World, by Elizabeth L. Useem (The Free Press, Macmillan Inc., 866 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022; 270 pp., $19.95 cloth). Focuses on two major centers of the microelectronics industry--Boston and the “Silicon Valley” of California--as examples of a need for a new relationship between education and industry.
Public Schools: Issues in Budgeting and Financial Management, edited by John Augenblick (Transaction Books, Rutgers--The State University, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903; 97 pp., $12.95 paper). Articles on such topics as the financial and social implications of public-school closures, the impact of collective bargaining on school management, and the cost-effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction.
Success in College: The Role of Personal Qualities and Academic Ability, by Warren W. Willingham (College Board Publications, P.O. Box 886, New York, N.Y. 10101; 240 pp., $26.95 cloth, $16.95 paper). Findings of a study of nine independent colleges, focusing on the criteria by which the colleges select applicants and judge student success. Second report from the Personal Qualities Project, sponsored by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service.
Guides and Handbooks
Administrator’s Handbook for Improving Faculty Morale, by Loyd D. Andrew, David J. Parks, Lynda A. Nelson, and the Phi Delta Kappa Commission on Teacher/Faculty Morale (Phi Delta Kappa, Eighth St. and Union Ave., Box 789, Bloomington, Ind. 47402; 70 pp., $3.50). Reviews studies of teacher morale and offers a guide to morale-improvement practices school leaders can adopt.
Alcohol in America: Taking Action To Prevent Abuse, by Steve Olson in collaboration with Dean R. Gerstein (National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418; 125 pp., $9.95 paper). A guide for the general reader, emphasizing “preventive action"; recommends that school-based alcohol-education programs should “lower their sights” and concentrate on specific, short-range behavioral goals. Based on National Research Council reports.
The Beginning Teacher’s Resource Handbook, by Jane Bluestein (iss Publications, 160 Washington, S.E., Suite 64-C, Albuquerque, N.M. 87108; 397 pp., $27.95). A workbook-style guide for K-8 teachers, covering such areas as planning and organizing classes, collecting and recording data, managing behavior, setting up whole-group and small-group instruction, and working with principals, other staff members, and parents.
Peterson’s Guide to Colleges With Programs for Learning-Disabled Students, edited by Charles T. Mangrum 2nd and Stephen S. Strichart (Peterson’s Guides, Department 5710, P.O. Box 2123, Princeton, N.J. 08540; 314 pp., $13.95 paper, $2 shipping and handling). Profiles of 279 colleges and universities that offer such services as diagnostic testing, basic-skills remediation, tutoring, academic advisement, and auxiliary aids for students with learning disabilities.
