Child Development
Helping Children by Strengthening Families: A Look at Family Support Programs, by MaryLee Allen, Patricia Brown, & Belva Finlay (Children’s Defense Fund, 25 E St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001; 93 pp., $12.95 paper). Spotlights successful local and statewide child-development programs, making recommendations for federal, state, and community-level action to create more family-support programs; includes a contact list of family-support programs highlighted in the report.
Life’s Little Miseries: Helping Your Child With the Disasters of Everyday Life, by Diane Lynch-Fraser (Lexington Books, 866 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022; 246 pp., $19.95 cloth). Helps parents see their children’s problems the way their children see them, and offers steps and guidelines for resolving such “everyday disasters’’ as nightmares, peer pressure, and self-consciousness.
MegaSkills: In School and in Life: The Best You Can Give Your Child, by Dorothy Rich (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2 Park St., Boston, Mass. 02108; 360 pp., $22.95 cloth). Revised edition of a popular how-to book giving suggestions for teaching such values as responsibility, motivation, confidence, caring, and teamwork; includes new activities and responses from parents, teachers, and employers who have used the program.
They Can But They Don’t: Helping Students Overcome Work Inhibition, by Jerome Bruns (Viking Penguin, 375 Hudson St., New York, N.Y. 10014-3657; 228 pp., $20 cloth). Defines student work inhibition, a problem that may affect as many as one in five students, and uses case studies to illustrate methods for parents, teachers, and counselors to use to help boost self-sufficiency and build a more positive attitude toward schoolwork.
Curriculum and Methods
Breaking the Science Barrier: How To Explore and Understand the Sciences, by Sheila Tobias & Carl T. Tomizuka (The College Board, 45 Columbia Ave., New York, N.Y. 10023-6992; 161 pp., $14 plus $2.95 shipping fee, paper). Aimed at high school and beginning college students, explains the fundamentals of understanding science, giving an outline of what to expect from lectures, lab work, texts, and problem-solving activities in each discipline.
Calculators in Mathematics Education, ed. by James T. Fey (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1906 Association Dr., Reston, Va. 22091; 247 pp., $18 paper). Various authors address the impact and the potential of using calculators to teach mathematics; focus is on new technical developments and how they can aid in various classroom tasks.
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children, by Gladys S. Blizzard (Thomasson-Grant, 1 Morton Dr., Charlottesville, Va. 22901; 32 pp., $13.95 cloth). Introduces youngsters to 12 landscape paintings, each accompanied by a brief biography of the artist and several teacher-guide questions for class discussion.
Exploratory Problems in Mathematics, by Frederick W. Stevenson (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1906 Association Dr., Reston, Va. 22091; 168 pp., $16 paper). Includes a collection of 60 “open ended’’ problems for students from 8th grade through college, with guidelines on how to get started with the problems.
The Golden Relationship: Art, Math & Nature, Vol. 2, The Surface Plane, by Martha Boles & Rochelle Newman (Pythagorean Press, P.O. Box 162, Bradford, Mass. 01835-0162; 292 pp., $32.95 paper). Presents an interdisciplinary approach to the study or art and mathematics that relates both to the natural world.
Picture Books for Looking and Learning: Awakening Visual Perceptions Through the Art of Children’s Books, by Sylvia S. Marantz (The Oryx Press, 4041 N. Central at Indian School Rd., Phoenix, Ariz. 85012; 216 pp., $24.50 paper). Analyzes the artwork contained in more than 50 award-winning picture books, giving teachers and librarians suggestions on how to discuss the art with students.
Sexuality and the Curriculum: The Policies and Practices of Sexuality Education, ed. by James T. Sears (Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Ave., New York, N.Y. 10027; 384 pp., $21.95 paper). Essays by curriculum scholars and developers, sex-education specialists, and sex-equity experts explore the “hidden’’ curriculum of sexuality from kindergarten through college.
Educational Policy
How Do We Get the Graduates We Want? A View From the Firing Lines, ed. by Lewis C. Solmon & Katherine Nouri Hughes (Praeger Publishers, 1 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010; 168 pp., $37.95 cloth). Teachers and administrators who have been recognized for exemplary contributions to their profession present practical approaches to teaching moral development, meeting the needs of diverse student populations, attracting high-quality teachers, and collaborating with business and universities.
How To Change to a Nongraded School, by Madeleine Hunter (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1250 N. Pitt St., Alexandria, Va. 22314-1403; 74 pp., $6.95). The author, a professor of education at the University of California at Los Angeles, describes the nongraded method developed by her school, from designing curriculum to preparing teachers and parents.
Publication Sources in Educational Leadership, by Michael D. Richardson & Robert L. Prickett (Technomic Publishing Company, 851 New Holland Ave., P.O. Box 3535, Lancaster, Pa. 17604; 103 pp., $29 paper). Lists more than 300 international journals for publishing education articles, providing contact information, and tips for getting education information published.
Student Motivation, School Culture, and Academic Achievement: What School Leaders Can Do, by Ron Renchler (åòéã Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education, University of Oregon, 1787 Agate St., Eugene, Ore. 97403; 22 pp., $6 paper). Offers an overview of recent studies of motivation as it operates at both the organizational and individual levels, especially in an educational context.
Thirteen Questions: Reframing Education’s Conversation, ed. by Joe L. Kincheloe and Shirley R. Steinberg (Peter Lang Publishing, 62 W. 45th St., New York, N.Y. 10036; 301 pp., $29.95 paper). Essays collected as a response to Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind survey the country’s education system and provide answers to such problem areas as discipline, curriculum, teacher education, and dealing with the effects of race, class, and religion.
