Three math and science educators examine how teaching and childraising practices, along with other factors, undermine young girls’ capacity for acquiring mathematics and science skills. The authors describe strategies and activities that teachers and parents can use to aid even very young girls in developing abstract-reasoning skills, independence, and “risk-taking” in solving math and science problems. The book suggests ways to reduce the effect of sex-role stereotyping and includes a list of other resources.
1982 Handbook of Private Schools, 63rd Edition, edited by the Porter Sargent staff (Porter Sargent Publishers Inc., 11 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 02108; 1,472 pages, $31).
Lists 1,800 private elementary and secondary boarding and day schools in the United States and their addresses. Includes for each entry the following information: a brief history of the school, curriculum offerings, enrollment, the size of the administration and faculty, tuition costs, scholarship aid, and special programs. In a separate section, 420 independent schools and summer programs provide their own descriptions of their programs. Includes photographs and illustrations.
Policy Making in Education: Eighty-first Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, by the Yearbook Commitee and Associated Contributors, edited by Ann Lieberman and Milbrey W. McLaughlin (distributed by The University of Chicago Press, 5801 South Ellis Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637; 303 pages, 15.00).
Sixteen university educators contribute their ideas on the meaning of educational policy and the forces that shape its development and implementation, from local, state, and federal systems to the courts and other social institutions. Elisabeth Hansot and David Tyack discuss the historical roots of education policy. Seymour B. Sarason and John Doris explore public policy toward the handicapped. Other contributors address the courts, federal-education policy, policy implications for teacher training, and school-improvement policy. The collection of 10 essays deals with conflict between theory and practice and examines the role of policy in different educational contexts.
School Administrator’s Encyclopedia, by P. Susan Mamchak and Steven R. Mamchak (Parker Publishing Company Inc., Prentice-Hall Inc., Old Tappan, N.J. 07675; 414 pages, $27.50).
A reference book that lists and describes nearly 500 topics related to school administration--from truancy and bilingual education to acknowledgement letters and educational associations. Entries are listed alphabetically; descriptions define the topic and discuss administrative actions related to it. The entry for “graffiti,” for example, decribes various ways of handling the problem among students.
The Students’ Right to Know, by Lee Burress and Edward B. Jenkinson (National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, Ill. 61801; 50 pages, paper $2.25, (NCTE members, $2.00).
Two university professors contend that intellectual freedom is essential to schooling and a part of students’ fundamental right to learn. They explore the roles that parents and local educators play in fostering public support of First Amendment freedoms, look at the selection process for books used in school libraries and curricula, and discuss ways to cope with the increasing number of attempts to censor school books. In addition, the authors advocate school materials-selection policies and suggest procedures for handling complaints.
Anne Bridgman
