An eight-year decline in the number of high-school students reporting an interest in education as a career has ended, according to a recent analysis of information collected from the college-bound students who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test last year.
Out of 29 curricular areas, 4.6 percent of the students selected education, making it the sixth most popular career option, the College Board’s annual report, “College Bound Seniors, 1984,” indicates. Students’ number-one choice was business (19.1 percent), followed by health and medical professions (15.1 percent), engineering (12 percent), computer science (9.7 percent), and social science (7.3 percent).
Among students selecting education as a career choice, the most popular area was elementary education, followed by physical education and child development.
Most of those expressing an interest in education as a career--nearly 80 percent--were female.
Based on the number of times the studies of professors at schools of education are cited by other educators, a researcher at the University of Colorado has ranked schools of education in the United States.
The top 10 schools are: the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, Northwestern University, the University of California at Los Angeles, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Oregon, and the University of Minnesota.
The “citation rate,” or the frequency with which an author’s work is cited by his or her peers, is “a simple and appealing method for judging scholarly work,” Richard J. Kroc writes in “Using Citation Analysis to Assess Scholarly Productivity.”
Although Mr. Kroc cautions that citation analysis “is not immune to error or criticism,” he adds that it “may be the best means available for assessing scholarly productivity.”
Mr. Kroc’s research findings appeared in the summer issue of the Educational Researcher.
The first step toward effective classroom management is to “clearly define classroom procedures and routines,” according to a recently published research brief called “5 Ways to Manage a Classroom.”
The brief is based upon research supported by the National Institute of Education and conducted primarily by the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas.
The brief also recommends that teachers:
Plan ahead. “A teacher needs to have a clear idea of what is to be taught and how it is to be taught,” the paper states.
Instruct students in classroom procedures and routines.
Monitor student behavior.
Handle inappropriate behavior promptly and consistently.
For a copy of the brief, write or phone Laurie Maxwell or Kay McKinney at the nie, 1200 19th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20208; (202) 254-7900.--cc
