Curriculum and Methods
At-Risk, Low-Achieving Students in the Classroom, by Judy Brown Lehr and Hazel Wiggins Harris (National Education Association Professional Library, P.O. Box 509, West Haven, Conn. 06516; 104 pp., $12.95 paper). “The key ingredient in successful programs for at-risk students ... is the attitude of the classroom teacher,” write the authors, who describe characteristics of such students and recommend methods for involving them in learning.
Creating Classrooms for Authors: The Reading-Writing Connection, by Jerome C. Harste and Kathy G. Short, with Carolyn Burke et al. (Heinemann Educational Books Inc., 70 Court St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801; 403 pp., $22.50 paper). A curricular framework for organizing activities to help children relate reading and writing to reasoning and learning.
Education’s Great Amnesia: Reconsidering the Humanities From Petrarch to Freud, With a Curriculum for Today’s Students, by Robert E. Proctor (Indiana University Press, 10th and Morton Sts., Bloomington, Ind. 47405; 231 pp., $25 cloth). The classical humanities are dead, asserts the author. But rather than bemoan the disappearance of this tradition, he says, “we should see its passing as a liberation and as an opportunity for us to appropriate the past in new ways.”
Flexible Pacing for Able Learners, by Neil Daniel and June Cox (Council for Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Dr., Reston, Va. 22091; 119 pp., $12.50 paper, $10 for cec members). Through descriptions of successful programs, the authors promote educational options accommodating differences in learning styles and allowing students to move forward in the curriculum as they master content and skills.
Homework Without Tears for Teachers: Grades 4-6, by Lee Canter & Associates (Lee Canter & Associates, P.O. Box 2113, Santa Monica, Calif. 90406; 129 pp., $9.95 paper). Along with suggestions for developing appropriate assignments and teaching students to complete them responsibly, this guide offers lesson plans and ideas to motivate students.
Improving Learning: New Perspectives, edited by Paul Ramsden (Nichols Publishing, 155 West 72nd St., New York, N.Y. 10023; 289 pp., $34.50 cloth). With particular attention to the study of science, technology, and medicine, 21 educators contend in the essays collected here that changing students’ conceptions of subject matter and the world around them is central to learning.
Moving Towards Theatre: Story Theatre Activities for Children, by Michael R. Malkin and Pamela Malkin (Front Row Experience, 540 Discovery Bay Blvd., Byron, Calif. 94514; 98 pp., $8.95 paper). A visual and movement-based approach to teaching theater to children.
Teaching Students To Teach Themselves, by Crawford W. Lindsey Jr. (Nichols Publishing, 155 West 72nd St., New York, N.Y. 10023; 162 pp., $21.50 paper). A former teacher argues that students should take an active part in educating themselves and assessing their own work.
The Word for Teaching Is Learning: Essays for James Britton, edited by Martin Lightfoot and Nancy Martin, in association with the National Association for the Teaching of English (Heinemann Educational Books Inc., 70 Court St., Portsmouth, N.H. 03801; 300 pp., $17.50 paper). In this collection of essays inspired by James Britton’s Language and Learning, 28 contributors examine the social and cooperative uses of language in learning.
History of Education
Changing Habits: A Memoir of the Society of the Sacred Heart, by VV Harrison (Doubleday, 666 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10103; 254 pp., $18.95 cloth). The author’s recollections of her days as a student in one of the society’s schools are interwoven with the history of a religious order long prominent in Catholic education.
The Politics of Federal Reorganization: Creating the U.S. Education Department, by Beryl A. Radin and Willis D. Hawley (Pergamon Press, Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, N.Y. 10523; 252 pp., $32.50 cloth, 14.95 paper). A narrative account of the forces that shaped the department, based on interviews, published articles and other written materials, and the authors’ experiences.
Public Schools and Private Education: The Clarendon Commission, 1861-64, and the Public Schools Acts, by Colin Shrosbree (Manchester University Press, distributed in the U.S. by St. Martin’s Press, Room 400, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010; 246 pp., $55 cloth). Studies the social, economic, and political forces that led to the privatization of schools founded by public endowments and established the principle that “secondary education in England was a privilege to be paid for.”
Sunday School: The Formation of an American Institution, 1790-1880, by Anne M. Boylan (Yale University Press, 92A Yale Station, New Haven, Conn. 06520; 225 pp., $26.50 cloth). Drawing on the records of the American Sunday School Union, teachers’ diaries, Sunday-school periodicals, and children’s literature, the author traces the evolution of the American Sunday school and examines its relationship to local common schools.
Handbooksand Reference Works
Dollarwise Guide to American Colleges, prepared by the College Research Group of Concord, Mass. (Arco Publishing, Simon & Schuster Inc., Gulf and Western Building, One Gulf and Western Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10023; 483 pp., $12.95 paper). Describes approximately 230 colleges offering “the best educational values"; includes a price index and an overview of trends in financial aid.
Handbook for Developing Public Confidence in Schools, by William W. Wayson, Charles Achilles, Gay Su Pinnell, et al., and the Phi Delta Kappa Commission for Developing Confidence in Schools (Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Eighth St. and Union Ave., P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, Ind. 47402-0789; 135 pp., $5 paper). Identifies and analyzes characteristics of schools that inspire public confidence.
Kister’s Concise Guide to Best Encyclopedias, by Kenneth F. Kister (Oryx Press, 2214 North Central at Encanto, Phoenix, Ariz. 85004; 108 pp., $15 paper). Briefly describes and evaluates 33 general and 187 specialized encyclopedias.
Lovejoy’s College Guide for the Learning Disabled, 2nd edition, edited by Charles T. Straughn 2nd (Monarch Press, Simon & Schuster Inc., Gulf and Western Building, One Gulf and Western Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10023; 163 pp., $12.95 paper). Describes approximately 270 colleges offering special services.
The Selection and Use of Instructional Media: For Improved Classroom Teaching and for Interactive, Individualized Instruction, 2nd edition, by A.J. Romiszowski (Nichols Publishing, 155 West 72nd St., New York, N.Y. 10023; 396 pp., $41.50 cloth). Suggests a systematic procedure for selecting and using new information technologies, and considers their long-term implications for educators and students.
Something About the Author Autobiography Series, Vol. 6, edited by Joyce Nakamura (Gale Research Inc., Book Tower, Detroit, Mich. 48226; 372 pp., $68 cloth). Autobiographical essays by 17 authors and illustrators of books for young people.
Value Search: Instructional Leadership, (eric Clearinghouse on Educational Management, University of Oregon, 1787 Agate St., Eugene, Ore. 97403-5207; 94 pp., $7.50 paper). Listings of recent journal articles and research reports on instructional leadership.
Other Resources
“Does aids Hurt?": Educating Young Children About aids, by Marcia Quackenbush and Sylvia Villarreal (Network Publications, P.O. Box 1830, Santa Cruz, Calif. 95061-9979; 149 pp., $14.95 paper). Designed for parents and educators of children in grades K-4, this guide includes sample discussions and answers to commonly asked questions.
Planning Educational Systems: A Results-Based Approach, by Roger Kaufman (Technomic Publishing Company Inc., 851 New Holland Ave., Box 3535, Lancaster, Pa. 17604; 213 pp., $35 cloth). The planning model proposed in this volume is based on a conception of educators as “managers’’ of the learning process.
