Child Welfare and Social Issues
Children at Risk in America: History, Concepts, and Public Policy, ed. by Roberta Wollons (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246, $17.95 paper). Essays exploring the public-policy issues that surround the institutions--courts, schools, governmental agencies, advocacy organizations--that deal with children “at risk’’ for societal failures.
Communities That Care: Action for Drug Abuse Prevention, by J. David Hawkins & Richard F. Catalano Jr. (Jossey-Bass Inc., 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, Calif. 94104; 265 pp., $27.95 cloth). Drawing on communitywide prevention efforts in the United States and Europe, demonstrates how to mobilize communities, devise and employ educational strategies, promote voluntarism, and engage the mass media in campaigns to reduce adolescent drug use.
Education and the Environment: Learning To Live With the Limits, by Gregory A. Smith (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246; 185 pp., $12.95 paper). Argues that schools reflect and reinforce the society’s destructive materialism, and that changing what and how we teach can lead to positive change.
Hate Crime: Sourcebook for Schools, by Christina Bodinger-DeUriarte with Anthony R. Sancho (Research for Better Schools, 444 N. Third St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123-4107; 95 pp., $18.95 paper). Outlines the nature and incidence of hate crime and suggests resources schools can use to curtail it, including policies and procedures, student surveys, and curricular programs.
Positive Discipline: A Warm, Practical, Step-By-Step Sourcebook for Parents and Teachers, by Jane Nelsen (Sunrise Books, Tapes & Video, P.O. Box B, Provo, Utah 84603; 242 pp., $12.50 paper). Techniques for teaching children self-discipline, responsibility, problem-solving skills, and cooperation; covers topics such as the consequences and goals of misbehavior, how to provide encouragement, and developing mutual respect.
Early Childhood
Early Childhood Education: Policy Issues for the 1990’s, ed. by Dolores A. Stegelin (Ablex Publishing, 355 Chestnut St., Norwood, N.J. 07648; 225 pp., $24.50 paper). Education experts, including President Bill Clinton, discuss policy development at the state and national levels, policy issues surrounding child care, and early-childhood programs in the public schools.
Early Childhood Programs: Organization and Administration, by Cathy S. Jording, Michael Richardson, Jackson L. Flanigan (Technomic Publishing Company, 851 New Holland Ave., P.O. Box 3535, Lancaster, Pa. 17604; 248 pp., $29 paper). Divided into sections on day care and on preschool programs, this guide answers questions on development, regulations, and administrative, financial, enrollment, curriculum, staffing, and health-care considerations.
International Handbook of Early Childhood Education, ed. by Gary Woodhill, Judith Bernhard, & Lawrence Prochner (Garland Publishing, 717 Fifth Ave., Ste. 2500, New York, N.Y. 10022; 950 pp., $95 cloth). A first-of-its-kind reference work offering articles on early-childhood education around the world; covers preschool, primary, and early special education in 43 countries.
Ready for What? Constructing Meanings of Readiness for Kindergarten, by M. Elizabeth Graue (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246; 313 pp., $14.95 paper). Looks at school “readiness’’ as an idea constructed by teachers, parents, and children as they interact in their neighborhoods and communities, rather than as a commodity.
Shaping the Preschool Agenda: Early Literacy, Public Policy, and Professional Beliefs, by Anne McGill-Franzen (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246; 227 pp., $16.95 paper). Explores the current debate on what constitutes “school readiness,’' particularly in the areas of literacy, socialization, and cognition, and compares this discussion with previous attempts at reform in early-childhood education.
Curriculum and Methods
Assessing Sport Skills, by Bradford N. Strand & Rolayne Wilson (Human Kinetics Publishers, 1607 N. Market St., P.O. Box 5076, Champaign, Ill. 61825-5076; 164 pp., $22 paper). Provides advice on locating, selecting, constructing, and administering high-quality sport-skills tests for popular individual, dual, and team sports and activities, from aerobic dance to track and field.
Athletics in the Classroom: Fun Teaching, Fun Learning, by Walt Trask (Derivative Publications, P.O. Box 3427, Pasco, Wash. 99302; 96 pp., $8.95 plus $3 shipping, paper). Drawing on the success and popularity of athletic competition, suggests strategies for developing a “team-sport concept of learning,’' including eliminating classroom rotation, establishing standardized testing, and maximizing peer interaction.
Character Education, by Richard Beswick (Oregon School Study Council, 1787 Agate St., College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. 97403-5207; 45 pp., $6 plus $3 shipping, paper). Describes character-education programs across the nation, the elements of the curriculum, and policy issues surrounding the subject.
It’s All in Your Head: A Guide to Understanding Your Brain and Boosting Your Brain Power, by Susan L. Barrett (Free Spirit Publishing, 400 First Ave. North, Suite 616, Minneapolis, Minn. 55401; 150 pp., $9.95 paper). Features chapters on memory and learning; measuring intelligence; and how diet, sleep, and exercise affect the brain. Includes methods for sharpening thinking skills and brain-challenging contests and activities. Also available by the same author: It’s All in Your Head, A Teacher’s Guide.
Learning by All Means: Lessons From the Arts, by V.A. Howard (Peter Lang Publishing, 62 W. 45th St., New York, N.Y. 10036; 157 pp., $19.95 paper). Offers a philosophical interpretation of learning in all its major varieties, analyzing the various means by which the mind acquires skill and understanding.
Multimedia for Learning: Development, Application, Evaluation, ed. by Diane M. Gayeski (Educational Technology Publications, 700 Palisade Ave., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07632; 162 pp., $32.95 cloth). Experts discuss the issues that need addressing in the current move toward integrating technology into the schools; areas include evaluating systems for districtwide adoption, transferring curriculum and information, and getting the most out of the new technology.
Science Curriculum Resource Handbook: A Practical Guide for K-12 Science Curriculum (Kraus International Publications, 358 Saw Mill River Road, Millwood, N.Y. 10546-1035; 383 pp. $19.95 paper). Covers the major topics and themes, recommended science-curriculum guides, advice on designing and implementing a curriculum, textbook-adoption policies, and a resource list of publishers and video and lab suppliers.
Education Policy
Education and Work for the Year 2000: Choices We Face, by Arthur G. Wirth (Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers, 350 Sansome St., San Francisco, Calif. 94104; 232 pp., $26.95 cloth). Makes the case for a better-educated, more flexible workforce, and shows how the advent of technology has resulted in the need for a new system of management and learning--one that “draws upon and teaches skills in abstract thinking, experimental inquiry, and collaborative problem solving.’'
The Reform of Elementary School Education, by B. Frank Brown (Kreiger Publishing Co., P.O. Box 9542, Melbourne, Fla. 32902-9542; 208 pp., $18.50 cloth). An initiative designed to meet national economic, technological, and security needs, with an eye to demographics.
Schools of Quality: An Introduction to Total Quality Management in Education, by John Jay Bonstingl (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1250 N. Pitt St., Alexandria, Va. 22314-1403; 109 pp., $14.95 paper). Explains the 14 points of ôŸñŸíŸ and advocates its theory of continuous learning and improvement in place of current teaching and testing methods.
Smart Schools: From Training Memories to Educating Minds, by David Perkins (The Free Press, a division of Macmillan Inc., 866 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022; 262 pp., $22.95 cloth). The co-director of Harvard University’s Project Zero shows how the breakthroughs of both cognitive scientists and school anthropologists can be used to aid learning.
Transforming Middle Schools: A Guide to Whole-School Change, by Barry Raebeck (Technomic Publishing Co., 851 New Holland Ave., P.O. Box 3535, Lancaster, Pa. 17604; 188 pp., $35 paper). Outlines stratagies, systems, and procedures for genuine reform at the middle-grades level.
Parental Guides
Magic Kingdoms, Discovering the Joys of Childhood Classics With Your Child, by Regina Higgins (Simon & Schuster, 1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020; 220 pp., $20 cloth). Details the origins of such children’s classics as The Wind in the Willows and C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, providing insight into their larger meanings.
A Parent’s Guide to Innovative Education, by Anne Wescott Dodd (The Noble Press, 213 W. Institute Place, Ste. 508, Chicago, Ill. 60610; 288 pp., $12.95 paper). Puts forth “an agenda for helping children learn, from preschool through high school,’' which includes tips on teaching creative thinking and cooperation, enhancing self-esteem, and working within the school system to improve classroom teaching techniques.
Touchpoints: The Essential Reference, by T. Berry Brazelton (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Rt. 128, Reading, Mass. 01867; 470 pp., $22.95 cloth). One of the country’s best-known pediatricians answers, in a chronological format, questions about child behavior and development, from pregnancy through the 1st grade, and gives advice on successful parenting for children during these first years.
Professional Issues
Redesigning Teaching: Professionalism or Bureaucracy? by William A. Firestone & Beth Bader (State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246; 275 pp., $17.95 paper). Provides case studies of school districts implementing teacher reforms, describing the history and dynamics of each project; draws from these examples the challenges that must be met by state governments, school administrators, and teachers’ associations to truly professionalize teaching.
CaMaPe: An Organizational and Educational Systems Approach to Secondary School Development, by Mart Petri & Gina Burkhardt (The Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast & Islands, 300 Brickstone Sq., Ste. 900, Andover, Mass. 01810; 185 pp. $19.95 plus $2.50 shipping, paper). Adapted for U.S. schools from the work of Dutch researchers on different types of school organization and what each may imply for the process of change and reform.
