Minitab Menus-Do They Help or Hinder?

A comparison of the levels of difficulty experienced by students in the use of Minitab through its menu interface and its command language showed no advantavge in using the menus.     

Written language of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in public schools

We obtained data on the writing of 110 deaf or hard-of-hearing students attending public schools who completed the spontaneous writing portion of the Test of Written Language. The average written quotient for the sample was in the below-average range but within 1 standard deviation of the test mean. Forty-nine percent of the sample received written quotients within or above the average range. Mean scores for the three subtests of contextual conventions, contextual language, and story construction were within the low-average range; between 55% and 68% of students scored within the average or above-average range for the subtests. Predictors of writing quotients were eligibility for free lunch, grade, degree of hearing loss and gender; however, only 18% of the variance in total writing quotients was explained by these variables. The data indicate that attention needs to be paid to the writing ability and instruction of many public-school students regardless of degree of hearing loss.     

Models of shared leadership: Evolving structures and relationships

This article explores potential changes in the power relationships among teachers and principals under four emerging forms of structured teacher involvement in schoolwide decision making: Instructional Leadership Teams, Principals' Advisory Councils, School Improvement Teams, and Lead Teacher Committees. Each organizational model is described in terms of its purpose, its operation, the role of teachers and the principal, and its potential impact on teacher leadership and empowerment. A conceptual framework that views organizational power in terms of access to resources and the ability to obtain cooperation from other actors (Kanter, 1979) is utilized to gauge potential changes in the power of principal and teacher roles under each of these emerging models. The conceptual analysis suggests that models seeking to empower teachers and improve student learning must provide for increased interaction among teachers in curricular and instructional decision making.Presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, April 1988.     

Just pretending

The appeal of fantasy is universal. Adults as well as children enjoy escaping the bonds of reality. For us as adults these flights of fantasy are usually short-lived, but for young children they are a way of life. This article focuses on structured activities for the classroom with ways to help children grow through imaginative play.This article is excerpted from the bookJust Pretending available from Mailman Family Press, 707 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604.     

Where are the quantum jumps in quality assurance?

The author reviews developments in publications on quality assurance of education in (European) higher education over the last decade. The metaphor of sub-atomic structure is used to order the literature in types ('shells') of similar publications, moving from those closely related with the practice of quality assurance methods to more theoretical publications. Some seminal publications are highlighted as 'quantum jumps'. The article ends by noting some recent trends in quality assurance at the system and institutional levels, as well as mentioning theoretically interesting developments, notably the emergence of neo-institutional approaches.     

The Changing Corporate Mind: Organizations,Vision, Missions,Purposes, and Indicators on the Move Toward Societal Payoffs

Where are the world's organizations headed? What do they see as their primary destination and contribution? What do they commit to deliver and to whom? How rigorous are they in defining their destinations? What label do they use to describe statements of their intended future? To find the answers to these and other questions, we examined 26 of the leading organizations internationally as well as 60 leading organizations in the United States. Based on this sample of world organizations, we found indications that many organizations see some aspect of societal good as basic to their future, while many others regard their own organization's well-being as what is most important. We find no clear favorite for what organizations label their statements of purpose: most use “mission” while some use “vision,” and some use “values” or “philosophy.” Few of the organizations in our sample state their intended destination in measurable performance terms. From these data, we discuss the implications in terms of an increasing emphasis in the literature on organizations having to deliver outputs that contribute to external clients and society. We also note that purpose statements must be accompanied by appropriate actions to achieve those intentions. In addition, we discuss how this move toward socially-responsive organizations is impacting the role of the performance technologist.