THE TEACHING OF JEWISH MUSIC

This article deals with a recurrent situation in congregational schools, in which parents lobby for a reduction in the number of days per week of instruction. Following two similar studies by Joseph Reimer, the article utilizes the theoretical construct of a “social drama” as a frame for the recounting and analysis of a recent occurrence of this conflict at Kehillat Lomdim. In contrast to the cases brought by Reimer, this congregation convened a task force to study the underlying educational issues related to Hebrew instruction; the task force arrived at a decision that was both educationally sound and satisfying to both sides of the debate.     

‘Get real – we can't afford kindergarten’: a study of parental perceptions of early years services

The Australian Early Childhood Universal Access Agreement stipulates all children three and a half years of age and older access to 15 hours of a quality early childhood education programme. While most states and territories in Australia have a 90% or higher attendance rate, in 2010, in Queensland the attendance rate was a comparative 40%. This study explores parental perceptions of barriers to early years services in Queensland, Australia. Using content analysis, it explores comments from an online forum with 65 self-selected participants. Findings provide important insights for policy-makers interested in improving the quality of, access to, and participation in, early childhood education. Parents perceived the cost, limited number of places and small hours of kindergarten as the main barriers to accessing quality early childhood care in Queensland. Furthermore, they questioned the actual necessity of kindergarten programmes. Therefore, if the goal is to improve kindergarten attendance rates, it is important to gain an understanding of the reported perceived barriers in order to reduce these in the future.     

Regulatory autonomy and performance: the reform of higher education re-visited

The main aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding of organizational autonomy and control in higher education reform and related expectations as regards the performance of universities. Our analyses draws on principal-agent models as a normative theory of policy reform, and institutionalist approaches in public policy and institutional design as an analytical theory of policy reform. We discuss how the dominant narrative of political reform moves away from traditional beliefs in university autonomy that are built on institutional trust and linked to professional autonomy. In the emerging narrative of political change, autonomy becomes re-defined as the ‘new organizational autonomy’ of universities as both strategic actors and as an addressee of governmental control. The concept of ‘regulatory autonomy’ captures the use of organizational autonomy of universities as a tool of a new regime of governmental control. Exemplified by the Dutch case, we analyze autonomy policies for strengthening managerial discretion and internal control of universities that are combined with regulatory policies for external control that steer organizational choices. Regulatory autonomy thus aims at aligning universities more closely with governmental goals and improve respective performance. Our literature review shows, however, that there is scarce, inconclusive and methodologically problematic evidence for a link between ‘organizational autonomy and performance’. We point at promising avenues for further research on autonomy and performance as two core concepts in the contemporary higher education debate.     

On Establishing Norms in a Large City System

This article reports a study using the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16 PF) and grade point average as predictors of performance in a performance-based teacher education course. While the results of the study established statistical significance for the use of the developed regression model, practical significance is limited. These results are consistent with other research and lead to suggestions for using a different technique in predicting performance of candidates.     

Utilization of Analogies to Teach Critical Thinking Skills

The question is no longer whether American industry and technology can successfully compete with the Japanese–at present, it is evident that we cannot. At stake is the very survival of our national economic well-being as we move from a post-industrial economy to a high technology model. For education, the issue is whether we can learn from the Japanese and, in doing so, improve the quality and productivity of American education.     

Communication

“MR. LORD” An Appreciation of Miss Isabel McKinney's Biography of a Master-Teacher

THE YEARS By Virginia Woolf An Appreciational Review by Florence K. Johnston

The Honeysuckle and the Bee. By Sir John Squire. E. P. Dutton and Company. 282 pp. $3.00.

The Private Letters of Princess Lieven. Edited by Peter Quennell. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc. 376 pp. $3.75.

A First Course in Statistics: Their Use and Interpretation in Education and Psychology. By E. F. Lindquist. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 226 pp. $2.25.

Study Manual for a First Course in Statistics. By E. F. Lindquist. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 122 pp. $.80.

America Yesterday and America Today. By Roy F. Nichols, William C. Bagley, and Charles A. Beard. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company. 415 pp. each. $1.40, each.

An Introduction to Progressive Education. By Samuel Engle Burr. The C. A. Gregory Company, 345 Calhoun Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. 84 pp. $.50.

Educational Psychology. By Noel B. Cuff. The Standard Printing Company, Inc., Louisville, Kentucky. 387 pp. $2.50.

Child Guidance Procedures: Methods and Techniques Employed at the Institute for Juvenile Research. By The Staff of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Paul L. Schroeder, Director. D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc. 345 pp. $2.50.

Elementary Practical Physics. By Newton Henry Black and Harvey Nathaniel Davis. The Macmillan Company. 710 pp. $2.00.

Guide to High School Biology. By Edna Craig and George K. Stone. The Macmillan Company. 146 pp. $.96.

High School Biology. By Ralph C. Benedict, Warren W. Knox, and George K. Stone. Illustrated. The Macmillan Co. 724 pp. $2.00.

How to Teach. By Claude C. Crawford. Southern California School Book Depository, Los Angeles, California. 501 pp. $2.50.

Humanized Geometray: An Introduction to Thinking. By J. Herbert Blackhurst. The University Press, 26th and University Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. 272 pp. $1.33.

Personal and Social Adjustment. By Willis L. Uhl and Francis F. Powers. Illustrated. The Macmillan Company. 475 pp. $1.40.

Problems in American Democracy. By S. Howard Patterson, A. W. Selwyn Little, and Henry Reed Burch. The Macmillan Company. 726 pp. $1.88.

Reorganizing the Social Studies. By Vernon B. Hampton. The John Willig Press, Stapleton, New York. 91 pp. $1.25.

Secretarial Assistance in Teachers Colleges and Normal Schools. By Luther Jordan Bennett. Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York. 86 pp. $1.60.

Social Interpretation: Principles and Practices of Community and Public School Interpretation. By Arthur B. Moehlman. D. Appleton-Century Company. 485 pp. $3.00.

The Progress Arithmetics. By Philip A. Boyer, W. Walker Cheyney and Holman White. Book E. Accompanied by a Teacher's Manual. The Macmillan Company. 189 pp. and 29 pp. $.48.

The Student Editor. By James W. Mann. The Macmillan Company. 149 pp. $1.00.

A Mighty Fortress. By Le Grand Cannon, Jr. Farrar and Rinehart. 336 pp. $2.50.

Grass on the Mountain. By Henry and Sylvia Lieferant. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc. 443 pp. $2.50.

Robinson of England. By John Drinkwater. Illustrated by J. H. Dowd. The Macmillan Company. 326 pp. $2.50.

The Hush-Hush Murders. By Margaret Taylor Yates. The Macmillan Company. 344 pp. $2.00.

The Wooden Spoon. By Wyn Griffith. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 318 pp. $2.50.

Time Piece. By Naomi Jacob. The Macmillan Company. 352 pp. $2.50.

Victoria Four-Thirty. By Cecil Roberts. The Macmillan Company. 364 pp. $2.50.

The Concept of Morals. By W. T. Stace. The Macmillan Company. 307 pp. $2.50.

Differential Psychology. By Anne Anastasi. The Macmillan Company. 615 pp. $2.00.

In the Name of Common Sense. By Matthew N. Campbell. The Macmillan Co. 192 pp. $1.75.

Earth-Lore: Geology Without Jargon. By S. J. Shand. Illustrated. E. P. Dutton and Company. 144 pp. $1.25.

Living Safely. By Earl C. Bowman and Paul F. Boston. The Macmillan Company. 177 pp. $.52.     

Learning in and for cross‐school working

In this study we report some of the outcomes of a study of professional learning that took place in cross school partnerships as they worked towards promoting creativity in schools. The methodology developed by Engeström and his colleagues at The Centre for Developmental Work Research in Helsinki was adopted. This form of intervention involves the preparation and facilitation of workshops in which the underlying structural contradictions that are in play in emergent activities are highlighted and articulated in such a way that participants may engage with what may otherwise remain hidden and unexamined tensions. This approach is based on the writings of the early 20th‐century Russian school of social scientists—Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev. A principal claim is that the development of creativity requires tools and contexts for such innovatory forms of practice. This study suggests that this claim is a partial representation of the development of creative activity.     

发展中国家高等教育的公平效应:入学机会、选择权与就读持续性

几乎所有国家的高等教育都面临着困境,发展中国家尤甚。随着发展中国家中学毕业人数的日益增加,国民经济水平的进一步提高,民众对高等教育的需求也大幅增长。因此,高等教育规模扩张对其公平性提出了更高的要求,具体表现为增加学生的入学机会、为学生提供更多的选择权,同时鼓励学生连续就读以完成学位,实现高等教育的真正公平。