(1978). Education and the Brain. Fastback 108. The split brain theory states that the right hemishpere of the brain controls intuitive, holistic, and simultaneous operations (such as creative imagining) and the left hemisphere controls linear, sequential, and verbal operations (such as reading and calculating). This booklet summarizes current brain research and examines its implications for educators seeking a balanced curriculum that does not neglect activities controlled by the right hemisphere and over-emphasize those controlled by the left. Among the topics discussed are the following: the need for Western culture to develop the holistic mode of thinking; ways to balance curricula through the use of curricula through the use of right hemisphere courses on such subjects as art, music, and drama; the need for new processes of student evaluation that measure children who are oriented visually and metaphorically but not verbally; and strategies for balanced instruction in each of the content areas. Finally, an overview of the… [PDF]
(1990). University Commission on Human Relations: Focusing on Racism & Other Forms of Discrimination. Final Report. Volume I: Report of the Commission. The University Commission on Human Relations of San Francisco State University was appointed to study how the campus community deals with human relations, focusing on issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or religion. The study involved: three surveys taken of students, faculty, and staff/administrators; public hearings; confidential testimony; a literature review; documentation of campus activities and visuals; and examination of university policies and procedures. This volume of the seven volume report covers: study organization, planning, and data collection; a summary of the findings; recommendations; and a bibliography of 24 resources. Ten general recommendations and 24 issue-specific recommendations are offered, in addition to recommendations offered in issue group reports. The recommendations concern: establishment of an Office for Human Relations; workshops on ethnic, cultural, and social diversity; relevant curriculum and degree requirements;…
(1981). Productivity: The View of a Private Human Resources Contractor. Military training parallels vocational education in that both systems are preparing students for specific jobs, and both systems are concerned with the productivity of that training, i.e., how effective training is. A private human resource contractor provided training help to the Army for two programs: TRAINFIRE, in which the contractor provided curriculum-development support; and SHOCKACTION, a curriculum-development effort in which the contractor provided an entire program of instruction. Through the development of these programs, the contractor evolved a model the company calls the "systems engineering approach to curriculum development." This model consists of seven steps: (1) develop human factors systems analysis model; (2) develop job model; (3) specify knowledges and skills; (4) determine instructional objectives; (5) construct training program; (6) develop proficiency test; and (7) evaluate training program. This seven-step model can be used by vocational…
(2006). Getting Serious About Student Success: High School-College Alignment. College and University, v81 n2 p49-50 Fall. The efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's human capital pipeline has become a prime area of focus in the policy arena, spurred on by international data that show the U.S. lagging in high school and college completion. For policymakers, education leaders, and even students and parents, it is becoming increasingly clear that the transition between secondary and postsecondary education remains a \dead zone,\ a place where confusion reigns and dreams die. The high school-college handoff leaves too many students underprepared– or even unprepared–for what's next, which in turn leads to remediation and attrition. Sealing the cracks in our educational pipeline and thus boosting student success rates means addressing a combination of financial, social, and academic factors. Of these, it is the academic dimension, specifically, the alignment of curricula and standards, that is at once the most intractable and ripest for change. In this article, the author contends that, in order to… [Direct]
(2000). The State of the World's Children, 2000. Profiling the lives of children around the world at the end of the 20th century, this report calls on the international community to undertake the urgent actions necessary to realize the rights of every child. Part 1 of the report summarizes the progress made over the last decade in meeting the goals established at the 1990 World Summit for Children and in keeping faith with the ideals of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This section also discusses four obstacles to full human development: HIV/AIDS, armed conflict and violence, increasing poverty, and gender discrimination. The section argues that intergenerational patterns of poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination can be broken in a single generation through early childhood care, quality education, and participation of adolescents in ensuring children's rights. The section invites leaders to a broad-based international alliance committed to realizing the rights of women and children. Part 2 of the report contains…
(1983). Being Human: A Resource Guide in Human Growth and Development for the Developmentally Disabled. The resource guide is intended to help practitioners develop curricula in human growth and development for developmentally disabled students. A matrix guide is presented for evaluating clients in three domains (social identity, health and hygiene, and physiological identity). Behavioral indicators are then noted which relate to adaptive behaviors associated with psychosexual development. The next three sections list available information for training in the areas of social identity (such as relationships, decisionmaking, legal rights), physiological identity (including physical maturation, aging, pregnancy), and health and hygiene (nutrition, exercises, disease). Additional resources are provided along with a bibliography and publishers' list. (CL)…
(1980). Community Education Competencies. Competencies considered to be essential to the community school district superintendent, the education coordinator, school principals and superintendents, and the community education director are examined. High priority is given to those qualities the community has a right to expect from its educational leaders. Competencies in the areas of public relations, program planning, research and evaluation, funding, and policy implementation are identified as they relate to the role of each of these leaders in community education. Throughout this discussion, emphasis is placed on the concept of community leadership as stewardship of all human and material resources of the community. (JD)…
(2005). Towards an Ethics of Engagement in Education in Global Times. Australian Journal of Education, v49 n3 p238-250 Nov. Starting from the observation that patterns of educational inequality are widely known but largely invisible in public debates on education, this article argues for the importance of an ethics of education which challenges simple acceptance of \things as they are\. It suggests possibilities for working with discourses of ethics, rights and citizenship in contingent and strategic ways, and argues for the importance of engaging ethically across difference in current global times. It proposes three interrelated dimensions for an ethics of engagement in education: an ethics of commitment to intellectual rigour; an ethics of civility; and an inter-human ethics of care…. [Direct]
(2005). Advocacy by Children as a Causal Factor in Promoting Resilience. Childhood: A Global Journal of Child Research, v12 n4 p527-538. This theoretical article suggests that advocacy \by\ children promotes their resilience and positive self-conception. The psychological benefits of such advocacy by the child are distinguished from mental health interventions where the child is generally viewed as a passive participant and \deficient\ in critical ways. Evidence is presented concerning children who have faced great adversity to illustrate the link between advocacy by children and resilience. Children's right to contribute to the preservation of their human dignity and welfare through their own advocacy is highlighted. The role of professionals in supporting children's advocacy efforts is also addressed…. [Direct]
(2001). Office for Civil Rights Fiscal Year 2000 Annual Report to Congress. Guaranteeing Equal Access to High-Standards Education. The mission of the Office for Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to a high-quality education for all students through the vigorous enforcement of civil rights. This report outlines the legal responsibilities and goals of the organization and shows how these were met in the year 2000. There are explanations of how the agency provides educational policy guidance, how it resolves formal complaints and provides information that can lead to less formal resolutions of problems, how it prioritizes activities, how it measures its productivity, and how it has formed strategies to meet its goals. High-priority activities included racial harassment and discipline issues of Native American students, higher education desegregation, magnet-school assistance programs, equal opportunity in vocational education, and a postsecondary racial harassment initiative. In addition, an urban initiative addressed civil rights for students in large East Coast cities, a civil-rights survey of all public… [PDF]
(1995). Child Welfare Programs. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means. House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth Congress, First Session. This hearing examined whether federal child welfare and foster care programs could be streamlined to better help children, focusing on the efficacy of section 427 of the 1980 Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act, which requires states to report on compliance with 18 separate child protection strategies. Testimony regarding the streamlining or elimination of section 427 was heard from: (1) Assistant Secretary Mary Jo Bane, Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; (2) New Jersey Department of Human Services; (3) National Fatherhood Initiative; (4) Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services; (5) Cook County Office of Public Guardian; (6) Karen Aileen Howze, an adoptive parent; (7) American Civil Liberties Union; (8) Child Welfare League of America; (9) Children's Rights Council; (10) Brigitte Berger, a sociology professor; (11) Maryland Citizen Foster Care Review Board; and (12) National Association of Foster Care Reviewers. Written… [PDF]
(2001). Connecticut Curriculum Trace Maps: History/Social Studies. These Connecticut Curriculum Trace Maps are designed to help curriculum developers and teachers translate Connecticut's K-12 history and social studies performance standards into objectives and classroom practice. The Trace Maps provide detailed descriptions of what students should know and be able to do at smaller grade level clusters, K-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12. The elements in the Trace Maps are designed to lead students to attain the Connecticut standards for each discipline. The standards cited in the History/Social Studies Trace Map deal with: (1) historical thinking; (2) local, United States, and world history; (3) historical themes; (4) applying history; (5) United States Constitution and government; (6) rights and responsibilities of citizens; (7) political systems; (8) international relations; (9) places and regions; (10) physical system; (11) human systems; (12) human and environmental interaction; (13) limited resources; (14) economic systems; and (15) economic… [PDF]
(1994). Enhancing 360-Degree Feedback for Senior Executives. How To Maximize the Benefits and Minimize the Risks. Intended primarily for human resources managers who are responsible for the development of executives, this paper lays out the potential advantages and hazards of enhanced feedback. It first looks at enhanced feedback and its rationale in detail. Four sources of data are described: numerical ratings and verbatim comments; data from the workplace and from personal life; data on behavior and motivation; and data on the present and on early history. The next section provides evidence and examples of potential benefits and risks. The section that follows suggests guidelines for making safe and effective use of enhanced feedback. Certain dictates of good practice to be followed are outlined, including the following: choosing a service provider with a competent, constructive staff; selecting the right participants; and tiding the participants/executives through the unsettled period during which they receive a heavy dose of feedback. Guidelines for use by the participant's human resource…
(1967). Issues in Human Development: An Inventory of Problems, Unfinished Business and Directions for Research. The papers presented at the Symposium on Issues in Human Development in Philadelphia, November 1967, are collected in this document. Included are lengthy extracts from the discussion. Participants at the conference were from the biologic and social sciences. The goal of the conference was not so much to reveal answers to problems as to make sure the right questions were being asked, in the hope that the ultimate answers might serve as guides to social and political action. The seven parts into which the conference was divided emphasized these aspects of human development: earliest influences; physical and chemical growth and development; socialization in early childhood; cognition and learning; adolescence; the city; institutions, economics and the law. All of the papers are timely; some were freshly updated before this publication. The issues discussed present the need for study and research, and for community action that will help children to live creative and productive lives…. [PDF]
(2007). Trial-by-Trial Analysis or Averaging: Implications for Electromyographic Models of Rapid Limb Control. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, v78 n4 p307-317 Sep. The control of human limb movement has been the focus of research for more than a century. A major issue to emerge from this work is the manner in which the central nervous system regulates electromyographic (EMG) activity to produce movements that differ in distance, velocity, and movement time. However, the different methods of analysis often used to analyze EMG data could result in different kinematic-EMG relationships. In this study, participants performed an elbow flexion task to one of five distance goals (between 5[degrees] and 50[degrees]) using three movement speeds. EMG data from the right elbow flexors were compared using a trial-by-trial analysis and one based on averaged data. Averaging across trials underestimated biceps EMG amplitude at all movement distances and speeds compared to a trial-by-trial analysis. Averaging overestimated EMG burst duration compared to the trial-by-trial analysis. Peak agonist EMG amplitude was positively related to distance and inversely… [PDF]