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With regard to the preceding articles in this issue, Joseph F. Dominic identifies key ideas of the research on writing, Susan Florio-Ruane points out similarities and differences among the articles, and Nancy L. Stein discusses methodological and conceptual issues in writing research. (RH)

A Chicana teacher describes the approaches and philosophies that assist her in being highly successful with language-minority students, providing practical applications of theory for working with these students. Also describes how the teacher supported the professional development of novice teachers working language-minority students. (HTH)

Notes the difficulty of sorting out the root cause of poor test performance by Spanish-speaking students, and the scarcity of demonstrably effective solutions. Illustrates these difficulties by discussing low English academic engagement by limited-English-proficient students and the challenges of making the transition from native language to mainstream English instruction. (HTH)

Describes the beliefs, knowledge, and classroom practices of a successful bilingual special educator, noting factors that shaped her teaching, including her own experiences as a second-language learner. Notes the teacher's emphasis on interactive teaching that weaves students' first language and culture with direct instruction, practice, and transfer. (HTH)

Explores a caveat for teaching language-minority students: As an educational community, teachers, teacher educators, and educational researchers need to be careful that they do not simply add to familiar patterns of instruction but rather actively seek ways to recast the cultures of schools and the social systems of classrooms to meet the needs of students acquiring English as a Second Language. (HTH)

Examines forces that shape the design of assessment systems for teachers and some inherent contradictions with regard to curriculum and assessment. Proposes a system of assessment that is continuous, dynamic, and principled and does not remove from teachers the responsibility of defining what is important to student learning. (SD)

Summarizes critical issues in the inclusion controversy, including program efficacy, legal and financial considerations, and implications for several populations within education. Suggests areas in need of further research and discussion before any more fundamental changes are made in the approach to educating exceptional children. (Author/ET)

Reports five teachers' perceptions of how teacher participation in school decision making has affected school and classroom activities. Discusses the consequences in terms of teachers' beliefs about their own competence, the persistence of the culture of teacher isolation, prevailing forms of politesse, professional educators' uncertainty about what constitutes excellence in schools, and information and decision-making overload. (AA)

Argues that reflective practice informed by anthropological perspectives can help educators address practice-based puzzlements and improve educational practice in culturally diverse classrooms. Offers examples of how reflective practice, informed by anthropological concepts and methods and illuminated by understanding of different cultures, provides ways of understanding diverse classrooms, contributes useful information, and provides useful interventions to improve educational practice. (TM)

Considers the various meanings of action research historically and as it is currently manifested. Notes that, in attempting to define action research and to use it for the diverse goals of teacher professionalization, improved knowledge, and social justice, researchers sometimes overlook teachers' struggles with implementation and outside expectations. Compares lack of teacher "voice" and "silencing" in adolescent girls. (TJQ)

Outlines a theory of developmental spelling, evolved from research on children's invented spellings, that can show teachers when best to teach aspects of spelling. Provides examples and several minilessons of the alternative approach to spelling instruction called Word Study, whereby words are examined by sound, by within-word patterns, and by meaning. (ET)

Introduces the topic of strategies education, summarizing the contributions to this special issue on strategies education. Emphasizes the importance of collaborations between researchers and practitioners to ensure that strategies education programs are practical and implementable. (MDM)

Based on a teacher's experience of teaching third-grade mathematics, this article reviews some of the problems faced in representing mathematical concepts to children, respecting children as mathematical thinkers, and creating a sense of community in the classroom. (MDM)

Recommends that curriculum and instruction be designed to engage students in using the tools of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Describes a curriculum framework that takes into account adolescents' language development and uses language to integrate various academic subjects. (PAM)

Reviews the opportunities for and obstacles to promoting independent learning at the middle grades level. Proposes the substitution of compensatory practices that discourage self-directed learning activities, such as test review handouts, with instructional practices that support independent learning activities, such as performance feedback and opportunities to improve study skills. (PAM)

Explores the content of middle school reforms, focusing on how they diverge from conventional school practices, school norms, and school politics. Argues that norms of community and integration will need to replace many of the competitive, individualistic, and bureaucratic norms embedded in current practice. (Author/PAM)

Suggests that a school environment that stresses learning or task goals is more conducive to cognitive engagement than an environment that emphasizes the demonstration of ability. The initial results of a case study in a middle grades school illustrate how stress on task or ability goals affects the school learning environment and student motivation and learning. (PAM)

Factors that have slowed progress in middle grades reform include (1) emphasizing school-level, structural changes, such as merging curricular areas and instructional assignments, which do little to change the experience of students; and (2) basing reform more on rhetoric than research. Reviews the articles in this special issue, which seeks to support the middle grades reform movement. (PAM)

Examines the history of middle level education. Offers suggestions to promote responsive middle level education: (1) building a knowledge base about early adolescent development; (2) assuring that organizational structures, programs, and practices function appropriately; (3) advocating the needs of early adolescents; and (4) involving middle level education in the current educational reform issues. (PAM)

Notes the great demand for information on promising practices for teaching language-minority students. Introduces the succeeding articles in this issue, noting how all the authors argue for the need to pull together what is known about effective teaching, second-language acquisition, applied cognitive research, and cross-cultural communication into practical instructional strategies that fit the realities of classrooms. (HTH)

Presents arguments for oral language work in classrooms that go far beyond "the principal means of human communication" justification. Topics discussed include relationships between oral language and literacy, intelligence, problem solving, cognition, "the hypothetical mode of learning," and personality growth. Recommendations for increasing the use of oral language across the entire curriculum are offered.(RH)

Argues that mathematics instruction is more effective and efficient when (1) knowledge about kind of instruction students need to learn specific content is used, (2) knowledge about use of time and effective teaching behaviors is incorporated, (3) thoughtful long- and short-term planning occurs, and (4) knowledge about what students know and think is used in planning and conducting instruction. (RH)

Discusses several recommendations for the mathematics curriculum, focusing on problem solving, understanding, several content topics, and topic integration and placement. Groups that influence the curriculum, and ways they can do so, are also discussed. (RH)

Argues that many children have difficulty learning school mathematics because its abstract and formal nature is much different from the intuitive and informal mathematics the children acquire. Begins by differentiating form and understanding and then focuses on young children's beginning skills and older children's knowledge. Concludes by suggesting instructional approaches to correct learning problems. (RH)