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Amish beliefs are exemplified in their parochial schools. Children are taught to be diligent and work hard at the task at hand. "An idle mind is a devil's workshop" is very much in evidence when Amish children study and learn that which stresses the moral and the practical. The home setting emphasizes the utilitarian with its farm work and household chores that need to be completed. The school stresses the abstract with its objectives relating to the moral, ethical, and religious teachings. The abstract and the practical become one in everyday life's endeavors. A seventh-grade reading lesson at Pleasant Hill School in Bloomfield, Iowa focused on literal interpretation of content, and the content of the basal reader emphasized values such as honesty, truthfulness, hard work, thrift, decency, and courage to do what is right. (RS)

The purpose of this study is to describe, analyze, and interpret through participant observation the teaching of art to Amish eighth graders in a public school. The description of what and how art is taught by a non-Amish art teacher raises questions of appropriate content, patterning of instruction, strategies for developing perceptual awareness and artistic competence, censorship, values of simplicity/harmony versus complexity/disharmony, and points towards fundamentalist concerns. (Author)

Study of minority groups has been emphasized in the social studies curriculum. Such study needs to move beyond a focus on the minority groups traditionally studied to include other groups. Such minority groups include the Old Order Amish and Hutterites. This essay lists various characteristics of Old Order Amish and Hutterite communities, and suggests that students could benefit from studying these two groups . A bibliography is included. (DB)

Following a brief discussion of some characteristics of the Amish culture, data on work study skills from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills are reported for 23 pupils in grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 in Pleasant Hill School near Bloomfield, Iowa. Percentile ranks ranged from 5 to 83. Eleven pupils scored above the fifteenth percentile on map skills and on use of reference materials, while 12 were above the fifteenth percentile on the total score for the Work Study Skills subtest. (MNS)

Following a brief discussion of some characteristics of the Amish culture and schools, data from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills are reported for 23 pupils in grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 in Pleasant Hill School near Bloomfield, Iowa. Thirteen pupils scored at or above the fifteenth percentile in mathematics concepts; 17 were at or above that level in problem solving; and all 23 were above the fifteenth percentile in computation. For the composite score, 19 pupils scored at or above the fifteenth percentile. (MNS)

This study was designed to correct misperceptions many Americans have concerning one-room schools and Old Order Mennonite and Amish education in the United States. It was also intended to quantify the number of U.S. public and private one-room schools. The paper briefly reviews the history of Amish and Old Order Mennonite schools. Recent research has centered on the decline of public one-teacher schools in the United States but has ignored the growth of private one-room schools. In 1988 Amish and Old Order Mennonite schools comprised 41% of the one-room schools in the country and were increasing at the rate of about 15 new schools per year. Information in the study was gathered through literature review and surveys of state departments of education conducted in July and August of 1987. The study found that, as of 1987, there were 674 public and 605 private one-room schools in the United States. Eighty percent of the public one-room schools are located west of the Mississippi River. Data from the study indicate that one-room schools will be around for the foreseeable future, although the rate of reduction in the number of public one-room schools has declined since the 1950's. Tables show the following statistics: the number of one-room schools by state in 1950, 1985, 1986, and 1987; the number of public and private one-room schools by state in 1987; and the total number of one-room schools in 10 different years from 1930 to 1987. (TES)

Old Order Amish are readily distinguishable from others in society by their dissociation from "modern" convenience and dress. Students in an Old Order Amish school in Iowa receive instruction in language arts from a secular basal language arts workbook, and a basal reader containing biblical stories. Comprehension of content is evaluated from completed exercises contained in the basal reader and workbook. Pupils in grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8, completed the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Eighteen of 23 students ranked below the 50th percentile in vocabulary, whereas only 12 of 23 ranked below the 50th percentile in reading. All students ranked above the 50th percentile in arithmetic computation. Since the Amish philosophy and culture emphasize hard work, self-reliance, and practical situations, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills might not be a valid measure for these pupils. The high math results indicate its applicability in the practical day-to-day living of the Amish, while the vocabulary and reading tests evaluate concepts that may be culturally unfamiliar. (HTH)

The Old Order Amish, or Mennonites, are a religious sect that represents both a traditional and changing culture. Their conservatism is evidenced in their rural way of life, large families of 8 to 12 children, use of horse drawn farm machinery and transportation, nonuse of electricity, and uniformity of dress. The Old Order Amish also present a rapidly changing culture due to scarcity of farm land available for younger families and competing modern ideas. The majority of Old Order Amish buy health services when needed, but they do not carry insurance on property or personal life. They insist upon strict separation of church and state and do not participate in the social security system. Old Order Amish also believe that an eighth grade, parochial education with no kindergarten is adequate for their children. Reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion are the basic curriculum. Basal textbooks are used in social studies, but science texts omit a study of evolution and contain Biblical injunctions. Schools are usually one-room buildings with outdoor privies and horse barns. Lack of electricity prohibits utilization of audio-visual aids. Old Order Amish pupils rank well in standardized achievement test results. (NEC)

Despite the value placed on traditional culture in Old Order Amish society, these communities have experienced change recently. These changes include: use of legal means to regulate behavior, acceptance of technical medical services such as heart transplants, and diminished importance of farm work to the economy of the community. However, the Old Order Amish constitute a bastion of stability within the larger society. This stability is expressed in the use of draft horses instead of farm machinery, horse and buggy instead of automobile, oil lamp instead of electric lamp, home-produced food instead of commercially processed food, and in families of eight to ten children instead of the usual one to three. In addition, marriage is permanent because divorce is not recognized, and a literal interpretation of the Bible is applied to all areas of life. This means that when civil laws run counter to sacred belief, such as the mandate for Social Security taxes and inspection for enforcement of building codes, civil disobedience is practiced. (BZ)

The Old Order Amish society is unique among diverse Mennonite sects. Their traditions and simplicity of lifestyle are evident in their manner of dress, non-mechanized farming practices, and rejection of electricity or running water in their homes. In an Old Order Amish education, children are taught the "four R's:" reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion, designed specifically for use within their culture. Responsibility for work is also an essential ingredient in Amish education since an Old Order Amish child has more work to do than a child on a modern farm. The lack of modern farming practices provides opportunities for many chores for the children. Old Order Amish education emphasizes caring for others and sharing one's goods and services. All age groups participate in barn raisings for other families and contribute to the farm and household work if an Amish member is ill or dies. Religious beliefs are the heart of Amish education. The entire social fabric is based on Biblical teaching. (APG)

Compares pedagogical practices in an eighth-grade middle school classroom with those a of one-room Amish school studied in an earlier work. Taken together, the two settings suggest that one must seek "the present status and performance of the U.S. education system" not in the usual indicators, but in the contradictory beliefs and assumptions of people in classrooms. (MLH)

Examines written communication within the Amish cultural context. Notes that Amish-authored nature essays were introduced by Samuel Miller, an Amish farmer with an interest in nature study. Suggests that the acceptance of this new genre was due to Miller's particular manner of appropriation that connected it to the Amish cultural value of closeness to nature and the soil. (RS)

Presents information from interviews for Amish Study, study undertaken to understand, from rural family's perspective, experience of having received in-home family services. Describes barriers to service found by rural families and presents two cases from Amish Study. Considers need for outreach to rural families. (NB)

Presents observations of a newly appointed Amish teacher in an Amish school and reveals classroom procedures in elementary-level education during several periods in the school year. Observations reveal no classroom competition, yet successful student learning. There were few significant differences between the practices of experienced and first-year teachers. (GLR)

Surveys of businesses and adult Amish males in Holmes and Wayne counties (Ohio) indicate that farming is declining as the primary occupation for Amish males and that the Amish occupational structure is becoming more complex as more Amish males work away from home. Possible impacts on Amish society, such as increased need for formal education, are discussed. (SV)

Action research can promote cultural literacy by increasing teachers' awareness of their own values and perspectives and encouraging them to entertain perspectives different from their own. The paper describes how one prospective teacher, through classroom observation in a one-room Amish school, developed positive, culturally sensitive images and attitudes. (SM)

Briefly describes Amish history and culture, the Metzenbaum Center for special needs children in Geauga County (Ohio) and grounded theory approach to investigation of the center's success in gaining trust of Amish. Results of seven interviews indicate that the Center's outreach success is due to repeated home visits by center staff and a support network of Amish mothers. (RAH)

In-depth, unstructured, interviews with 20 non-Amish public officials, farmers, and business people in Fillmore County, Minnesota, examined attitudes toward the local Amish population, including Amish religious beliefs and practices, taxation and school issues, Amish impact on the area economy, and prejudice toward the Amish as a group. Data were analyzed using Allport's theory of scapegoating. (RAH)

Two studies examined Amish-Mennonite, Dutch Reform Calvinist, and Conservative and Orthodox Jewish children's concepts of moral and nonmoral religious rules. It was found that the subjects differentiated between moral and nonmoral religious rules: judgments regarding moral issues were justified in terms of justice and human welfare considerations, whereas nonmoral issues were evaluated in terms of their normative status. (MDM)