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The mission of the Association for Direct Instruction is to promote the improvement of effective educational methods. This journal, "Direct Instruction News," is their publication. The Spring 2003 (Volume 3, Number 1) contains the following articles: "Implementing DI Successfully" (Sara G. Tarver); "Textbooks: What?" (Bob Dixon); "Introduction to Implementation Companies"; "Seeing Is Believing versus Believing Is Seeing: The Fundamental Problem in Education" (Martin A. Kozloff); "Top Ten Teaching Errors" (Don Crawford); "Successfully Decoding Unknown Words: What's the Teacher's Role?" (Don Crawford); "Amanda's Story" (Linda Carnine); and "Review of the 'Reading Mastery Training Series'" (Kathleen M. Waldron-Soler and Angela Przychodzin-Havis). The Fall 2003 (Volume 3, Number 2) issue contains these articles: "Formula for Success: A No-Excuses-for-Failure Attitude, Competent Curriculum Development, and Technical Proficiency" (Sara G. Tarver); "2003 Excellence in Education Awards" (Amy Griffin); "How to Achieve Excellence?" (Richard Russell); "An Administrator Who Really Is an Instructional Leader" (Curtis D. Jasper); "City Springs Sets the Standard...Again" (Kurt Engelmann); "Technical Proficiency, Direct Instruction, and Educational Excellence" (Martin A. Kozloff); "What to Do When Students in 'Reading Mastery III' Have Comprehension Problems" (Don Crawford); "Response to 'Time' Magazine's Report on Dyslexia" (Zig Engelmann); "Emos Thuogths on Dydlexai" (Bob Dixon); "The Failures of a Teacher Education Program: A Need for Change" (Tina Errthum); and"Mastery--Why and How" (Dale Feik). (NKA)

The mission of the Association for Direct Instruction is to promote the improvement of effective educational methods. This journal, "Direct Instruction News," is their publication. The Spring 2002 issue (Volume 2, Number 1) contains the following articles: "Same? Different? Both Same and Different" (Sara G. Tarver); "Cookie Cutter Curricula" (Bob Dixon); Responses to Article by Alan Borsuk; "Scores Soar at Siefert School with Aid of Structured Lessons: What's That Slapping Sound?" (Alan J. Borsuk); "Alex's Story" (Gary Shmerler and Karen Shmerler); "Does Direct Instruction in Phonics Benefit Deaf Students? If So, How?" (Beverly Trezek); and "Myth versus Science in Educational Systems" (Charles Baxter). The Fall 2002 (Volume 2, Number 2) issues contains these articles: "DI Successes Despite the Obstacles" (Sara G. Tarver); "Reading First, Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, and the Analysis of Content" (Bob Dixon); "Eshelman Avenue Elementary: A Profile of Success" (Kip Orloff and Therese Snyder); "When Direct Instruction 'Doesn't Work'" (Carrie Amberge); "Rhetoric and Revolution: Kenneth Goodman's 'Psycholinguistic Guessing Game'" (Martin A. Kozloff); "Three-Cueing System: Help or Hindrance?" (Kerry Hempenstall); and "Statement to the MPS School Board" (Mark C. Schug). (NKA)

It has been widely reported that an external locus of control is associated with children who experience failure. A review of the relevant literature indicates that learning disabled children, like other groups of children who have experienced failure, are more likely to exhibit an external locus of control than their normally achieving peers. In particular, learning disabled children have been found to be more likely than normally achieving students to attribute their successes, but not their failures, to external factors. The relationship of the locus of control construct to the field of learning disabilities is discussed in terms of four questions: (1) what is the relationship between locus of control and academic achievement?, (2) how is locus of control related to learned helplessness?, (3) is a change in locus of control orientation desirable?, and (4) what is the utility of locus of control for the education of learning disabled children? It is concluded that, in the course of remediation, attention should be devoted to the entire syndrome of characteristics associated with failure but within the context of academic intervention.