Four schools offering a continuous progress or nongraded approach to pacing for gifted students are reviewed: the Plano (TX) Independent School District, The University of Pittsburgh Laboratory School, the Chesapeake (VA) Demonstration School, and the University of California at Los Angeles Elementary School. (CL)

Describes the reading program a Taylors Elementary School (in Taylors, South Carolina), which is one of several reading programs selected as exemplary at the 1993 International Reading Association convention. (SR)

Describes the reading program at Butcher Children's School (an elementary laboratory school for Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas), one of several school reading programs selected as exemplary at the 1993 International Reading Association convention. (SR)

Describes the Common Roots program developed by Food Works of Montpelier, Vermont, which fosters academic excellence in all disciplines by engaging students in hands-on explorations of their local community's natural and cultural heritage. Helps teachers design community-based environmental curricula to meet uniform educational standards.…

Presented are brief descriptions of the winning entries in this magazine's contest for existing programs to serve as prototypes for wide-scale use in elementary schools of the 1980s. Top prizes went to computer literacy, energy education, and nutrition projects. Twenty runners-up are also described. Project addresses are included. (SJL)

Visits to 62 effective elementary and middle schools in 14 states provided substantial evidence of what is right with American education. This article lists the characteristics of effective schools, then briefly cites exemplary programs and curricular features found in 14 schools or districts. (PGD)

The South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, Ohio, organized a week-long demonstration of actual classroom activities at the local shopping mall that increased sales on the mall and publicity for the schools. (MLF)

Art Partnership Networks enlist college students, majors in every field of art, each of whom "adopts" a gifted elementary school child.

Foreign language study in elementary schools is making a comeback. Three models of innovative elementary language programs are presented. (Author/MLF)

After describing social-emotional learning, provides a framework for implementing an effective program that includes, for example, building connections between students and their schools, involving families and communities as partners. Describes three exemplary social and emotional learning programs for grades K-6: Caring School Community,…

Explores the gap between the ideological orthodoxies of mathematics education and the expectations and beliefs of parents. Three strategies are proposed: repetition and attention, narratives and stories, and giving instruction that credits students with their own intelligence. (MKR)

Describes (as part of a series of articles describing exemplary school reading programs) several innovative programs designed to connect home, school, and classroom at Baltimore Highlands Elementary School. (SR)

A model elementary science program was established through cooperation of Washington, DC, schools and the National Science Teachers Association. The program is expected to be a model for techniques and strategies adaptable to other schools. Program content, instructional purposes, and the fully equipped laboratory used are discussed. (DH)

Describes the Math, Science, and Computer Camp for girls ages 8-12. Includes vignettes that illustrate worthwhile mathematical tasks in which girls engage that expand their notion of mathematics. (MKR)

Intake placement data were collected from the files of 1,966 students labeled and served as learning disabled in Child Service Demonstration Centers (CSDC) in 22 states. There appeared to be a lack of consistency in the characteristics of students labeled learning disabled. (Author)