What kind of knowledge informs the practice of English teachers? Recent policy developments, in England and elsewhere, have sought to specify a knowledge base for teachers. Drawing on case studies produced by pre-service English teachers, this essay explores the complex, multifaceted and situated character of the knowledge that teachers develop in…

This article discusses use of a multicomponent intervention to develop the reading skill and performance of grades 4 to 8 students identified with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Reading intervention targets for this population are vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Reading intervention elements involve explicit vocabulary…

This research brief highlights findings from the technical report (published separately). Student-level analyses were conducted with the SEL Skills Survey and the Student Climate Survey to determine if a single measure of students' SEL skill acquisition and perceptions of school climate is possible. [For the Technical Report, see ED629195.]

A comprehensive self-management intervention was utilized to increase the on-task behavior of three African American students within an urban middle-school setting. The intervention was designed to necessitate minimal management on the part of the general education classroom teacher by utilizing an electronic prompting device, as well as a…

When the author overheard her colleagues one day discussing teachers who don't follow state mandates--singing the benefits of enforced curriculum mapping to ensure every teacher is on the same page, teaching the same topic, at the same time--she didn't know they were talking about her. It wasn't until a colleague later cautioned that she was not…

There are those in the school community who believe that the anxious feelings and heightened sense of anxiety experienced by sixth graders as they transition from elementary to junior high school constitute a rite of passage. Teachers and school administrators in the Indiana Area Junior High School in Pennsylvania believed differently. During the…

This report describes district-level results from the 2007-2008 AISD Student Climate Survey.

This study examined how one type of student work habit classroom participation is related to a combination of both student factors (math achievement, personal achievement goals, perceptions of classroom goal structures, and teacher support) and features of the classroom context (teachers' instructional practices, average perceptions of classroom…

A single-sex group learning project involving 100 seventh graders yielded positive results. Behavior improved without teacher intervention, particularly among the boys. Also, students' attitudes and motivation improved immensely, along with work habits and academic performance. Students reported that they enjoyed working and competing in teams.…

This appendix accompanies "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research Report." This appendix focuses on the findings and domain comparisons of the study. This appendix contains the following: (1) Decision Rules; (2) Full Set of…

Describes a South Carolina middle school's efforts to improve student behavior and decrease suspension rates by using a focus-group approach with underachieving seventh graders with behavior problems. Students participated in daily focus-group experiences in which they learned strategies for changing their behavior and improving study skills.…

The pressure to keep kids in class and learning is always present for principals and assistant principals, but students who are removed for inappropriate behavior on a regular or chronic basis are a particular challenge. Such students move through the traditional consequences and quickly exhaust alternative and creative ideas to return them to the…

As part of a high-risk youth grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, a survey was developed and implemented to assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of seventh-grade students toward alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATODs). In addition to assessing project outcomes, this activity…

Weak increases in classroom cohesion for three seventh-grade classes instructed by a mastery learning technique compared to three conventionally instructed classes are demonstrated using block analysis of variance, triadic census (balance theory), and block modelling (role theory) analytic techniques on repeated-measures sociometric rating data.…