Recent systematic observations of UK classrooms are reviewed. Findings about how verbal teacher-feedback and students' on-task behaviour are associated are discussed. The method, utility and impact of this type of quantitative research are discussed using a large-scale (mass) secondary school study. Findings include: the use of positive feedback…

Peer assessment is an instructional strategy in which students evaluate each other's performance for the purpose of improving learning. Despite its accepted use in higher education, researchers and educators have reported concerns such as students' time on task, the impact of peer pressure on the accuracy of marking, and students' lack of ability…

This critique of "Writing to Read," a computer-based reading and writing program, uses aesthetic criteria and artistic criticism. Observations of kindergarten and first grade classes are described; education as art is considered; the issues of time and control are examined; and the aesthetic criteria of balance and coherence are…