Service-learning is a form of experiential learning that combines academic coursework with voluntary service in the community. There is a dearth of critical analysis of the effects of service-learning. To address this issue, this practitioner research aimed to explore and understand its effects. An inductive approach, using qualitative and…

Researchers on the Lasting Benefits Study (LBS) are tracking students who participated in Tennessee's K-3 Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project (1985-89) as they continue into later grades. Project STAR was a statewide experiment conducted to demonstrate the effects of reduced student/teacher ratios (15:1) on student achievement…

A 4-year longitudinal experiment conducted in Tennessee examined class-size effects on student achievement in kindergarten through grade 3. The Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project included more than 7,000 students per year in 79 schools in 42 school systems. Class size categories were: small class (13-17 students), regular class…

During the past several decades, educators have been experimenting with a variety of humanistic innovations to enrich students' academic, social, and emotional growth. These innovations include mainstreaming, inclusion, and detracking, and their intent is to reach out to all students, especially at-risk learners. To reach out, however, requires…