Traditionally, post-secondary developmental mathematics courses aspire to equip students with mathematical content knowledge needed to succeed in calculus and subsequent STEM courses. The literature shows that this goal alone is insufficient, as the emphasis on content acquisition often comes at the expense of developing higher-order skills such…

What matters most when it comes to increasing achievement and student success in the developmental classroom? Recent reform efforts in developmental education have brought sweeping changes in some states. New curricular pathways, redesigned courses, and a handful of new instructional delivery methodologies have been the result. Although these are…

This study investigates how the impact of developmental education is moderated by classroom composition. Drawing on a regression discontinuity design, we used data from 3,429 community college students, nested within 223 classrooms, to explore the extent to which classroom and instructor characteristics moderated the effect of developmental…

Learning communities, a small cohort of students enrolled together in two or more linked courses, have become a popular intervention to help underprepared students succeed in college. Though learning communities abound in practice, the key structural feature of a learning community--the cohort--may not be fully understood. Authors posit that a…

Notes as students become more diverse, establishing a comfortable, challenging classroom in which every student feels valued becomes more difficult. Maintains teachers may be able to minimize problems and maximize learning by shifting to a more parental perspective and making the classroom an "academic home." As students share in…

Research affirms that preschoolers learn best when following their natural dispositions to explore, wonder, question, create, and play. Preschoolers attending early education programs should not be treated like smaller versions of older kids. They need a well-equipped classroom with an ambience that fosters their social and emotional development.…

Providing an example of educational practice others may wish to emulate, this bulletin profiles the work of Elga Brown, an extraordinary kindergarten teacher at Edison Elementary School in Eugene, Oregon. The basic educational objective of Brown's classroom is that every one has a good day, and the overriding rule is that everyone allow everyone…

Maintains that teachers trained to nurture children and to educate the whole child successfully integrate handicapped children into a classroom with other normally developing children. (Author/DB)

Many of the pacemaker British infant schools possess characteristics which advocates of open education would like to see replicated in this country. But in this examination of the qualities and goals of open or "developmental" education, American educators are cautioned against oversimplifying and romanticizing developments in Britain. Educators…

Examined effects of the Grow with Guidance System, a systematic affective education program, on students and teachers in elementary school. Findings from 224 students and 11 teachers revealed that teachers who used the program were perceived by students as more inviting, and that students who participated in the program demonstrated more…

The Pupil Role Interview was developed and administered to students in Follow Through and non-Follow Trhough programs. Data was gathered concerning the instrument's reliability and construct validity, and comparisons were made among programs on the basis of interview responses. Findings confirmed the hypothesis of a relationship between Follow…

An open institutional system organized around functions and purposes rather than preordained centers of power will provide the most effective climate for student success in college. Such a teleological system can respond with flexibility to a changing society and differing student needs. (Author/LBH)

Developmental education programs can use innovative ways to improve minority learning and persistence.

The counselor, facilitating classroom development guidance lessons, may experience conflict and difficulty. The management system presented here allows for flexibility and provides sufficient behavioral structure, while encouraging individual expression from students. This behavioral management approach is supportive of, but secondary to,…

In order to study the appropriateness of different structured classroom settings for children's learning and development, the Columbia Classroom has constructed IRIS (Involvement Ratings in Settings) and PRIN (the Pupil Role Interview). IRIS, a seven dimensional scale of affectivity by non-verbal indices, has been employed in two classrooms for…