In 2006, the California legislature released $14 million to the schools of California to create school gardens through the California Instructional School Garden Bill (CA Assembly Bill 1535, 2006). This study examined the differences and similarities of school gardens as learning spaces by exploring a fifth grade school standards-based mathematics…

The research aims to showing the students misbehaviors in formal and private primary schools according to the perceptions of class teachers working in Kayseri in 2006-2007 academic year The data has been collected with the questionnaire developed by the researcher based on review survey and expert ideas. Questionnaire is applied to 245 teachers in…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether looping, a multi-year teaching arrangement where the teacher remains with the same group of students for two or more years is a practicable alternative, as assessed by teacher opinion, to the typical one year grouping of students. Because the teacher is the pivotal figure within the classroom and…

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of two pairs of boys (one pair typically developing, one pair with Down Syndrome) during their transitions to school. The boys were observed using continuous narrative recordings, during all aspects of the curriculum. Their teachers, parents and peers were also interviewed. Results indicated that…

A class inventory and two creativity measures were administered to 350 sixth-grade students in three Caribbean territories (Barbados, Grenada, and St. Vincent). Analyses indicated that Barbadian schools have a more favorable classroom learning environment for creative production than the other two territories. Barbadian students also demonstrated…

This study investigated the differences between elementary school pupils' and teachers' perceptions of the actual classroom environment and of discrepancies between preferred and actual environment. Teachers and students preferred more favorable classroom environment than was perceived as being present, and teachers perceived the actual classroom…

Background noise poses adverse effects on speech sounds and affects student learning, especially for children with developmental disabilities. Sound-field and public address amplification systems can help to solve this problem by amplifying speech sounds relative to background noise. This study surveyed school classrooms for children with special…

Three female teachers' rankings of "toughness" and "getting one's own way" among their fourth-grade students were compared to hierarchies based on class consensus. Only one of the teachers showed significant agreement with her students' rankings. This inconsistency suggests that the bases for children's and adults' rankings…

Presents an overview of Montessori versus traditional education programs. Focuses on differences of philosophy, curriculum, study, classroom environment, values, preparation for life, and productivity. Defines the major philosophical points of adaptation and development, and meaning. Addresses the Montessori perspective on elementary and the…

Effects of multiage grouping on achievement and self-concept were explored. No significant differences were found between children in multiage and single-age classrooms on any of the achievement measures. Multiage classrooms had higher mean scores on one of the six factors of the self-concept scale, Happiness and Satisfaction. (Author/GK)

Through an imaginary dialogue with her grandmother, a first-grade teacher reflects on the educational methods which her grandmother used and referred to in her journals and discusses the whole language methods used in schools today. A whole language classroom is described as a busy place where activity abounds and conversations buzz. Whole…

Suggests that two settings may create different norms and standards which cause teachers to perceive and react differently to objectively similar child behaviors. (Author/DEP)

Examines sociometric data from 60 elementary classrooms to test the hypothesis that friendship patterns vary according to whether classrooms are "open" or "traditional." The author concludes that children's friendship patterns are affected by the structure of the classroom. (Author/DB)

A short overview of an experimental evaluation of lower teacher-pupil ratios is presented in this report. The research under review is the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project. This longitudinal project was conducted in Tennessee and was designed to prove to state legislators the efficacy of smaller class sizes. For STAR, evaluation…

Elementary school teachers use cooperative group classroom structures more often than expected. Teacher behaviors and classroom structures are related to the self-orientation and self-esteem of Anglo-American and Mexican American children in a culturally relative pattern. Teacher behaviors are significantly related to positive classroom climates…