By giving each student a number to keep throughout the school year, teachers can maintain efficient classrooms. The paper describes this classroom management system, in which students apply for classroom jobs. The numbers can be used for homework and classroom assignments, organizing attendance, choosing teams, drawing names, and teacher files.…

Explains the merits of "brain-compatible" learning, especially Proster Theory. Describes a pilot program at a New Jersey elementary school that transformed conventional, graded classrooms into "multi-teacher interactive learning units" that promote thinking in terms of programs and patterns. Summarizes pedagogical changes and…

Reviews research on the practice of ability grouping (the grouping of students for instruction by ability or achievement to create homogeneous instructional groups). Notes several negative effects of ability grouping, and discusses the implications of this research for classroom practice. (MM)

Reviews literature on classroom environment from 1980 onward. Emphasizes elementary settings and students with behavioral deficits. Discusses structure and organization of classrooms, the cognitive process, student and teacher characteristics, and student outcomes. Concludes that research has shifted from cognitive outcomes in the classroom to…

Through observation of teacher language responses, this study examined interaction practices that inhibited, ended, or sustained children's classroom participation. Thirty early childhood educators were observed during 105 30-minute language art classes; 998 female and 1,188 male K-4th grade students were observed. Interactions were coded into one…

This is a report of a study designed to discover the nature of interactions between teachers and students in regular-size classes (25 or more students) and small-size classes (fewer than 18 students). It also describes the efforts of one public school to maintain smaller classes. A review of the literature and observations of 11 primary classrooms…

Classroom management is defined as the organization of the classroom as a learning environment; the management of student discipline, order, and care; the grouping of students for different tasks and patterns of interaction; and the individualization of student learning. This paper reports on two Swedish case studies of contrasting classroom…

Cooperative learning aims to enhance students' on-task interactive behaviors in the classroom. Observation in Israeli elementary schools has indicated that interactive behavior of students in their learning sequence holds potential for quality cooperation and help among children, but that teachers lack the skills to structure learning tasks that…

Three conclusions were drawn about within-class grouping after reviewing the work of several researchers on the following topics: teacher and student behavior, academic achievement, perceptions about reading groups, social class membership and reading group assignment, and the role of group cohesiveness. The conclusions were that: (1) although the…

"Looping" is a practice that allows single-grade teachers to remain with the same class for 2 or more years. Organized in a question-and-answer format, this book answers 72 questions about looping commonly asked by teachers and parents, including questions about its benefits, disadvantages, and implementation. Chapters include: (1) "What Is…

Physical education teachers who want to be fair to all students may discover some ways teachers speak or act is discriminatory. Some items that teachers who want to treat students as fairly as possible should consider include class organization, teaching style, teacher-student interaction, teacher language, role models, and equipment. (SM)

Looping refers to the increasingly common practice of keeping groups of students together for two or more years with the same teacher. This booklet, first in a series of "Themes in Education" provides information on the educational practice of looping and includes selected current references on the topic. The booklet outlines the history of this…

Employs data from 94 elementary schools to examine the prevalence and effects of resegregation. Reports that (1) positive attitudes toward integration influence teachers' selection of grouping practices that promote student interaction; and (2) less resegregative classroom structures are more advantageous for Black students' achievement. (KH)

Discusses a comparative study of elementary school teachers in England and France that preceded the implementation of the National Curriculum in English schools. Reports differences in teaching methods, classroom organization, and teacher student relationships between the two countries. Concludes that greater focus on professional autonomy by…

Using information gathered through a study funded by the New Zealand Minister of Education, this document examines the history and implementation of the New Zealand government's 1:20 teacher-pupil ratio policy first set in motion in 1985, pupil progress associated with the policy, and related literature about class size. The following papers, each…