Schools are frequently inundated with demands to implement new instructional interventions and teaching methods that are not yet backed up by a solid body of research. Fortunately, many of these innovations include elements of more established strategies for which evidence of positive effects does exist. Guskey describes the core elements of one…

In productive constructionism, a teacher's job is to fuse students' knowledge with what experts know, not to favor one over the other. Teachers do not promote understanding by permitting students' constructions to stand even though they clash with experts' constructions. Student engagement in problem-solving tasks is crucial, but so is…

In this interview with Executive Editor Ron Brandt, Bloom answers criticisms of mastery learning and explains why he believes it is so important. (Author/JM)

Examines recent research to show that group-based mastery learning programs have consistently positive effects on student learning outcomes, including academic achievement, material retention, involvement in learning activities, and student attitudes. These programs also affect teachers and have considerable potential for implementation in regular…

In its quest for quality, a rural Utah elementary school is making thoughtful improvements in every area of the school's operations. Progress is being made in faculty communication, group instruction, curriculum integration, student assessment (through self-evaluation), and democratic discipline and problem solving. Partnership with Brigham Young…

Summarizes research exploring six solutions to the "2 sigma problem" of devising teaching-learning conditions that will enable the majority of students under group instruction to achieve at levels now possible only when students are tutored. Recommendations include using mastery learning, improving the home environment, and emphasizing higher…

Describes a French teacher's efforts to substitute interactive video/computer technologies for textbook materials. She designed special language-lab events to introduce eighth graders to the vocabulary of animals, colors, simple adjectives, fruits, flowers, and natural landscapes and to cultural artifacts, such as paintings, arias, poems, and…