A Tennessee elementary school's adoption of a looping program, allowing teachers to stay with their classes for two years, resulted in improved student confidence and teacher/parent relationships. Looping places less pressure on young students to learn all curriculum objectives in one year. Lessons and benefits are summarized. (MLH)

From her own experience as a secondary teacher in the People's Republic of China, the author concludes that multiyear student/teacher relationships have great potential for improving the academic and social/emotional environments of secondary schools. In China, the multiyear commitment gives teachers considerable academic autonomy and demands…

There is an increasing interest in the practice of teachers staying with a group of students for more than one year. This is referred to as looping in educational practice. The problem of constant uncertainty or change of a new teacher year to year, creates less academic time and student anxiety. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects…

Looping is an instructional design whereby students progress to the next grade level with the same teacher(s) for two or more years. This book was designed to help teachers and administrators explore, implement, and evaluate looping programs. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, "Exploring Looping Configurations," identifies the primary…

Research has demonstrated that small groups exert powerful emotional influence on members. Learning group effectiveness in American schools is hindered by groups' short-lived character. Article recommends that American educators stress group persistence by keeping discrete groups of students and teachers together over long time periods, reorganize…

Teachers at Fort Wayne (Indiana) Community School are groundbreakers in "looping," a practice involving multiyear teaching assignments and no historical antecedent. Experienced loopers participating in an evaluation study reported that looping was great for students (especially at-risk kids) and hard on teachers; fostered a family…

One alternative to a traditional class is a looping class. What is "looping"? As described in the educational literature, looping is a practice that allows teachers to remain with their class for a period of two or more years. Looping has proved to be an effective process that increases student achievement, supports instructional time, and…

After experimenting with multiyear teaching assignments during the late 1980s, the Attleboro (Massachusetts) Public Schools now require all classroom teachers from grades one through eight to spend two years with their classes. Preschool jitters diminish, kids gain a strong support system, and teachers gain an extra month of teaching time during…

Explores looping, which involves one teacher staying with the same group of children for more than one year. Recognizes that, with today's changing demographics, looping can be a way to foster a family-like classroom atmosphere. Discusses advantages and disadvantages to looping. Includes a chart of looping opportunities and considerations;…

This document is comprised of four consecutive issues (Winter 1999-Fall 2000) of a newsletter providing information on current research and practice to professionals teaching in the primary grades. The newsletter is published by the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE); participating…

A Connecticut principal describes how his middle school explored benefits of looping for seventh and eighth graders. Results of a study evaluating the effects of a pilot project on student discipline, attitudes, and achievement were positive enough to justify expanding looping to all seventh- and eighth-grade classes. (Contains 19 references.)…

Looping is a very simple concept, whereby a teacher moves with his or her students to the next grade level, rather than sending them another teacher at the end of the school year. Schools all over the country are finding that this simple idea is having a profound effect on their students. This handbook describes the many benefits of looping and…

Describes a teacher-designed "pocket of excellence" in a small, rural Georgia community. In the Delta Project, teachers began with a commitment to meet students' affective and cognitive needs; proceeded to develop and implement changes in curriculum, instruction, and traditional team organization; and invited a university research team…

Discusses looping, or multiyear assignment of children, as a strategy to ease the retention/social-promotion dilemma. Multiyear assignment gives teachers extra time to bring low-performing students up to grade level and develop stable, caring relationships with students. A suburban Kansas school's successful program is profiled. (24 references)…

Recounts a teacher's experiences staying with the same group of children for more than one year (looping) as they progress through kindergarten and first grade. Discusses advantages of more stability and less trauma for the child, and more instructional time and less stress for the teacher. Addresses possible disadvantages of children having…