This study examines the benefits of reading strategy training on adolescent readers' comprehension of science text. Training was provided via an automated reading strategy trainer called the Interactive Strategy Trainer for Active Reading and Thinking (iSTART), which is an interactive reading strategy trainer that utilizes animated agents to…

This study used self-monitoring, coupled with a student/teacher matching strategy, to improve the classroom social skills of five inner-city middle school students, who were at risk for school failure. Using a multiple-probe across students and settings (class periods) design, we evaluated intervention effects in up to six different settings.…

Past research has indicated that a number of problems in the teaching of science in elementary classrooms are rooted in the preparation of inservice teachers. One continuing concern is elementary teachers' lack of science content knowledge. As indicated by numerous research studies reporting positive results, one method of addressing these…

Critics of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) suggest that the effects of state-mandated testing are primarily negative, causing teachers to narrow the curriculum and drill students on tested material. However, the implementation of assessment programs that provide rapid diagnostic information about student progress may allow teachers to prepare…

The Circle of Courage identifies four universal needs of all children: Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity. When these needs are met, children grow and thrive. But when these growth needs are frustrated, multiple problems follow. The Circle of Courage defines problems of youth in terms of strengths and developmental needs. These…

Planned Approach to Healthier Schools (PATHS) is a multicomponent school program that aims to establish and sustain a social norm consistent with physical activity and healthy nutrition in the school community. The PATHS components include: (1) a professional development and wellness program for faculty and staff; (2) ongoing social-marketing…

The basic contention that a more imaginative, creative, and challenging approach will result in better achievement in SATs--in other words, if the children enjoy their science they will do better--was the basis of a project at Oxford Brookes University. The project was devised to encourage and enable the participating teachers to develop a…

In this study, the effect of problem-based learning on students' academic achievement and performance skills in a unit on the human excretory system was investigated. Sixty-one 10th grade students, from two full classes instructed by the same biology teacher, were involved in the study. Classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental or…

The author was in the seventh grade at the Newsome Training School in Aubrey, Arkansas when the Supreme Court handed down "Brown v. Board of Education" on May 17, 1954. His most powerful memory of the "Brown" decision is that he has no memory of it being rendered or mentioned by his parents, teachers, or preachers. In his rural…

Storysack projects (in which sacks including books and artefacts to help children learn through play are made and distributed), are proliferating in the UK and beyond, often involving work with parents. However, little of this work has been reported. One way to find out about new storysack project ideas is to talk with those directly involved.…

Research shows that established emotional and behavioral problems predict chronic and pervasive troubles across the life span. Attempts to ameliorate children's emotional and behavioral problems have resulted in limited success. The failure to systematically elicit and include caregiver and teacher perspectives in effective interventions is…

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now a cornerstone of education policy in the UK and elsewhere. If policy aspirations translate successfully into practice, then (funded) CPD opportunities will abound and teachers will be 'developed' in a logical and structured way from the moment they enter the profession until retirement. As a result…

Statistics reporting adolescent use of ergogenic agents are staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 6.1% of students from grades 9 through 12 had taken illegal anabolic steroids without a prescription one or more times during their lifetime. Additionally, more adolescent athletes…

This article describes a university-kindergarten partnership project with teachers in four kindergartens to participate in four three-hour workshops and then to develop their own school-based environmental programs. The four teaching themes of the programs were Animals, Plants, Food and Green Angels. In each kindergarten, a core group of staff was…

Females are under-represented in education, training and employment in the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Research shows that girls are tuning out to ICTs in school and they have a low participation rate in ICT related tertiary study and employment. The Tech Savvy report by the American Association of University Women (2000)…