In articulating global and local forms of sexuality and its impact on how people conceptualise conceptualised LGBT issues in education, the author explores three timely texts: (1) Dennis Altman's "Global Sex" (2000); (2) Vanessa Baird's "The No-Nonsense Guide to Sexual Diversity" (2001); and (3) an edited volume by Evelyn Blackwood and Saskia…

This article describes how anecdotal teaching can relate classroom material more effectively than lecture presentations. Personalizing the lesson engages students and increases retention.

Ecological teaching models and evidence of success in public schools may be lacking. We created a constructivist ecological model using the animé Nausicaa with fourth graders in a Scottsdale, Arizona school. The animé involves the epic adventure, good and evil battle to affect the future of the human race. We documented results using…

The National Writing Project (NWP) is the nation's premier professional development network dedicated to improving the teaching of writing. The NWP network comprises nearly 200 local sites in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This report presents the results of a seven-year survey study of teachers participating in NWP summer…

This study investigated the effects of self and cooperative-instructional strategies on senior secondary school students' attitude towards Mathematics. The moderating effects of locus of control and gender were also investigated. The study adopted pre-test and post-test, control group quasi-experimental design using a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial matrix…

The author's former College of Education encouraged faculty to implement pedagogy that responded fully to the needs of citizens in diverse situations, including the urban, metropolitan community they served. Such a vision requires, by default, a sincere effort to change or "reform" schools. Research endeavors involving the social and historical…

Combining field experience with use of information technology has the potential to create a problem-based learning environment that engages learners in authentic scientific inquiry. This study, conducted over a 2-yr period, determined differences in attitudes and conceptual knowledge between students in a field lab and students with combined field…

Drawing upon critical analyses of participant observations of classrooms, school documents, and in-depth interviews with teachers, administrators, and school-district supervisors conducted from 1999 to 2002, this qualitative study employs a post-structuralist framework to probe one US public elementary school's quest to realize educational equity…

Results are presented from a mixed-method investigation into the effects of Block Schedule on student self-efficacy, attitude, and instructional practices within the context of mathematics. Students exposed to block schedule showed no change in attitude toward mathematics, whereas those on a traditional schedule demonstrated a significant…

This article offers a brief review of research that has examined the perceptions of physical education held by 2 groups: (1) adults (including parents, teachers, and school administrators), and (2) children and adolescents. Most surveys of adults reveal generally positive perceptions of physical education, as well as the corollary belief that the…

This article addresses an enduring concern in the sociology of education: how social class differences are reproduced through schooling. In particular it focuses on the functioning of pedagogy in this regard. The article presents a model that elucidates the inner logic of pedagogy in order to reveal the structuring of inequality with respect to…

The two articles in this newsletter issue focus on and discuss the multiple intelligences (MI) theory and its application in schools. Developed by Howard Gardner at Harvard University, the theory argues that individuals differ in their abilities, learning styles, and interests, and that these differences need to be acknowledged and nurtured in…

The effects of mastery learning strategies, interactive video mathematics (IVM), individualized instruction (IND), and the lecture method on mathematics achievement of community college students was studied. Interactions among instructional methods, gender, and age were examined; and the grade success rate was determined for each instructional…

The use of classroom assessments in the context of the new assessment system for California schools, the California Learning Assessment System, is discussed by describing the California Learning Record (CLR). The CLR emphasizes the central role of teachers in equitable assessment of student learning for students of diverse cultural and ethnic…

A RESEARCH PROJECT WAS CONDUCTED AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY BETWEEN MARCH 1, 1965, AND SEPTEMBER 14, 1967, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES WHICH WOULD PROVIDE MORE EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING ABOUT RACIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AMERICAN LIFE. TWO FUNDAMENTALS ARE WOVEN INTO THE DESIGN OF THESE…