This report summarizes results from the 1999-2000 evaluation of the Austin Collaborative for Mathematics Education in AISD.

To evaluate curriculum fit with class ability, the magnitude of individual differences in size and number of instructional subunits read were examined, as well as number of repetitions of a unit required to achieve mastery. Subjects were average and high IQ fifth graders studying social studies. (Author/GDC)

A survey of 1,015 fifth and sixth graders in a southern Plains state compared American Indian, African American, Hispanic, and White students' perceptions of mathematics, own ability to "learn" mathematics, role models, teacher treatment of different racial or ethnic groups, teaching practices, and academic goals. Contains 25 references.…

Highlights the experiences of three elementary teachers involved in a computer technology project. Teachers' concerns included computer materials that did not closely match the required curriculum, lack of preparation and training, and the inconsistent level of the success experienced by both students and teachers. (MJP)

Compares the effects of positive goal interdependence and positive resource interdependence on individual performance in teamwork and taskwork situations. Although early performance revealed difficulties with the interdependent nature of the work, performance improved as the students adapted their skills. Briefly discusses a number of variables…

Collected observations of parental behaviors of fifth graders and then obtained adjustment measures for the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. Supportive, aware parenting was associated with early adolescents' positive academic, social, and psychological adjustment in fifth grade and with further improvement in adjustment in seventh grade. (RJM)

Argues the usefulness of timelines for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade history instruction, contending that timelines reveal history's unfolding better than fact-recall techniques. Presents ways to use timelines, including autobiographical, large display, and manipulative timelines, and combining timelines with biographies. Suggests timelines help…

Efforts of 10 Japanese and 9 American teachers in Chiba City (Japan) and Ann Arbor (Michigan), respectively, to socialize their students and the 407 Japanese and 207 American students' judgments of norms were compared. Four domains of classroom life were studied: academic performance; academic procedures; social procedures; and morality. (SLD)

Measures of beliefs and reading performance were collected from 350 Moroccan students over a 5-year period beginning with grade 1 and 464 students over a 3-year period beginning with grade 5. Belief measures covered metacognition of reading skills and strategies, causal attributions, and conceptions of the good reader. (TJH)

Fifty-five boys, aged 6 to 8 and 10 to 12 years, were administered EEGs while they silently read short passages. Subjects were then tested on the passages. Age differences in the relationship between hemisphere activation during silent reading and reading comprehension were discovered. (TJH)

Aided by a small state grant, a Los Angeles County elementary school serving limited-English-speaking students tackled its underachievement problem by involving teachers in setting higher academic standards and expectations. The goal-driven project has provided focus and coherence to classroom instruction and improved fifth-grade reading and…

Describes a pilot project of the Park/School Program which involved graduate students in environmental studies conducting field studies in ecology with 46 fifth graders. Provides an overview of the project's potential for effecting change inside and outside the classroom, and presents recommendations for future programs and research. (LZ)

Presents findings of a qualitative study of musical learning processes. Findings are reported in terms of the nature of strategies used by children as they work with peers to solve compositional problems. Also finds that successful students moved back and forth from holistic approaches to segmented activities. (CFR)

Effects of mothers' need for approval on children's expectancies for success and persistence during failure were studied for 90 fifth graders attempting to solve 4 puzzles, 3 of which were unsolvable. Parental and situational variables affect children's achievement cognitions and behavior. Implications for parental socialization of achievement are…

Describes a longitudinal statewide study of Ohio fifth and ninth graders' knowledge about and attitude toward the oceans and Great Lakes. Results indicate a knowledge score increase except for humanities items. Among science items, earth science topics showed the greatest deficiencies, and oceanic attitudes declined over the period. (15…