Describes a study in which average eighth graders in an urban junior high school were placed into prealgebra classes normally reserved for high achievers. The average achievers in the prealgebra classes understood mathematical concepts better and enrolled in more advanced mathematics classes during high school, than did their cohorts. (GLR)

Argues that tracking students for instruction is usually neither equitable nor effective. Reviews what has been learned about tracking, considers impacts of these findings, and suggests new research to target needs of reformers more directly. Understanding and changing the norms and policies that buttress tracking is essential to reform. (SLD)

Daniel Webster Accelerated School in San Francisco (California) is one of two schools adopting the process of school change developed by H. M. Levin. An interview with Levin explains his philosophy of accelerated schools characterized by (1) unity of purpose; (2) school site responsibility; and (3) building on strengths. (SLD)

Assessed the attitudes of 359 immigrant and native-born American parents of kindergarten through second-grade children about child rearing, education, and intelligence and their children's school performance. Found that parents' beliefs about conformity were negatively related to their children's school performance. (MDM)

Explores academic self-efficacy of 382 male and 319 female Chapter 1 elementary school students using the Self-Efficacy for Academic Tasks scale. Factor analyses reveal no sex differences in factor structure. Verbal skills and compliance explain 66 percent of the covariation. Efficacy beliefs decline between second and fifth grades. (SLD)

Examines M. L. Maehr's Personal Investment Model of motivation. Presents evidence for the usefulness of the theoretical framework and the validity of the Inventory of School Motivation, based on the theory, using data for 2,152 high school students from aboriginal (n=492), migrant (n=487), and Anglo (n=1,173) backgrounds in Australia. (SLD)

Study examined whether adaptive and maladaptive functioning related to academic achievement in African-American and white students. Parent interviews indicated adaptive and maladaptive behaviors predicted grade point average and achievement test scores for white students, but only maladaptive behavior predicted scores for African-American…

This ethnography of eight lower-track classrooms in two schools gives insight into the operation of the tracking system, although it implicitly accepts tracking and does not face the injustice children experience as a result of lower-track placement. Broader structural reasons underlying the tracking system are not examined. (SLD)

Hamovitch's review misinterprets key aspects of the book and of cultural and curricular analyses in general. The book links the curricular dilemma in balancing individualized and standardized knowledge to the wider culture. It is not a defense of tracking, but rather a curricular and cultural examination. (SLD)

This policy statement adopted by American Federation of Teachers delegates in the summer of 1992 discusses two great tasks for U.S. education: improving the traditional model of education, while creating a different kind of learning institution to replace the traditional school. How to proceed in both areas is outlined. (SLD)

Reports on the relationship between students' propositional knowledge, measured by concept mapping tasks, and their study strategies, measured by self-report questionnaires, as it relates to the concept of photosynthesis as presented in a first-year biology course. Results indicate that involved, purposeful study strategies, prompted by relevant…

Compares differences in successive pretest/posttest scores for 46 undergraduate volunteers following the application of distinct teaching formats to each of 3 consecutive subsections of a human physiology course. Indicates scores increased favorably for audio-visual lecture and self-study tutorial formats but no significant increase for didactic…

Presents the six major components of the Directed Reading Activity strategy: Developing Vocabulary, Building Background and motivation, Setting the Purpose, Guiding Silent Reading, Questioning to Determine Comprehension, and Rereading, as applied to mathematical problem solving, resulting in a directed mathematics activity. (MDH)

Highlights the importance of student effort in the high school experience. Discusses current educational expectations from the perspectives of parents, students, teachers, and society as a whole. Points to a national tendency to emphasize innate ability over achievement and lax college entrance standards as contributing to current social patterns.…

Describes the position of Specialist in Continuing Education (SCE) developed by the Cooperative Educational Research Laboratory, Inc. The SCE conducts seminars with small groups of teachers engaged in self-assessment and professional growth. Seminars focus on teachers finding their own solutions to their problems and on professional…