A feminist action research team, which consisted of a science educator, an English-language learner (ELL) educator, a first-year science teacher, and a graduate assistant, set a goal to work together to explore the process a beginning teacher goes through to establish a classroom conducive to the needs of middle-level ELL learners. The guiding…

A language-based social skills instruction intervention used to prepare middle and high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders for return to less restrictive public school placements was evaluated. The daily 50-minute intervention focused on repetitive readings, recitations, and role-playing of skill step procedures until students…

Research on retention of students of color suggests possible areas of intervention to improve academic success.

This article discusses development during the early adolescent years with a focus on recent research on the biological, cognitive, self-identity, and motivational changes that occur during this time period and the implications of this research for middle school counselors. Peer influences on early adolescents also are discussed, with the issue of…

This qualitative study addresses the link between urban high school teachers' beliefs about their students' preparedness to achieve success in science and the teachers' reported curricular responses to those beliefs. Eight high school science teachers from schools representing a range of achievement levels were interviewed using semistructured,…

This article explores applications of the Self-Organizing Maps method (SOM) to psycho-educational data. The study examines the psychological well-being, self-regulatory and motivational styles of pupils at elementary and middle school (N = 795). The presentation of the method appears in cases which are related to general education, special needs…

In a doctoral study undertaken at Edith Cowan University the author set out to investigate the influence of home and school environments on the academic performance and educational/occupational aspirations of high school students from eight Chinese-Australian and Anglo-Australian families residing in a middle class suburb of Perth metropolitan…

Background: Parents' use of physical discipline has generated controversy related to concerns that its use is associated with adjustment problems such as aggression and delinquency in children. However, recent evidence suggests that there are ethnic differences in associations between physical discipline and children's adjustment. This study…

The authors present findings from an initial information gathering and analysis of a larger Office of Special Education Programs model demonstration project, "Connections to Success." The article is based on an analysis of a teacher survey conducted at four schools in the project's partner district focused on perceived problems, sources of stress,…

This article is about children in foster care and their educational problems. We define those children and present statistics as to their numbers, ages, and types of placements. We then make a case that too few individuals have listened to the voices of children in foster care or are aware of the many barriers they face. Next, we present…

The article presents the findings of the research into professional development needs of study programme managers at four Lithuanian higher education schools (two universities and two colleges) and a revised methodology for research into study programme managers professional development needs in the didactical domain of teacher qualification…

In these days of tremendous political pressure for results measured by standardized tests, time constraints can make social and emotional learning (SEL) a difficult undertaking for many classroom teachers. It seemed that after-school programs would be effective learning environments for supplying the missing piece in children's education. In this…

This paper reviews the characteristics of students entering initial training in four countries--Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, and Trinidad and Tobago. First a brief overview of the teacher education systems is provided. Second, biographical data is reviewed on age, religious affiliation, ethnic group and mother tongue, parental occupations and academic…

New Zealand school education through the middle years appears to be in crisis. Sutton (2000) reports that students in the age range from 13-15 years (Years 9 and 10 of schooling) experience the crisis most poignantly. Their teachers increasingly say children in this age range are difficult to motivate, that they present them with their greatest…

This study has two parallel research agenda: (1) the development of social skills and pedagogical content knowledge in teacher candidates as they work collaboratively in pairs, and (2) the development of conceptual understanding and social skills in elementary school students who are taught by teacher candidates with cooperative learning…