Reasoning about mechanisms is one of the hallmarks of disciplined inquiry in science and engineering, but comparatively little is known about its precursors and development. Children at grades 2 and 5 predicted and explained the motion of simple mechanical systems composed entirely of visible linkages (levers). Students' explanations of device…

This study examined the effects of teacher self-efficacy, education, and years of experience on observed classroom practices across 2 dimensions--teacher support for student learning and time in academics--as they related to fifth-grade students' (n = 1,043) literacy skills. To address these issues, the study used longitudinal data from the…

Nanotechnology is an emerging science that involved in different fields. This research inquired elementary school students' learning effect by using quasi-experiment, expositive-teaching and experiential-teaching methods for nanotechnology in the microcosmic world. By utilized the pretest "Nanotechnology Situational Questionnaire (NSQ)",…

Can prospective elementary teachers "unlearn" harmful algorithms used with fractions as they are invited to develop fraction number sense? This study examined the development of prospective elementary teachers' fraction number sense during an intermediate (grades 5-8) mathematics methods course. During this course, participants' were involved in a…

This study investigates the quality of the writing tasks assigned to native Spanish speakers in bilingual (Spanish-English) contexts, and the relationship between task quality and students' use of an academic register in their native language. Fifty-six language arts tasks were collected from 26 grade 4 and 5 teachers, and four student writing…

The authors examined the central hypothesis that students' early perceptions of support and sense of engagement in math classes and math activities strongly influence the broadening or narrowing of their math interest. The focus was on the first wave of qualitative data collected from 5th-, 7th-, and 9th-grade students during the 2007-2008…

We examine earnings records for more than 130,000 classroom teachers employed by Florida public schools between the 2001-2 and 2006-7 school years, roughly 35,000 of whom left the classroom during that time. A majority of those leaving the classroom remained employed by public school districts. Among teachers in grades 4-8 leaving for other…

This study examined program outcomes of student problem behavior and social skills, based on teachers' perspectives, before and after early behavioral intervention services. The study targeted students in kindergarten through grade 5 who were identified by the school system as being at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders. Students…

Today, boys generally underperform relative to girls in schools throughout the industrialized world. Building on theories about gender identity and reports from prior ethnographic classroom observations, we argue that school environment channels conceptions of masculinity in peer culture, fostering or inhibiting boys' development of anti-school…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a hybrid Sport Education-Invasion Games Competence Model (SE-IGCM) unit application on students' improvements in decision making, skill execution and overall game performance, during a soccer season. Twenty-six fifth-grade students from a Portuguese public elementary school participated in a…

At a 5-day summer camp designed for middle-school girls (N = 50), fifth through ninth-grade students were able to identify with individual scientists and learn more about the science field. Data from the girls' journals, pictorial representations, and field notes demonstrated that these young women related to scientists who actively engaged them…

This manuscript describes a research project designed to examine the relative effectiveness of a two non-function-based interventions (differential reinforcement of other behavior and self- monitoring) for decreasing problem behavior in a general education classroom for three students whose problem behaviors were hypothesized to be functionally…

The aim of this follow-up study was to examine the progress made by 13 Greek-speaking precocious readers in phonological awareness, reading and spelling from the fourth to sixth grades of primary education, and to compare their progress with that of 11 nonprecocious reader classmates. It was hypothesised that because of the linguistic…

In this Teaching Tips article, the author argues for a dialogic conception of voice, based in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. He demonstrates a dialogic view of voice in action, using two writing examples about the same topic from his daughter, a fifth-grade student. He then provides five practical tips for teaching a dialogic conception of voice in…

This article discusses the risks and possibilities of communicating and educating the child's emotional self in a formal classroom environment. Through designing and implementing an expressive arts curricular intervention in a Scottish primary school classroom, my research produces an example of how therapeutic notions focused upon health and…