This book is one in a series designed to provide access to a wide range of selected articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals. This volume contains 46 articles by scientists, educators, researchers, and writers providing effective and useful perspectives on today's important topics in the study of biology. Articles included in this guide…

The procedures used in an ethnographic study of a classroom language learning community are described. The research was undertaken to gain insights into adult language learning taking place among students who were not foreign language majors in an elementary French class at Michigan Technological University during the 1986-87 academic year. The…

This paper presents selected research findings from Monitoring the Future, an annual series of national surveys focusing on lifestyles and drug use among representative samples of American high school seniors that has been conducted every year since 1975. The presentation focuses on two issues: aspects of lifestyle currently associated with drug…

In this module, developed by the Research Applications for Teaching (RAFT) project, preservice teachers study the major types of classroom interactions which occur between teachers and students and review the research findings showing how these interactions are related to effective teaching. Much effort is spent on describing procedures for…

Drug abuse programs in New York City schools were evaluated to determine their natures, whether they met the needs of students, and the outcomes realized. Programs have been in operation for 15 years. Students selected from 32 programs were given pretests with posttests after participation. Three instruments were used. Valid matched testings were…

Despite the myth of Asian academic success, there is a distinction between the educational background and academic achievements of immigrant and refugee children from literate, urban, western-influenced backgrounds, and refugee children from pre-literate, rural cultures that are uninfluenced by Western technology and education. This is…

The writing problems of most Spanish-English bilinguals do not stem from their bilingualism per se, but are similar to those that inhibit other basic writers. The most serious is unfamiliarity with written, academic English. Students can rarely overcome this on their own. Most need intensive remedial and developmental instruction to be adequately…

In recent years, teacher education curriculum has become more focused on the "back to basics" issue of teaching, encouraging teachers to manipulate students and classroom environments to attain one goal: academic learning. Critics claim this narrowing of the teacher education process has led to negative social consequences where children…

This study examines the limited literature on zoomobile programs and suggests that remarkable uniformity exists between such variables as types and lengths of programs offered, animals used, staffing, area served, and funding. It notes a common set of problems, from practical ones such as animal stress and liability insurance, through…

A practical reference guide for educators who teach large classes is presented, based on a workshop on improving teaching and learning in large classes. The workshop involved weekly meetings for a year at Colorado State University. The following problems of teaching and learning in large classes were identified: social and physical control, class…

A case study of a seventh-grade mathematics classroom was conducted for almost three months in l985-86. The purpose was to investigate factors related to mathematics achievement. The 16 students consisted of 4 black females, 3 black males, 5 white females, and 4 white males; the teacher was a black male. The data came from field notes and audio…

The Albuquerque (New Mecixo) Public Schools established the Mental Health Project in August 1985 to provide an interdisciplinary team approach to deliver direct/indirect counseling services to selected special education students, families, and staff. Seventy-seven percent of the 88 students, ages 5-21, receiving services were either behaviorally…

Development of human resources is the primary purpose of vocational education, and it is only through continued professional growth that vocational educators can develop and maintain the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and habits needed to assist others in the process of realizing their full potential. The individual and professional development of…

Focusing on problems believed to pose the greatest risk to the children of New Jersey, this report sets forth the views of the Governor's Committee on Children's Services Planning on priorities for action. After an executive summary of the report, the issues identified by the committee are summarized in chapter II, which describes the current…

This paper details how classroom reading instruction can be studied by using microethnographic techniques, wherein classroom events are videotaped and then carefully analyzed to determine their social organizational features. A short introduction to the use of microethnographic methods is presented, followed by an analysis of a lesson taught by a…