Comparison of two fourth-grade teachers who effected different patterns of achievement (either expected achievement or high achievement) among their students (including those with learning disabilities or low achieving) found important differences in terms of pacing and format of instruction, student involvement in the lessons, motivation,…

The articles of this special issue focus on problems and deficiencies in the evaluation of school superintendents. They explore ways to improve superintendent evaluation, drawing on the literature, political realities, educational philosophy, and the theory and practice considered essential for good evaluation. (SLD)

Twenty-nine elementary special education teachers each monitored 2 students with mild disabilities using curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for 16 weeks. Students whose teachers implemented CBM more accurately made significantly greater math gains than students whose teachers either implemented CBM less accurately or who did not use CBM. Adequacy…

An alternative high school teacher examined whether her students could be motivated to achieve higher performance levels, testing a theory that performance would improve if students were asked to meet detailed standards rather than be rewarded for class attendance and assignment completion. The experiment had mixed results. (Author/SM)

Provides an insightful summation and critique of David Elliott's "Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education." Praises the book for its broad selection of thinkers and diverse array of topics. Claims, however, that the book places undue emphasis on performing and stoops to ridiculing rival theories. (MJP)

Whether Anglophone and Francophone students evaluate the same teachers equally, or whether the language in which instruction is delivered affects the evaluation, was studied with 988 first- and third-year students in Cameroon. Results indicate that students did evaluate teachers using their own language more highly and third-year students were…

Reveals significant correlation between older Maltese students and high test scores on their examinations to enter junior high. Older students are those born in the early months of the year. Study found little difference in scores between genders, although girls were more likely to pass the examination than boys. (MJP)

In a cooperative research program, classroom teachers and university researchers developed and implemented a contextualized performance-based assessment in mathematics. The assessments were intended to model what students may do in the course of daily activity and designed to assess problem solving, and conceptual and procedural understanding.…

Describes how to design a Web portfolio system that teachers can use in learning assessment. Evaluation of the Web portfolio system by students indicates that the applied technologies help students control their learning processes through developing portfolios. Students also believe Web portfolios serve as an effective communication channel and…

Discusses U.S. economic trends for the past century. Notes that distribution of wealth is more concentrated at top than is distribution of income, with income inequality growing worse in the 1990s. Maintains that wealth disparity explains achievement test score gaps between white and minority students. Presents proposals for asset-building,…

This commentary on "The Effects of Family-Centered Service Coordination: A Social Validity Study" (Romer), discusses the challenges of implementing family-centered service coordination and variables such as caseload size, models of service coordination, and models of staff development that might have an impact on these challenges. (CR)

This article reviews research regarding gifted students with disabilities who underachieve. Educators are urged to determine whether underachievement stems from more serious physical, cognitive, or emotional issues, a mismatch between the student and environment, or a personal characteristic, and develop intervention strategies specifically…

Views of 110 English school nursery nurses were studied to discover how the caregivers assess the nature and demands of their jobs. Findings confirm a need to eliminate nursery nurses' role-confusion, and to halt present trends toward de-professionalization through a public valuing and clarification of the nature of the nursery nurses' role in…

Compares the structure of education enterprises and workplace practices with those in other enterprises in the public and private sectors. Finds that labor-related and control-related factors in education differ substantially from enterprises in the public and private sectors. (Contains 60 references.) (PKP)

The authors surveyed students (N=396) and faculty (N=156) at a 2-year college to determine their views toward publishing students ratings of instruction. Students favored published ratings of instruction, citing potential benefits. In contrast, faculty cited numerous disadvantages and rated the likelihood of potential costs as high relative to…