How science understandings are communicated and how students construct meaning of these communications are central issues in epistemic research. Students' metacognition of the meaning-making process is embedded in this line of research. This paper reports a study to examine children's declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of science…

This symposium presentation comprises five papers about the efforts of a consortium of three Iowa liberal arts colleges (Clarke College, Loras College, and the University of Dubuque) to develop a critical social perspective in its teacher preparation curriculum. An introduction by Michael Vavrus defines critical social perspective as a critical…

This pack of materials is designed to help students working to improve their basic skills as part of their catering course. It consists of six sections: oral communication, reading, writing, communication without words, application of number, and information technology. The individual sections of the pack are divided into task sheets and fact…

The Mt. Hood Community College National Tech Prep Demonstration Center program is described in this performance report. The report details the following activities through which the center contributed significantly to educational reform: (1) information dissemination (including distributing information packets to more than 2,770 sites, hosting 63…

Britain's Further Education Unit (FEU) has been working with numerous individuals and organizations in the further education (FE) sector to develop a common framework for post-14 education and training throughout the nation for the 21st century. The framework proposed by FEU provides for all achievement and awards in FE programs to be described in…

This Technology Learning Activity (TLA) for control robotics programming technology in grades 6-10 is designed to teach students to construct and program computer-controlled devices using a LEGO DACTA set and computer interface and to help them understand how control technology and robotics affect them and their lifestyle. The suggested time for…

The case study examined the development of English writing skills in a native Russian-speaking college student with no previous instruction in English as a Second Language. It drew on writing samples from 2 years of English language instruction. Theories of first and second language acquisition, especially in written expression, are analyzed in…

Kindergarten and third-grade students in two suburban communities located in northern Illinois participated in the implementation of a program for improving student's engagement in social interactions and academic activities. The problem documentation indicated a need for teacher's intervention in order to improve student's social academic…

This report illustrates how community service learning can be used as a vehicle for achieving the goals of education and youth development and, concurrently, how it is highly consistent with the goals of systemic educational reform, particularly in rural schools and communities. Part 1 covers the definition of service learning as a method of…

An anti-bias curriculum focuses not only on the richness of various cultures, but also on seeing cultures as differing responses to common human needs--for food, shelter, fellowship, governance, and other necessities. Thus, cultures and peoples are not superior or inferior, just different. The anti-bias curriculum presented in this book has the…

The nature of the relationships among contemporary family variables and school achievement is examined in this collection of articles. Divided into two parts, the collection examines related processes and issues. In the first part, the chapters and authors are: (1) "The Family-School Relationships Model" (Bruce A. Ryan and Gerald R.…

This document provides a series of learning activities for parents to conduct with their second-graders to reinforce school lessons. Nine activities are provided for each month of the year (organized September to August). The document also offers a summary of normal development for children ages 5 to 10 years and a bibliography of authors, poems,…

This chapter addresses the theoretical and empirical knowledge bases related to bilingualism and second language acquisition in Chicano children. Research concerning bilingual acquisition has found that the linguistic, cognitive, and social characters of the bilingual child develop simultaneously. Furthermore, all three areas of development are…

Extensive interviews were conducted with 12 young adults with learning disabilities who were successful at the college level, as well as with their parents, along with a thorough review of available school records, in order to examine how well high-ability students with learning disabilities succeed in academic environments. Most of the…

This report describes a program which utilized cooperative learning activities to help eighth grade students in physical education classes at one urban Illinois school develop their interpersonal skills and reduce the frequency of inappropriate behavioral choices. The problem of inappropriate behavioral choices in the physical education classroom…