As part of Phase 3 of the Universal Preschool Child Outcomes Study (UPCOS-3), Mathematica Policy Research worked with the First 5 LA Children and Families Commission and Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) to conduct a descriptive study of the characteristics of classrooms in LAUP programs during winter 2010. This study has a particular focus…

In a Midwestern school district, teachers and administrators have specific concerns and opinions about professional development (PD) related to differentiated instruction. Carol Ann Tomlinson, the guru of differentiated instruction (DI), refers to DI as meeting the needs of students by adjusting instruction in order to address how they learn…

This paper reports the overall findings of research on effective teaching practices in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS). It is a cross-case analysis of five earlier studies (Biology, Algebra I, U.S. History, middle school Algebra I, and English I). Despite subject implementation differences, four common themes were found: (1) high academic…

Urban schools serving low-income minority children face a variety of challenges related to teacher quality, resources and school infrastructure. Programs such as the GK-12 Fellows Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), try to mitigate some of these issues by supporting partnerships between local school districts and institutions…

This article reports on findings from a school-based action research project with aboriginal adolescent students attending an alternative school in Canada. As a Freirean response to these marginalized students' school failures, the researcher engaged students in a critical multiliteracies approach to language and literacy learning. Based on…

Most K-12 evaluations are designed to make inferences about how a program implemented at the classroom or school level affects student learning outcomes and such inferences inherently involve hierarchical data structure. One methodological challenge for evaluators is linking program implementation factors typically measured at the classroom or…

The manual is designed to provide an individualized, competency-based approach to training professionals who work with special needs children. The manual is organized according to three units, each with stated purpose, objectives, and learning experiences and activities. Following a pretest of general knowledge and skills, unit I addresses the…

Discussed is the assessment of sociometric and observational measures of peer popularity and communicative egocentrism for 60 white, middle-class female preschoolers. Results indicate that communicative egocentrism was significantly related to the observational measure of peer popularity but not significantly related to the sociometric measure.…

The first of three papers on underachievement in children focuses on causes, identification and treatment. Research is reviewed concerning 11 factors (including low self esteem, socioeconomic influences, and teachers' expectations) in underachievement. Identification and diagnosis through observation and self observation are examined. Seven…

THE BROAD PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO SYSTEMATIZE INFORMATION ABOUT INDEPENDENT STUDY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS BY DEVELOPMENT OF A DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF THESE PRACTICES IN THE SCHOOLS STUDIED. THIS INFORMATION WAS COMPILED BY THE USE OF QUESTIONNAIRES AND VISITS TO EACH OF 317 SECONDARY SCHOOLS BY RESEARCH TEAMS. ONE OF THE FIRST CONCLUSIONS…

The object of this study was to validate a technique for establishing inter-rater reliability on the Southwestern Cooperative Interaction Observation Schedule (SCIOS), where it was impractical to bring the observers to a common site. Reliability was originally obtained when eight observers met together. Observers were divided into four pairs. A…

This teacher evaluation checklist with accompanying manual was designed for use in Hartford, Connecticut, public schools to provide a means of teacher self-evaluation and to provide principals and other designated administrators criteria for objective observations and comment on the quality of teaching activity. (The "Instrument for the…