Foreign language instruction is known to develop better critical thinking skills in children. Therefore, the teaching of foreign languages should be promoted so that "all" students may attain better creative, divergent, critical, and analytical thinking skills. Research done in past years on cooperative learning models has consistently shown that…

The development of valid and reliable instruments for attitudes' measurement has been proven crucial for the quality of research. This study is dealing with the development and validation of an attitude toward chemistry instrument. By using this instrument, 11th grade Greek students' attitudes regarding the difficulty, the interest, the usefulness…

The research reported here tests the claim made in the Input Processing approach to second language (L2) acquisition that interpreting the meaning of language form is essential for learning. This claim has been put forward as an underlying part of the pedagogical package known as Processing Instruction (PI) (VanPatten, 1996, 2002a, 2004). Two…

This article suggests ways in which a current research article on employment discrimination from the "American Sociological Review" can be used in the undergraduate classroom to facilitate deep structure learning (Roberts 1986, 2001, 2002). The exercises are designed for different levels of the undergraduate curriculum and adopt the strategies of…

The purpose of this study was to systematically reflect upon my teaching practices, and to investigate the benefits of differentiated instruction using action research methods. This paper outlines the action research process, and is a case study examining the academic, social, and emotional progress of an advanced grade three learner involved in…

CARAT (Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare) schemes have been operational in prisons throughout England and Wales for three and a half years, designed to increase the support available to drug-using prisoners both during custody and on release. Specifically the CARAT service has a remit to "bridge the gap" between…

The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), introduced in 1992-93, is a credential and formal qualification within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). SACE was recently subjected to a review that led to a series of significant recommendations. These recommendations came out of a process that began with the Review Panel…

This article describes and reports evaluation results for five key elements of the Challenge 2000 Multimedia Project's inservice professional development program. The five elements are: (a) Technology Learning Coordinators (a mentoring system), (b) Minigrants (small local grants tied to a planning process for teachers), (c) Partnerships…

In a recently published research article in this journal, Avramidis & Skidmore (2004) argued that it is time we placed issues of disability provision more in the context of provision for the generic student. They presented a study based on the Learning for All Questionnaire (LfAQ), which investigated certain implied issues. Findings indicated…

"Education Week" provides a weekly review of state and federal K-12 education policy news. This special issue of "Education Week" includes the following articles: (1) Below the Surface; (2) School Leaders Seek Innovative Solutions to Improve Student Performance (Steven Dowling); (3) A Decade of Effort (Lynn Olson); (4) A Small Wonder (Debra…

This report provides an annual overview of data reported by South Carolina's public institutions of higher education as part of institutional effectiveness reporting and as part of the process of performance funding. Prior to the January 2000 edition, this document was entitled "Minding Our P's and Q's: Indications of Productivity and Quality…

The tables presented in this document show the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) results for the past two years. Twenty-four tables show results as percent at each performance level and percent passing, as well as percent of students tested. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

The Commissioner's annual report provides the Legislature with information reported by school districts concerning incidents of serious student misconduct grouped into the following four major reporting categories: violence, vandalism, weapons, and substance abuse. An analysis of trends yields indications of progress and of ongoing concern, and…

In authoritative teaching methods, whereby the teacher controls the social interaction and other classroom activities, the actions of many children are often in response to what they perceive to be the teacher's expectations and the requirements of traditional school evaluation practices, such as examinations and tests. In this kind of school…

This paper reports on the findings about a mentoring project that failed. It is based on a case study in which the writer participated as a mentor of the staff members of the South African Department of Labour. In 2002, the South African Department of Labour (DoL) published a tender ref: Services/ta/cst/p1/wp3 for Communications Skills Training…