During the colonial period, the ideology of work--the American work ethic--took root. Americans valued work and considered it an obligation to society, to oneself, and to one's family. The key to the agrarian culture was an ethic that recognized the importance of hard, physical labor within a framework of yearly cycles of tasks. The world of the…

Based on the idea that parents are the first and most important teachers of their children's literacy, this booklet offers 101 practical and fun-to-do activities that children and parents can do together. The activities in the booklet are organized to fit the way parents tend to think about their time with their children: in the nursery; at…

In this activity, students build a city out of sugar cubes, bouillon cubes, and gelatin cubes. The city is then put through simulated earthquakes to see which cube structures withstand the shaking the best. This activity requires a 50-minute time period for completion. (Author/SOE)

This booklet explains the goals of Easter Schools, part of England's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Easter Schools should be planned to cover four half-days and include four literacy and four mathematics lessons each covering the equivalent of at least an hour. The booklet addresses the following issues: why funding has been made…

Responds to Tony Silva's 1997 article, which asserted that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing teachers should prevent themes and topics from dominating or controlling the curriculum. This paper argues that it is sometimes helpful for writing teachers to control why and what students write, focusing on university-level English writing in…

This is a book about effective elementary literacy instruction, intended for the many constituencies who have a need to know about what works to develop readers in elementary school. It suggests that since the initial publication of this book, the research support for balanced literacy instruction has continued to grow. This revised and updated…

Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) has been around in various forms for over 40 years. While this subject has received much study in elementary schools, the influence of SSR on typical, non-at-risk high school students' reading habits appears to be lacking. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of SSR on ninth grade students' recreational…

A high school science teacher reported that the students have motivation and learning problems to understand the concept of fossilization. Working with the science teacher, a Web-Based Learning Environment (Web-LE) was designed by a group of students in the Department of Instructional Technology at University of Georgia to enhance and sustain the…

Designed to encourage gifted students to develop their talents, the first issue in the volume focuses on academic competitions and includes articles on: "The Joys of Competition"; "Why Bother with Math Contests?" (Sam Vandervelde); "Science Competitions"; Humanities Competitions"; "Designing in Metal" (Cody Chance); and "Discovering My Chinese…

This book focuses on teaching diverse students, providing a pedagogical framework and concrete strategies that school staff and educators can use in the context of: professional development related to school renewal; professional development related to K-12 teaching; and teaching strategies for K-12 classrooms. The book also describes how…

From 1995-98, The Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) teacher compensation researchers conducted interviews and survey questionnaires of teachers and principals in three sites to measure the motivational effects of school-based performance award (SBPA) programs. When a school met preset educational objectives, the SBPA programs in…

Classroom assessment events were studied by investigating students' perceptions of task, self-efficacy, effort, and goal orientations and achievement levels in third-grade language arts and fifth-grade mathematics and social studies. Whether student descriptions differ from one assessment event to the next was also studied. Subjects were students…

This case study examines the cross-cultural learning experiences of two Chinese students at a major university in the Eastern United States. The study participants were a graduate student and his wife, both of whom had graduated from prestigious Chinese universities. At the time of the study, they had been in the United States for less than two…

This publication is designed to help Neighborhood Networks centers create programs that meet the goals of adult literacy learners. (The centers provide residents of federally assisted or insured properties with training in economic self-sufficiency.) Chapter 1 highlights the special characteristics of adult learners--the challenges they face and…

Adolescents' best friendships are often believed to contribute to their psychosocial adjustment. This study examined the relationship between students' adjustment to school and the positive features, negative features, and frequency of interaction in their friendships. Participating were 106 students, 90 percent of whom were white, in a small…