This study was designed to provide a detailed description of toddlers' social interactions in day care settings and to identify variables that promote positive encounters among children. Twenty-four toddlers, ranging in age from 17 to 28 months, were each observed for approximately 4 hours during regular center activities. Across all center…

This article outlines the development and trial of peer assessment procedures for implementation within a music performance context in the Australian tertiary environment. An overview of the literature on peer assessment is presented, followed by reference to specific trials of peer assessment within a tertiary music student context. The paper…

The expressed individual and cultural values of two groups of urban, lower socioeconomic status black American women are contrasted, using a situational forced-choice Expressed Values scale developed especially for this purpose. Group 1 (n=67) at the time of the study was enrolled in a high school equivalency degree program at a junior college.…

Stewardship of place is an idea whose time has come. Much of the improvement in economic opportunity and quality of life sought by policymakers for the citizens of their states depends on the acceptance by universities (especially metropolitan universities) of a leadership role in their communities. But university leadership cannot marshal the…

This publication explores adult literacy and numeracy. In particular, it draws on major insights from research conducted during 2003 and 2004 for the Adult Literacy National Project funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training. Key messages include: (1) Literacy and numeracy skills are shaped by…

This longitudinal study examined the education of language minority students in five school districts nationwide. Qualitative data included interviews, school visits, surveys, and source documents. Quantitative data included information from registration centers, language minority student databases, student information systems databases, testing…

This study examined the theoretical and research literature pertaining to culture learning in language education programs, focusing on whether studies existed that could support or challenge current language education practices regarding the teaching of culture; provide guidance to language educators on effective culture teaching methods; suggest…

This collection of papers examines how the contexts in which language teaching occurs impact the aims and methods of language teaching. Ten papers focus on the following: "Introduction: Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning" (Mike Byram and Peter Grundy); "From Practice to Theory and Back Again" (Claire…

This commentary examines the issue of youth participation in out-of-school time programs from two perspectives. It begins broadly with a youth-centered lens, by asking how children and youth spend their discretionary time and how time use patterns relate to outcomes. After painting a picture of the full out-of-school time landscape, this…

This research study attempts to explain the educational achievement gap between blacks and whites, the factors that cause the achievement gap, the consequences of the achievement gap for the black race, and possible solutions to the achievement gap. The data collected for this study has shown that the educational achievement gap between blacks and…

In the situated learning approach, knowledge and skills are learned in contexts that reflect how knowledge is obtained and applied in everyday situations. As an instructional strategy, situated cognition is a means for relating subject matter to learners' needs and concerns. Four major premises guide the development of classroom activities for…

The status and characteristics of women and people of color in educational leadership and administration are reviewed in order to acquaint readers with significant studies and to provide an overview of the experiences of principals and superintendents of minority status. Studies of educational leadership have tended to be rather limited in scope,…

Noting that it is by studying children's regular activities and their roles and interpersonal relationships that we come to understand how children develop as members of their cultural groups, this study examined children growing up in urban settings in a variety of societies. The study used an ecological perspective largely based on…

This report, commissioned by the College Board's National Task Force on Minority High Achievement, contains an analysis of possible changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the student-age population in the United States between 1990 and 2015. The data are presented disaggregated by social class, as measured by parent education and family…

This case study examined the role of field dependence in the failure of an online dyadic discussion of a complex issue, whether or not creationism should be placed on an equal footing with evolution in high school science classrooms. In this study, field is used to designate whole disciplines, rather than factions within disciplines. Using…