This paper reports on the dilution effect of the ozone layer which jeopardizes a section of land in Chile from 53 degrees South latitude to 33 degrees South and the necessity of preparing the population for the possible ecological consequences of an increase in ultraviolet radiation. Scientists in Chile assume part of this task by studying the…

Kidcope, a check list developed to assess the prevalence of coping strategies among children and adolescents, was used to assess the prevalence of 10 coping strategies and their relative efficacy in a sample of 77 inner-city African American eighth graders (54% female). Compared to the white adolescents who comprised the original Kidcope sample of…

The narrative structure of a classroom event describes the order in which the story of the event unfolds. This paper compares the narrative structure of a traditional classroom to that of a communicative classroom. The comparison is made in the form of a drama in which a communicative mathematics spokesperson relates the comparative mathematics…

The term "contextual learning" refers to the type of learning that has also been called experiential learning, real-world education, active learning, and learner-centered instruction. Unlike traditional school learning, which is based on the principles of individual learning in a manner that is independent of tools and dependent on…

This book clarifies current efforts to reform teaching by providing a conceptual analysis of what a professional and a bureaucratic view of teaching entail. Case studies are presented illustrating what happens when differing approaches to teachers' work are tried in three school districts. The first chapter describes the two approaches to reform…

A literature review examines research and reports on school and school district size as they relate to educational quality and finance. Sections cover: (1) research on the relationships of size to course offerings, teacher qualifications, student achievement, student behavior, student participation, and school climate; (2) state level reports…

The "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (1989)" calls for the revision of existing secondary mathematics curricula which include an emphasis on contextual problems, multiple representations, and the use of computers. The focus of this revision significantly involves the acknowledgment of the key role of the…

The essential theories underlying the whole language approach require individual teachers to examine their assumptions about teaching and learning and to undergo a major paradigmatic shift that requires a new set of assumptions. One of the principal tenets of whole language is that the classroom teacher becomes an autonomous professional. This…

The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australia (MERGA) was officially constituted in 1980. In 1984, MERGA produced the first review of the mathematics education research carried out in that region. This book is the third in that series of research reviews. An overview provides the context in which the Australian research was conducted and…

This study examined the relationship of teacher decisional participation and school climate to teachers' sense of efficacy and their job satisfaction. Data came from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS-88) project, involving 1,035 schools with eighth grade students, and from the 1990 follow up of 1,296 schools. The final data…

Reflecting the current state of theory and practice in child welfare in Canada, these eight papers suggest a contemporary view of Canadian children and the contexts in which they develop as defined by legal rights and society. First, Henry S. Maas argues that attention to normal social development and its contexts, and to related ongoing theory…

The context of learning with computers is different from that of more traditional educational media because the computer is a new medium whose interactivity supports dynamic, evident, and malleable representations of abstract ideas. The model proposed addresses some mediating factors of the environment in which computers are used that affect…

An observational study of classroom behavior was made to identify competencies and contexts of social interaction influencing the development of friendship among preschool children attending an integrated special education classroom. Subjects were six boys and four girls whose ages ranged from 3 to 6 years. Two of the children, a 4-year-old girl…

Literature related to eight major categories of variables affecting the experiences provided to children in preschools is reviewed in this paper. Categories initially discussed include contextual factors, characteristics of clients, characteristics of teachers and other assisting adults, and the preschool curriculum. A short discussion of the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the general proposition that different maternal child-rearing pattern-types (permissive or restrictive) are associated with high scholastic achievement in elementary school children from four different class-culture groupings (black middle-class, black working-class, white middle-class, and white…