Data from "The Condition of Education, 1997" are used to show how changes over time in the composition of students in terms of factors such as student English language proficiency, family income, parents' education, and family structure affect the social context of education. This report traces associations between these student-level social…

A team of university and public school mathematics educators designed performance-based mathematics assessment tasks designed to align with the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills for 93 students who had been identified as at-risk in mathematics. Scenarios were developed based on four contexts: (1) familiar activity; (2) social issue; (3)…

Although there is a high level of research activities in the field of gender, these activities are only very loosely interconnected. In particular, the developmental and social psychological paradigms of research do not seem to have very much in common. This paper shows that at the intersection of developmental and social psychology many issues…

The applications of biographical concepts in educational settings were examined through a case study of one researcher's use of the biographical narrative interview to examine the connection between subjective and structural conditions and coping strategies in individual lives and to inform adult education practitioners. The biographical approach…

This paper examines the relation of cognitive and developmental-contextual variables to alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood in an attempt to increase the understanding of alcohol use during this age period. Components for each of the rational decision making theories, specifically attitude, subjective norm, and self-efficacy, were…

Explores British and American policy analysts' disparate perceptions about utility of major educational reforms (school-based management, school choice, and national standards). The Tories got carried away with their ideological agenda and have alienated teachers and the public. American educators are debating centralization/decentralization, but…

Investigates the potential interaction of conceptual representations and linguistic systems during language acquisition. The study examined language-thought interactions in American, Finnish and Polish children, focusing on the conceptual and linguistic development of space and time. Findings reveal that spatial and temporal linguistic systems and…

Argues that acquisition of English-as-a-Second-Language research must take into account social context and power relations in order to explain language learning processes. Uses interview data and writing samples to demonstrate how a student in South Africa is influenced in his written discourse in English by his power relations and experience as a…

Investigates the comparative effectiveness of two teaching strategies, large-group and individual/small group singing activities, on kindergartners' developmental music aptitude. Examines improvements in children's singing and musical aptitude in order to ascertain length of time and types of instruction necessary to affect improvement. (MJP)

Explores the impact of the social and academic diversity of the class on teachers' perspectives about their schools as workplaces. Data from 370 Israeli secondary teachers indicate that classroom diversity is correlated negatively with average academic ability and positively with class size and discipline problems. (SLD)

Suggests ideas on how visuals and video-texts such as TV commercials and talk shows can enrich foreign language curricula; provide students with exposure to language in various contexts; develop socio-linguistic competence in a foreign language; provide models of pronunciation, intonation, rhythm and accent; and reduce anxiety in the classroom.…

Growth of reading vocabulary from first through fourth grade was determined for 288 elementary school students (initial sample 756) from urban and rural disadvantaged schools and a suburban mainstream school. Results show great vocabulary increases and suggest some reasons and remedies for the gap between mainstream and disadvantaged schools. (SLD)

Explores the hypothesis that declines in achievement demonstrated in early adolescence result from educational context through a review of studies and analyses using National Education Longitudinal Study data (sample of 24,599 eighth graders). Evidence of a mismatch between school environment and student needs is discussed. (SLD)

This review examines the role of schooling in the life course of individuals, focusing on the timing and sequencing of schooling in the transition to adulthood. Conceptual issues in this study are explored, drawing on the sociological literature. The importance of social structure and institutional arrangements is stressed. (Author/SLD)

Reviews efforts to develop national content standards for teaching English. Today's standards movements are distinguished from earlier efforts in that the learner is recognized as active, the meaning is socially and historically contingent, and the purpose is the development of language for political power and the creation and appreciation of…