A study examined the perceptions and knowledge of preservice general educators (n=293) and 131 inservice teachers toward early literacy instruction for students at risk for reading failure. Results found many general education teachers, at both preservice and inservice levels, are not prepared adequately for this challenging task. (Contains…

A bilingual teacher in a multiage 4th-6th-grade classroom has met the special academic needs of limited-English-speaking migrant students who immigrated from Mexico with little previous schooling. Her strategies and techniques include an accepting classroom environment, high expectations for every student, building on student background knowledge…

This study examined the nature of relationships and rewards for student affairs administrators at liberal arts colleges (LACs). Forty-three student affairs administrators from LACs participated in five focus groups. Results indicate that administrators tend to spend most of their time with students, followed try other student affairs…

This research examined the impact of the first-year implementation of an instructional intervention to promote achievement and equity in science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students. The research addressed three areas: (a) overall science and literacy achievement, (b) achievement gaps among demographic…

This chapter argues that liberal learning can be transformative and foster students' intellectual and ethical development only if we consider its development underpinnings and pedagogic strategies that illustrate that the skills of academic inquiry are the skills of personal development. (Contains 1 note.)

The science achievement of 226 5th graders from districts that have a kit-based inquiry science curriculum supported by intensive professional development (PD) is compared with data from a group of 173 5th graders from other districts that use nonkit science materials and do not have systematic science PD for teachers. Within the kit-based…

This paper describes the outcomes of a two-day Higher Education focus group meeting at Blencathra Field Centre, Cumbria, in November 2003. A review of the current status of fieldwork in undergraduate courses was undertaken. The data available indicates that although the number of students enrolling in Biological Science courses has increased, in…

This study used cognitive developmental theory to analyze how teachers learn to teach sport education. Two groups of undergraduate pre-service teachers were studied, one group during their secondary methods and corresponding field-teaching courses, the other during an independent teaching course. Data were collected through ethnographic…

In a report entitled "Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers" (National Academy of Sciences, 1995), the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy proposed a modified PhD training model that retains an emphasis on intensive research experiences, while incorporating additional experiences to prepare graduates for an…

The goal of this review of the clinical and research literature is to identify, describe, and critique published methods for assessment of attention and related functions in preschool children (ages 6 and younger). The need for valid assessment of preschool children has grown dramatically in the past two decades following the implementation of…

This is a study of a reform effort to improve mathematics achievement in an elementary school through a partnership with a university. The partnership involved collaborating with university faculty to provide and plan research based professional development. The purposes of the study were to determine if the instructional practices of the teachers…

The purpose of this study was to examine how a Web-based software program impacted lower elementary students' composition of personal narratives when using a supported paragraph activity. The subjects in this experiment were first and second grade students in a multi-age classroom in a low socio-economic urban community. The participants were…

To undertake rigorous research in biology and ecology, students must be able to pose testable hypotheses, design decisive studies, and analyse results using suitable statistics. Yet, few biology students excel in topics involving statistics and most attempt to evade optional courses in research methods. Over the last few years, we have developed…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss Florida teachers' recommendations for improving the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and to compare their recommendations with those of Florida administrators. Although teachers' suggestions varied as to the types and extent of remedies needed to improve the FCAT, some common themes emerged. The…

In this paper we describe the ways that SCoT, a Spoken Conversational Tutor, uses flexible and adaptive planning as well as multimodal task modeling to support the contextualization of learning in reflective dialogues. Past research on human tutoring has shown reflective discussions (discussions occurring after problem-solving) to be effective in…