Reports on the Minority Education Initiative included in the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges' 1990 public policy agenda. Focuses on issues related to government policies and guidelines, effective teaching environments, and institutional effectiveness. Provides an assessment of each issue and strategies for change. (DMM)

Investigated attention-to-task and its relation to instructional context among 24 mainstreamed children with learning disabilities. Observation of students in regular class and resource room revealed significant differences in rate of engagement for classroom setting, type of instruction, and level of peer involvement, indicating that degree of…

Resource teachers' and regular teachers' ratings for 32 elementary-level learning-disabled (LD) students were compared to identify teachability characteristics and behaviors. Though the two groups of teachers did not note differences in problem behaviors of the same LD child in different settings, differences in cognitive/motivational and…

The theme focuses on the importance of teaching in vocational agriculture. Includes 10 articles on effective teaching, essential elements of the problem solving approach in teaching vocational agriculture, establishing a classroom climate for success, the economics of agriculture, dealing with student behavior problems, the importance of…

If education were to profit from existing information about the dynamic nature and structure of the brain, a variety of improvements could be made in schooling for the gifted, including elimination of its lockstep structure, multisensory processing of information, grouping by need, multidisciplinary and thematic instruction, and improved classroom…

The article identifies some of the problems with current cooperative-learning strategies and implementation, links those limitations to both the wider cooperative-learning movement and the nature of middle schools, and calls for conceptualizing and structuring cooperative learning within a much larger educational, social, economic, and political…

An exercise used to address a serious college classroom communication problem is described. The activity consisted of small group discussions of the important dimensions of teacher performance and subsequent feedback to the teacher and larger group. It provided students with valuable experience in providing useful feedback and improved class…

Provides preschool teachers with techniques for effectively including children with disabilities in their classrooms. Examines parent cooperation, the classroom environment, curriculum, developmental problems, special teachers, and the use of the "buddy system." Presents a case study of the inclusion of a child with severe mental and…

Discussion of the educational effectiveness of textbooks focuses on a model of a virtual textbook that relies on hypermedia. Highlights include changing roles of teachers, students, and content; systemwide features of the virtual textbook, including interface and object-oriented design; classroom environment; sequencing; and a prototype. (Contains…

Contends that nothing can prepare a student teacher for their feelings the first time they step in front of a classroom. Presents reflections and suggestions for student teachers. Includes recommendations on classroom management, learning resources, and student teacher-student interaction. (CFR)

Maintains that the National Council for the Social Studies national standards advocate understanding of and participation in democratic citizenship by all students, including those at the elementary level. Provides recommendations for developing a democratic classroom and building a democratic school community. (CFR)

Discusses the concept of transitions in early childhood classrooms, illustrates their usefulness for staff and children, and discusses the suitability of such activities in an early childhood program. Suggests that provision for active participation by the child, together with a planned child-centered outcome, allows transitions to be a most…

Examines praise as one of the ways children learn how to play an appropriate role in the school environment. Presents an analysis of praise during group discussion in four child-care centers. Suggests that in all four centers, children were being schooled in passivity rather than being encouraged to be active problem solvers and knowledge seekers.…

Used an ecobehavioral analysis system in studying a regular and English-as-a-Second-Language classroom to determine the opportunities afforded at-risk language-minority students to acquire and negotiate a second language and academic content. Found a pattern of minimal teacher attention to language development, low student academic engagement, and…

Analyzed how members of a bilingual sixth-grade class constructed knowledge as they interacted within a particular event of a social studies project. Through classroom observations, a range of features of classroom life were identified that shaped the opportunities students had to construct knowledge, including temporality, interactionals, spaces,…