This document comprises reviews of recent studies on the influence of classroom environment; curriculum tracking; child, parent and teacher beliefs; and middle school environment on the achievement of high risk students. Chapter 1, "Competitive, Cooperative, and Individualistic Structures of Classroom Learning," reports on the negative effect of…

This sourcebook for kindergarten and grades one and two presents a balance between the theory and practice of education in the early years. The sourcebook supplements Manitoba Education curriculum guides. Emphasis is given to models of organization and methods of teaching that guide teachers in their efforts to help children develop happily at…

Designed to help teachers, grade six through high school, overcome misgivings about computers for writing and make the most of the new technology, this book offers answers to an urgent question in language arts: how can computers be woven into the human fabric of a writing workshop? The book is based on a five-year study of computers for writing…

Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio project (Project STAR) was designed to study the effects of class size on pupils in primary (K-3) grades. Responses of Project STAR teachers (N=1,003) to the annual Teacher Exit Interview are summarily reported for 1986 through 1989. Generally, the perceptions of teachers in small classes, in regular…

The challenges and rewards of dealing with the many types of students that can be found in today's English classrooms--gifted, handicapped, learning disabled, second language learners--are addressed in this focused journal issue. The titles of the articles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Help Me Help You" (L. Quitman Troika); (2) "Students…

A second language teaching technique using relaxation, imagination, and music to accelerate the learning process is imagination, and music to accelerate the learning process is discussed. Part 1 describes the classroom setting and the stages and processes of the technique. Part 2 outlines the theory and sources of the method in the literature of…

Developed by early childhood educators at the classroom, system, state, and university levels and tested in six school systems, this handbook has been prepared to help kindergarten teachers in Georgia plan, implement, and evaluate their own programs. In addition to introductory material stating the philosophy of the program, principles of child…

Using a series of regression equations, classroom process and student achievement data from 136 junior high school mathematics and English classes were analyzed to answer the following questions: (1) Are the classroom behaviors and achievement levels of students systematically different across classes of higher and lower ability? (2) Within…

A study examined bilingual children's composing behaviors during classroom writing and their perceptions of writing. Students' descriptions of what occurred in their day-to-day environment were analyzed using ethnographic methods. The researcher observed five subjects--bilingual students in kindergarten through third grade--for 145 hours, and…

Student production of videotape recordings for teaching commercial foreign language is a means of engaging students in the learning process, providing ample opportunity for active use of the commercial target language (CTL) in a wide range of contexts, promoting the integration of cultural understanding in CTL communicative behaviors, and…

Because teacher expectations and student learning styles may conflict in a multicultural class, teachers should examine ways to meet the needs of multicultural students. In Western educational institutions, instruction is planned for incremental learning, students are expected to complete their assignments on time, and the classroom is…

This paper summarizes current knowledge from research on teacher effectiveness and discusses the relationship between those findings and educational policy. Few teaching strategies have been studied in different types of environments, so validated knowledge on teacher effectiveness exists for only a few issues. Research findings discussed include:…

Data were gathered, using pre and posttests and interviews, on the learning of individual students during a seven-week unit on a science topic (conservation) in a fourth grade classroom. Case studies of the learning experiences of each child, based on recordings and detailed observations of all class activities, were used to predict student…

Beginning with general observations on the human element in excellent teaching that often goes unnoticed by researchers, this speaker provides a wide range of suggestions for making more effective use of class time. These suggestions pertain to monitoring time on and off task, classroom organization and planning, making assignments, clarifying…

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of the Theory of Planned Behavior for predicting the behavioral intentions of teachers enrolled in the Institute in Physical Science. The study investigated three determinants of teachers' behavioral intentions set forth in the theory of planned behavior, namely attitude toward the behavior,…