Investigates a complex aptitude treatment interaction (ATI) of intelligence and metacognitive skill as aptitudes with structuredness of learning environment as treatment, based on a study of undergraduates in simulation environments. Highlights include computer-assisted learning and experiential learning; ATIs and discovery learning; and learning…

Discusses the creation of a positive classroom climate, examines four dimensions of classroom climate (physical, academic, organizational, and social-emotional), and reviews techniques that teachers can use to promote a positive classroom climate. Teachers need to get to know their students, discuss the course objectives with their students, and…

Discusses the challenge of providing an educational program for young adolescents that balances a commitment to academic achievement with a commitment to providing a caring, nurturing learning environment. Outlines 10 characteristics of the continuous process of school improvement in the high achieving school. (TJQ)

Teacher mentors in urban schools need particular characteristics to promote development in beginning teachers because the urban school is a unique environment. Urban mentor teachers need to be able to articulate their beliefs and practices, and they need well-developed coaching skills. (SLD)

Career intentions of 96 teachers of students with emotional and behavioral disorders were studied, and 36.5 percent planned to leave the field during the upcoming year, while 10.4 percent were unsure about career plans. Issues regarding the organizational structure of the school setting, rather than personal characteristics, were linked to the…

Used a new statistical procedure to examine consensual beliefs about situations common to universities. This approach aims at constructing a joint hierarchical or non-hierarchical classification of situational categories. Results indicate that a psychologically meaningful and methodologically satisfactory representation of the cognitive…

Formulates 3 hypotheses based on contingency, congruency, and contextual relationships, and tests them empirically on a dataset of 71 randomly selected Dutch secondary schools. Results show that managerial competence is most obvious during hard times, and that principals need more crisis-management training. (52 references) (MLH)

Identifies issues on the use of computer networks in K-12, business, and university environments, and reviews elements that play a major role in shaping wide-area networking use in elementary and secondary education. Discussion includes the technical and logistical elements, issues related to user attitudes and characteristics, and social and…

Examined the school and life experiences of former preschoolers 17 years after they participated in the Syracuse (New York) Prekindergarten Program. Data on influences that impinged upon the students indicated few differences between the school achieving and non-achieving students. Subjects from both groups were doing well, indicating the…

Whole-faculty study groups can help the entire faculty integrate and implement effective teaching and learning practices with the goal of increased student learning. The paper describes the reasons for and the development and implementation of whole-faculty groups, then examines one consultant's experiences with such groups in Georgia. (SM)

Reports on data concerning language environments in classes with children who had been in the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development project when they were three and four years old. Activities and types of talk used in preschool classrooms changed as children grew older. (BB)

After discovering at least 64 percent of their students were either tactile or kinesthetic learners, educators at North Carolina elementary school began grouping kids according to their tactile/kinesthetic or auditory/visual strengths and altered reading instruction schedules every three weeks so that each group had opportunities to learn at best…

Discusses Foxfire implementation in terms of "ecological model" of educational system. Model includes microsystem (interactions with classroom environment) within mesosystem (things outside classroom such as local, state, and national policies that directly affect it) within macrosystem (societal beliefs and values). Foxfire position…

Describes the views of A. S. Neill on democracy in school administration. Explains the reasoning behind Neill's arrangement of community-based decision making. Questions how democratic England's Summerhill School was in view of Neill's authority. Suggests giving children the right to participate in community government as an educationally…

Explores 40 urban principals' perceptions concerning obstacles to school effectiveness. Schools as organizational workplaces are plagued by stress, frustration, and alienation. There is a growing gap between school culture and the larger society. Kids who no longer buy into the American dream often fail to meet educator-imposed expectations.…