When 29 percent of final grades for students at Bendle Middle School showed up as Ds and Es, teachers knew something had to give. Kenkel, Hoelscher, and West describe how the ABCI approach, based on mastery learning, shook up a community culture of low expectations for working class kids, and opened the way for more appropriate teaching methods…

This paper draws on a recent and unique longitudinal study of Gypsy Traveller students in fifteen local education authorities in England. Gypsy Traveller students are less likely to complete secondary education than any other minority ethnic group and it is estimated that up to 12 000 young Travellers in England are not registered at any secondary…

An on-line education administration course was evaluated using Seven Lessons Learned by Graham, Cagiltay, Lim, Craner, and Duffy (2001 ) as the framework. The framework was found to be useful in revealing areas of strengths and weaknesses in offering virtual education administration courses. The evaluation provided information that clear…

Teachers at universities are facing an increasing disparity in students' prior IT knowledge and, at the same time, experience a growing disengagement of the students with regard to involvement in study activities. As computer science teachers in a joint programme in computer science and business administration, we made a number of similar…

This chapter examines the extent to which the composition of classes affects learning outcomes. The aim is to explore peer effects when students are organized into classes on the basis of ability, ethnicity, or gender, as well as the effects of multigrade and multi-age classes and class size. The argument is defended that these composition factors…

This article discusses the adjustment of ten Asian-born university students to the academic culture of an English-speaking university in the United States. Findings from a case study reveal an instrumental role played by compatriot networks in the students' adjustment process. Spindler's cultural therapy model provides the lens for an…

This study investigates the relationship between postsecondary aspirations and vocational/educational self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, perceived educational barriers, and sources of support among a sample of rural Appalachian high school students. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory as the theoretical framework, vocational/educational…

This paper examines a preservice teacher initiative whose overarching goal is to begin to reverse the cycle of educational failure for students labeled "at-risk." Although research in teacher preparation has explored the ways in which preservice teachers learn to teach, few studies have focused on how teaching in an alternative high school…

Teachers inherit and experience historical and current identificatory racial meanings born of social inequality that inform their teaching. Such meanings may undergird White teachers' lower expectations for Black youth as opposed to those of Black teachers. In accord with other studies, this inquiry addresses the invisibility of Whiteness as…

This study explored mothers' beliefs about their children's educational and occupational futures, and it examined relationships between mothers' beliefs and children's academic achievement and between mothers' beliefs and maternal perceptions of parental responsibilities. A sample of 141 mothers and their first- or fourth-grade child participated…

The goal of this manual is to produce a learning climate in which students will master certain academic skills and knowledge regardless of their socioeconomic or minority background. This second edition provides materials, references, ideas, and a framework for developing a positive learning environment and an effective school learning climate.…

This study explored middle school teachers' perspectives on and expectations of adolescence and puberty, using observations and interviews of 15 teachers in two Japanese middle schools and two United States (U.S.) middle schools, as well as a survey of teachers in selected schools in both nations. Teachers in the U.S. described puberty as being…

This study identified patterns in general education teachers' accommodations for students with disabilities, focusing on grouping practices, teacher expectations, and modifications. These patterns were examined in order to provide a multivariate description of integration practices on which to base practice and policy decisions. Twenty-two…

This study describes and explains changes in ninth- and tenth-grade social studies and science courses that emerged in the pedagogy of classroom teachers as a result of participation in a detracking project in an urban high school. The detracking project represented a profound change in the organization of school curricula. Four social studies and…

Urban school superintendents from Pennsylvania and New Jersey met to consider issues related to the improvement of urban secondary schools. Although the public is pessimistic about all urban public schools, it regards secondary schools with particular pessimism. There are 70 urban high schools in New Jersey and 81 in Pennsylvania. Superintendents…