In most elementary classrooms, some students struggle with learning, others perform well beyond grade-level expectations, and the rest fit somewhere in between. Within each of these categories of students, individuals also learn in a variety of ways and have different interests. To meet the needs of a diverse student population, many teachers…

This issue of the Australian Early Childhood Association Research in Practice Series focuses on creating aesthetically pleasing environments in early childhood care and education settings. The booklet details characteristics of aesthetically pleasing environments and discusses how early childhood practitioners' reflection upon the school or center…

This book for caregivers and parents provides over 300 activities based on the developmental needs of infants, toddlers, and 2-year-olds. The book describes key developmental stages to assist caregivers in identifying developmentally appropriate activities. Following an introductory chapter, the book is organized by developmental domains. Each…

This paper discusses creativity in young children and what teachers can do to support and promote it. Topics addressed in the paper include: (1) teacher interest in promoting creativity; (2) defining creativity; (3) creativity in the socioemotional domain; (4) the relationship between creativity and empathy for others; (4) bibliotherapy; (5)…

Based on the view that fostering positive values and a sense of community in children is the heart of the early childhood teacher's role, this booklet offers suggestions for instilling respect, responsibility, and compassion in young children in early childhood settings. The booklet presents a philosophy and a set of practices by which preschool…

Maintaining that much of the prevailing public discussion and media "hype" surrounding gender issues in education amount to little more than anecdotal rhetoric and opinion, this paper examines evidence for sex differences in the experiences and outcomes of schooling from recent and emerging teacher and school effectiveness research. The paper…

This book focuses on brain-based research to explore why boys and girls learn differently and how educators and parents can use that information to create the ultimate early childhood, elementary, or secondary classroom for both boys and girls. Part 1 of the book presents research findings from three primary points of view: (1) neurological and…

A study comparing the effects of student self-concept, classroom environment, and socioeconomic status on student aspirations and achievement surveyed 3,397 students in 28 rural and urban high schools in Western Australia over a period of 3 years. Government and nongovernment schools in metropolitan areas and in four categories of rural and remote…

This action research project evaluated a program to improve students' ability to resolve conflicts. Many students of the targeted third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms lacked a well-defined sense of classroom community as well as the ability to resolve conflicts peaceably. Research indicated that specific skills needed to be taught. For this…

This practicum was designed to increase the literacy growth of kindergarten students through the use of developmentally appropriate emergent literacy practices. The kindergarten language arts curriculum did not meet the diverse literacy needs of the kindergarten students. The goal of the practicum was to meet the diverse literacy needs of the…

This digest describes an interdisciplinary approach to instruction based on the relationship between reading, writing, and arithmetic. Questions related to which language learning strategies apply to mathematics, the perspectives of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) regarding this approach, the impact of reading on…

Information on test-takers collected at the time of examinations provides a rich description of AP students, but what are the characteristics of their teachers? The current study provides a glimpse into these characteristics by summarizing the results of the largest survey of AP teachers to date (32,109 responses). The AP Teacher Survey contained…

A sociolinguistic analysis of language use among eight preschool children in a bilingual English/Hebrew classroom was conducted to examine the effects of teacher background (U.S. or Israeli born/educated) while interacting with children from bilingual or monolingual backgrounds and teacher's participation (presence or absence) in classroom…

Explored relationships of students, teachers, and learning environment variables to science attitude. Variables found related to science attitude of all classes at grade levels four, seven, and nine were: sense of importance of science; student fatalism; teacher quality; and numerous learning environment variables. Implications for science…