Examines ways in which classroom practices create a press for conceptual mathematical thinking and how teachers can promote student participation in a classroom community where conceptual understandings are valued and developed. Details four important sociomathematical norms characterizing a high press for conceptual thinking. Concludes that a…

Analyzed data from study of typical center-based child care and children's development in three states. Found confirmation of prior evidence regarding importance of ratios, teacher training, and group size for high quality classroom practices; also demonstrated more significant contribution of teacher wages and parent fees. Quality varied with…

Explores lessons learned about adolescents' desire for community, how important teachers are in producing and maintaining community within classrooms, methods for teachers to include stories in their classrooms, and students' written and verbal responses to materials and methods used. (SD)

The life-kills approach to smoking prevention was tested in this study. In total, 1024 pupils (mean age 11.4 years, SD = 0.90) from Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany were recruited as an experimental group, and a sample of 834 matched pupils served as a control group. While the pupils from the control group received no specific…

Creating a classroom environment which is conducive to learning is one of the most important things a teacher can do. This becomes even more crucial as students enter classrooms with their cell phones, pagers, and beepers. Additionally, many students are tardy for class, leave early, or may not appear in class on numerous occasions. Therefore,…

The purpose of this study was twofold. One purpose was to identify the locally negotiated literate practices that defined ways of communicating information and knowledge across the curriculum in a fourth/fifth grade classroom. Through an ethnographic and sociolinguistic set of analyses, this investigation illustrated how the teacher worked to…

The shared struggles facing urban and rural schools, such as changing cultural and linguistic classroom profiles, increased childhood poverty, and residential segregation patterns, influence financial inequities between people and communities thus contributing to gaps in academic achievement and teacher shortages in both settings. The…

The beginning of the year is the right time to establish a climate of kindness, caring, and sharing for a teacher's group-time meetings. Group time is often a teacher's first "formal" introduction to the children, and a time when a teacher sets the stage for creating a sense of community. By demonstrating a teacher's loving acceptance for all…

Purpose: Two studies were conducted to investigate the effects of classroom noise on attention and speech perception in native Spanish-speaking second graders learning English as their second language (L2) as compared to English-only-speaking (EO) peers. Method: Study 1 measured children's on-task behavior during instructional activities with and…

This article argues for adolescent literacy specialists to take a stand against current trends for improving adolescent literacy with simplistic solutions such as high-stakes assessments coupled with teacher bonuses for improved test scores. Professionals need to create their own visions about ways to improve adolescent literacy--and make their…

This article discusses how teachers and parents can help build children's communication skills. Children's language develops in predictable stages. Here, the author outlines these stages. She also gives suggestions to parents on how to help build their communication skills at home. Language learning takes place throughout the classroom. The author…

This study examines teachers' perceptions of classroom motivation and achievement among students displaying culture-based classroom behaviors. Sixty-two elementary school teachers read scenarios of hypothetical students who behaviorally manifested themes purported to be consistent with a European/mainstream cultural ethos (competition,…

This article draws on Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis to interrogate and extend Bernstein's theory of pedagogic framing. It develops a typology of modes of pedagogic practice differentiated in terms of the dominance of one of three potential organising referents. These are (a) the grammar of the instructional discourse configured by a regulative…

Most of the research on motivation in education often uses measures taken outside the context of students' actual learning activities. This paper, however, maintains that students' motivation and learning are situated. Using a diary technique, this study explored how a class of high-achieving students in an Australian state high school (N = 34)…

The purpose of this article is to define, through discussion and example, the notion of an "anthropological approach" to science education research, as well as to advocate the potential contribution of such an approach to several research domains and to questions of access and equity. This paper reviews a variety of research articles that address,…