In this paper, the authors contend that professional development often focuses on, and advocates, a particular instructional strategy, such as the use of hands-on instruction. In the lessons observed in the "Inside the Classroom Study," however, it was found that instructional strategy did not determine lesson quality. Consequently, the authors…

This article explains how to use the "Jeopardy!" game format both to assess student knowledge and reinforce critical information. It first considers problems with use of the standard game with students who have mild disabilities, then offers suggested modifications to the game to increase its instructional effectiveness. (Contains references.) (DB)

Three studies (N = 171) examined preschool children's tendency to use category information to make inferences about ambiguous behavior. Children heard stories in which category information about story characters was manipulated and behavioral information was held constant. Participants were asked to evaluate, explain, and determine the…

The Year 6 National Curriculum reading test has become a familiar and established annual experience at the end of the primary phase in schools throughout England. From 1993 onwards, each year the national reading test for 11-year-olds has consisted of a different set of texts, accompanied by a different set of questions. With over a decade's…

Ethical and effective interviewing of young children in relation to their learning is a challenging and complex process. This paper describes the use of an experience-based flexible and focused interview methodology in a study based on young children's views and understandings of number. It shows how the approach used builds on previous work in…

Teachers of core middle level classes are now expected to play a larger role in supporting students' reading of course materials than has traditionally been the case. University courses and high-quality professional development emphasizing content literacy can equip teachers with important insights about reading and can provide them with a…

Despite the prevalence of multiple choice items in educational testing, there is a dearth of empirical evidence for multiple choice item writing rules. The purpose of this study was to expand the base of empirical evidence by examining the use of the "all-of-the-above" option in a multiple choice examination in order to assess how…

Kids ask the darndest questions. And sometimes they ask them in the darndest places, including online information systems that were not designed to answer them. There is a reason for this continuing phenomenon, and an important lesson in it for school library media specialists and other educators. To understand the phenomenon at hand, imagine an…

The major purpose of the study was to examine what constitutes effective teaching as defined by measured increases in student learning with a focus on the instructional behaviors and practices. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) were used to identify teacher effectiveness levels while…

This final chapter summarizes the areas of consensus in the debate on method choice, including considering the nature of the primary evaluation questions, the nature of the phenomenon being evaluated, the constraints on the evaluation, and ethical issues. Pragmatic suggestions based on these areas as well as areas still in contention are offered.…

Previous research on students with learning disabilities has indicated that they benefit most from explicit instruction. However, few studies have examined how explicit instruction may be translated to the logistical demands associated with large-group instruction in high school general education settings in ways that are socially acceptable to…

In this paper, we report on a series of algebra classes with a group of low-income, African American mothers of elementary-aged children who had limited and negative formal experiences with algebra. We drew from United States reform-oriented elementary mathematics curricular materials in the classes. The women initially arrived to the class out of…

According to the NCTM reform suggestions, when teachers are orchestrators of student interactions, students adopt a more active role in explaining and learning mathematics. This research, which mapped the nature and role of meaningful mathematical discourse, provides insights into discursive practices that lead to rich mathematical interactions.…

The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to provide insight on how to use online discussions to foster collaborative learning and how to design assessment processes to evaluate the effectiveness of those discussions. This study focuses on the pedagogical role of discussion, effective practices in discussion, guidelines for creating…

The importance of student talk in mathematics classrooms figures prominently in curriculum and teaching standards. Student talk is a vehicle for increasing student learning and for helping teachers monitor student understanding and inform student instructional practices. Although researchers have begun to study the moves teachers may make to…