This practicum project was designed to increase student ownership of learning through student-kept assignment calendars and portfolios. The subjects, 63 junior high school students at a private Christian school, were also involved in frequent, cooperative sessions in which they checked each other's work and offered suggestions, with reports to the…

This sourcebook is designed to give urban educators new information and strategies for working with parents of elementary school students through grade 6. Its five workshops explore how family life, school programs, teacher practices, and district policies can help build school-family partnerships for learning. Threaded through these workshops are…

This book provides strategies for working within the educational system and going outside the system, when appropriate, to get learning assistance for a struggling student. Part 1, "Identifying the Problem," discusses communicating with the teacher and getting vital information, focusing observations and impressions, and communicating…

This document focuses on trends in school and home frameworks for learning found in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data from 1977 to 1990. Trends in classroom instruction, course taking, students' attitudes, homework versus television viewing, and reading habits and home support for literacy are considered. One table provides…

In 1990-91, 20 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Mozambique, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States) surveyed the mathematics and science performance of 13-year-old students (and 14 countries also assessed 9-year-olds in the same…

Because rural Alaska educators were skeptical of the applicability to their teaching situations of various educational research results, researchers randomly surveyed rural Alaskan teachers to provide background information for the Rural Effective Schools Project and for educators who want to help rural schools increase their effectiveness. Three…

This study describes the individual, family, school, and community characteristics of Hispanic ninth-grade students enrolled in predominantly minority high schools in five major U.S. cities: Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, Newark, and San Antonio. The data, which are reported for four groups--Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Central…

Conducted in a school serving mainly Hispanic children, this practicum implemented an intervention designed to increase parents' involvement in the learning activities of their children. Practicum goals were to: (1) increase parents' attendance at Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings; (2) increase parents' attendance at parent-teacher…

This teaching guide presents some of the rationale behind an audiolingual approach to prereading language instruction and some planning suggestions and teaching techniques appropriate to beginning classes at the secondary level. Major attention is given to techniques for mimicry-memorization, dialog practice, pattern drill, nonverbal cues, and…

This syllabus was designed to acquaint Latin teachers in Texas with some of the practical measures being undertaken to revitalize the learning of Latin in secondary schools. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of comprehension through reading Latin aloud, listening to it, and manipulating it orally. The material is divided into six…

This guide presents suggestions from experienced teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for the first 2 days of class. An introduction describes how to organize the classroom. Next, the guide describes day 1 (begin to build a community spirit by introducing students to each other and the teacher in a nonthreatening manner) and…

In parents' quest to keep children "well-rounded" with out-of-school activities, they leave little time for homework and other activities considered by many to be important for their education. However, those parents who advocate for reduced homework loads, stress-free schoolwork, and an increase in extracurricular activities may actually be doing…

Based on conclusions from more than 30 years of research linking parental involvement and higher student achievement, this booklet offers 106 ways parents and others can become more involved in children's education. The ideas are grouped according to the following categories: (1) learning begins at home; (2) making sure your child starts school…

An eighth-grade teacher implemented several Total Quality Management methods in his social studies (civics) class in the middle of the academic school year. Using diagrams, he taught students ways to organize their work, generate ideas, and solve problems. Using student involvement, he developed ways to help students solve their homework problem.…

Students entering Steve Speier's Spanish class pull their personal laptops from their packs and begin preparing for the lesson. Some review Speier's board notes containing a combination of typed phrases and dozens of handdrawn vocabulary words saved as PDF files from his interactive white board Notebook program. Others don headphones and listen to…