Issues facing schools, teachers, and policy-makers in the expansion of elementary school instruction in modern second languages are discussed, particularly in the context of Scotland's educational system. An introductory chapter defines key terminology, the transition from pilot programs to institutionalization, and discusses briefly the…

Over the years, situated and observational learning has given way to mass teaching and theoretical learning based on prose information. Even though schools have produced many successful professionals, they often fail to address individual differences in learners and encourage competition rather than cooperation between learners. As a result, many…

This study contributes to the elaboration of a sociocultural perspective on literacy by considering the role of gender in shaping students' participation in literacy activities in school. The project aims to illuminate the way in which gender expresses itself in and helps to shape the nature of children's literacy acquisition across different…

This volume contains papers on regional and global trends that affect the political factors which are changing the context within which academic mobility occurs: (1) "Introduction" (by Peggy Blumenthal and others); (2) "Political Dimensions of Regionalism in a Changing World" (David Leyton-Brown); (3) "Economic Dimensions…

This paper identifies differences in educational outcomes for rural students in South Australia compared to their metropolitan peers. This information was compiled by a task force whose aim was to develop an action plan to achieve equality of educational opportunities for rural students. Available information suggests that students in country…

This paper examines the origins of the entrance of black and white Southern women into the teaching profession after the Civil War focusing on their social, familial, and racial origins; marital and childbearing status; educational preparation; and how their lives converged or diverged due to the positions they occupied in their communities as…

This collection is based on two studies of approaches to increasing the supply of minority teachers. The first was a documentation study of programs supported by the Ford Foundation Minority Education Demonstration Project designed to attract minority candidates, prepare them well, and present model programs. The second study described a range of…

This monograph presents a paradigm for identifying giftedness among all groups of young people. Section 1 presents a review and critique of traditional identification approaches and highlights the limitations that tests may have for identifying talent potential among groups currently underrepresented in gifted programs. Section 2 examines the…

This report describes a program employing the theory of multiple intelligences and individual learning style in order to increase time on task, increase retention of academic material, and decrease fluctuations in distracting behaviors in classrooms. Seventeen third grade students in the targeted classroom of an elementary school were surveyed on…

This curriculum unit teaches students about nationalism within the context of Europe and is designed to help better understand the history of Yugoslavia and why Yugoslavia fell apart. The unit focuses on Yugoslavia as a multinational state and how the federation was organized during different historical time periods. There are three lessons in the…

The Project for Minority Student Achievement (PMSA), a 5-year program funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is a program designed to engender systemic change within a segment of a large urban school district in the Los Angeles (California) Basin. Approximately 40% of the student participants were African American and approximately 60%…

This digest includes several articles relating to perceived gender differences among early adolescents. "Middle School Voices on Gender Identity" (Cynthia Mee) describes a study in which 2,000 middle school students in grades five through eight were interviewed with a 52-item open-ended questionnaire. Three statements from the questionnaire were…

This study examined the effects of individual differences, attitudes, past performances, and teaching behaviors on 286 undergraduate college students' achievement, attribution, affective, and motivational outcomes. The study was conducted at the University of Manitoba using a theoretical model based on Weiner's theory of achievement motivation.…

The Spanish speaking Mexican immigrant population accounts for the fastest growing population in California, where one in six students is an immigrant. This study utilized organizational theory to relate school characteristics such as interdependence, coordination, and information processing to working with immigrant students. The sample consisted…

There is abundant theoretical support for the value of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) at the elementary school level, but there has been relatively little research to document its effects. This paper explores the relationship between DAP and student achievement among low-income students in St. Paul, Minnesota, using research from an…