In recent years there have been several attempts at integrating the research on reading. Snow, Burns, and Griffin (1998) delineated three areas of knowledge that, if appropriately dealt with, will prevent reading difficulties: knowledge of the alphabetic principle, fluency, and comprehension. Snow, Burns, and Griffin suggest that these areas…

Maternal and child health practitioners often approach systemic change in a very practical manner: fostering a collaborative vision, engaging critical stakeholders, working with policymakers on reform, and bringing the data and experience to inform the process. Systems are often maintained at a status quo due to deep, ingrained structures,…

In Chinese societies, moral education has always been considered the most essential component of education because the nurturing of moral persons is the prime function of schooling. The implementation of moral education has relied on the inculcation of values that reflect moral ideals. The emergence of the Information Age, with a plethora of…

Noting that prevention programs seldom work well, primarily because they are not implemented as required by the underlying program theory, this article summarizes literature suggesting that features of the implementing organization and its ecological context are related to the strength and fidelity of implementation. Schools are used as a focal…

A pilot program in New South Wales (Australia) aimed to engage Aboriginal students in the education process by making school more interesting and relevant to them specifically. The project used career education and Aboriginal perspectives to achieve these objectives. The development of aspirations within students was central, and it was hoped that…

Breaking with conventional wisdom, this book integrates a wealth of perspectives and research-- biological, sociocultural, developmental--to explore the nature and extent of gender differences in emotional expression and the question of how such differences come about. In the book, nurture rather than nature emerges as the stronger force in…

This book is designed to summarize, integrate, and evaluate current research on adolescent development. It contains the following chapters: (1) "Paths to Adulthood: Adolescent Diversity in Contemporary America" (Ramond Montemayor); (2) "Competence among Urban Adolescents in Poverty: Multiple Forms, Contexts, and Developmental…

Scholars are increasingly recognizing that adolescent development is best understood by acknowledging and examining adolescents' cultural, social, historical, and political contexts. The Euronet for Research on Adolescence in the Context of Social Change project, begun in 1991, is a collaborative effort among research teams from European countries…

The purpose of this research effort was to introduce the use of simulations in adult learning situations to enhance communication skills in a creative, effective, and enjoyable manner. Adult educators in academic settings or in business and industry training can use simulations not only to teach a concept but also to improve communication skills…

Focuses on the importance of vocabulary knowledge as fundamental to proficiency in a second language (L2). The article notes that each of the studies in this issue examines L2 vocabulary learning from a particular angle, including lexical progress, learning strategies, context effect, the role of learner factors such as age and first language…

Examined kindergartners' and third graders' recall to test the effects of four learning strategies applied to items involving three conceptual relations--taxonomic, contextual, and unrelated. Found that (using a constructivist framework for interpretation) learner activity and causal processing improved memory when memory was not supported by…

Reports on a project in the United Kingdom identifying strategies to manage classroom discourse in ways designed to give words and their meanings particular kinds of attention in order to foster vocabulary development in children studying English as an additional language. Notes that in this project, target word-meanings related to learning…

Discusses the experience of Grade four students transitioning from Spanish to English in reading a short story in English and then participating in one of two story-related videotaped lessons: an Instructional Conversation and a basal-like reading comprehension lesson. Findings reveal that the quality of classroom talk can be traced into eventual…

Uses test questions from the Basic Economics Test (BET) to reveal that elementary students are capable of understanding economics concepts. Maintains that neither ethnic background nor parental income makes a difference in economic learning. The most statistically significant determinant of improved scores was the extent to which a concept was…

Using data from surveys of and interviews with teachers and principals, this study explored the impact of involvement in Professional Development Schools (PDS) on teacher professional growth and school change at seven elementary and secondary PDS sites. Results highlighted the importance of a range of context variables to program success. (SM)