Inherent in the current school reform movement is an assumption that good schools are effective schools (Cuban, 1998). Effectiveness is usually defined narrowly in terms of academic achievement. Other purposes of schools related to social justice, developing student social skills, student health, or the personal development of students has not…

My project explored whether or not my approach to teaching an interracial communication course was effective in reducing racial prejudice and promoting racial sensitivity and awareness among undergraduate students. Analysis of student narratives and focus groups reveals that my approach was effective in impacting student perceptions of, and…

This paper outlines and discusses a self-contained multimedia-training program on psychological diagnostics. The program aims to play an intermediate role between theory and working practice, while offering students a simulated environment to prepare for practical work with real humans. The program simulates the entire diagnostic cycle in…

In this article, Jonathan Cohen argues that the goals of education need to be reframed to prioritize not only academic learning, but also social, emotional, and ethical competencies. Surveying the current state of research in the fields of social-emotional education, character education, and school-based mental health in the United States, Cohen…

The IEA Preprimary Project is a longitudinal, cross-national study of preprimary care and education designed to identify how process and structural characteristics of the settings children attended at age 4 are related to their age-7 cognitive and language performance. Investigators collaborated to develop common instruments to measure family…

This article describes the results of a "teacher as researcher" project, which helps preservice teachers learn how to develop meaningful curriculum by creating interdisciplinary connections between literacy (reading and writing) and one (of both) of their two areas of specialization, and supports the author's own learning about how to best help…

This study investigated the effects of the Jigsaw II cooperative learning (CL) model and whole class instruction in improving learners' reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read. Forty-four grade five English as a foreign language learners participated in the study, and a posttest-only control group experimental design…

In this article, the author relates her difficult experiences as a novice teacher when she started teaching bilingual third-graders in Spanish at Spangler Elementary School in 2002. She relates that her teaching strategy of balancing rigor and sweetness had its rewards as her students' rate of reading proficiency on the Colorado Student Assessment…

This paper reports on a qualitative study that examined English as a second language (ESL) teachers' perceptions of classroom-based reading assessments. ESL teachers' use of classroom-based reading assessments, their understanding about the function and effectiveness of this assessment method, and the factors influencing this assessment process…

This qualitative case study reports on processes and outcomes of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded System-Wide Change for All Learners and Educators (SCALE) project at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN). It addresses a critical challenge in studying systemic reform in complex organizations: the lack of methodologies that…

A main goal of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to close gaps in test scores between different groups of students while raising achievement for all groups. Of particular concern are the persistent achievement gaps between African American, Latino, and Native American students and their white and Asian counterparts, and between students from…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand and improve afterschool opportunities for New Jersey's youth. Using both public and private resources, it supports a network of youth-service providers that deliver afterschool services based on NJ After 3's program model. Under an agreement with NJ…

The major literature review by Black and Wiliam (1998a) provided strong research evidence indicating that assessment for learning can produce significant gains in students' learning. The present study applied the main aspects of assessment for learning, as highlighted in the Black and Wiliam review, in a specific area of science education, that of…