As online professional development courses for teachers have grown, the discussion forum has become a locus of considerable research. This study analyzes the discussion forums in four different sessions of a short (4-week) online course for teachers from six schools in three states. This study also compares four methodologies, all of which have a…

Based on a proven instructional model distilled over years of research, this book focuses on five essential pedagogy standards for guiding teaching practice in classrooms with diverse students, including English learners. Providing key indicators for each standard along with the theoretical rationale and "best practice" strategies, the book offers…

Course management systems (CMSs), such as Blackboard, Desire2Learn, or WebCT, have become a common resource at universities, colleges, and distance learning organizations. Research into how these systems are used for learning is in an early state. Currently, this research focuses on technical features in a CMS more than research about how people…

This study offers an alternative to traditional notions of scaffolding for reading comprehension by tracing the evolution of a fifth-grade small group literature conversation in which the teacher sought to displace himself as "primary knower" (Berry, 1981) in the conversation. The study examines how the teacher shared evaluation with his…

The "Darfur is Dying" website was the winning entry of a contest called Darfur Digital Activist, launched by MTV's 24-hour college network (mtvU). The site describes the winning game as "a narrative-based simulation where the user negotiates forces that threaten the survival of his or her refugee camp. It offers a faint glimpse of what it is like…

This guide was developed as a tool for group leaders to help people in their organizations participate in local discussions about literacy quality and evaluation in Ontario, Canada, as part of the Literacy Quality Standards and Evaluation Project. The guide is organized in seven sections that cover the following topics: definition of literacy;…

This case study explored how social interaction during science lessons leads to the development of planning skills in students. An analysis of group discussions was conducted. Questions addressed were: (1) What is the nature of planning discourse during science problem-solving activities with young children?; and (2) How is collaborative planning…

The focus in this report is the concept of what it means to "do mathematics" in the context of a group working committee of teachers and researchers committed to reforming mathematics teaching. During a regular meeting of this group of teachers and researchers, the participants explored the mathematical reasoning embedded in one…

This study analyzes the reaction essays of 24 elementary preservice teachers who read and discussed the same case. The preservice teachers were in two different sections of the same special topics course. Care was taken to balance the sections as closely as possible by age, ethnicity, and major areas. Graduate discussion leaders were chosen to…

A study explored ways that three university-based and two middle-school-based teachers might begin to alter or interrupt discursive practices that have in the past permitted inequities in classroom talk about text to go unexamined and unchanged. A feminist theoretical frame guided the study's focus on gender as a lens for examining power…

The 18 papers in this proceedings describe strategies and practices used in undergraduate psychology courses at two- and four-year colleges. The following presentations are included: "The Costs and Benefits of Critical Thinking," (Randall E. Osborne, Judy Laws, Ken Weadick, and Vicki Mantooth); "What's a Developmentalist To Do?" (Judith Luis);…

Intended for use by health education professionals, teachers, parents and others interested in the health status and health risk behaviors of young persons in Maine, this report describes the results of three concurrent studies of adolescent health. Data were obtained by written and telephone surveys taken from parents and adolescents in Maine.…

This 1993 yearbook presents 20 papers and summaries of the dissertation award winner "Content Literacy in High School Social Studies: A Focus on One Teacher's Beliefs and Decisions about Classroom Discussions" (E. G. Sturtevant) and the thesis award winner "Effects of Direct Instruction of Story Grammar on Story Writing and Reading…

This paper reports on findings of a multi-faceted preliminary study designed to identify the technical information needs of academic department chairpersons at a public urban university. Study methodology involved: (1) two 2-hour focus group sessions in which a total of 10 department chairpersons participated; (2) short written reports from the…

In order to increase statistical power, this study combined the data of three previous studies on the role of parent involvement in early intervention for children with disabilities. Each of the studies found a mixed pattern of positive results on child outcomes and, in two of the studies, on family outcomes. The combined subjects (n=181) had mild…