Describes the philosophy and operation of the Danish Tvind Schools, private schools supported in part by public funds. Explains how the curriculum involves student travel, participation in curriculum decision making, and school management. Reviews the implicit criticisms of traditional schooling that the experiences of the Tvind Schools…

Compared teaching senior secondary school biology students (n=147) with concept mapping alone; with concept mapping in conjunction with cooperative-learning groups; and with lecture/demonstration methods. Groups utilizing concept mapping with cooperative learning scored significantly higher other groups. (Contains 18 references.) (MDH)

Uses space explorations to integrate learning activities in science, language arts, math, social studies, art, foreign language, and physical education. (PR)

Reports on a study of 77 journal articles to determine whether common characteristics of effective elementary social studies instruction could be discerned. Concludes that many of these instructional methods are not supported by research on effective instruction. (CFR)

Explains how teachers applied the case method approach in a college pedagogy class, describing the case and context, noting how problem solving evolved within student groups and presenting results from follow-up surveys. Numbers of students in class and time devoted to problem solving were critical to the approach. (SM)

An epistemological questionnaire assessing student beliefs about simple knowledge, certain knowledge, quick learning, and fixed ability to learn was administered to more than 1,000 high school students. Results demonstrate some epistemological development during high school and suggest that epistemological beliefs predict grade point average. (SLD)

System-initiated adaptive advice and learner-requested nonadaptive background information were investigated in computer simulation game experiments with 64 seventh graders, 38 college students, and 80 seventh and eighth graders in Germany. Results are discussed in terms of theories of problem solving, intelligence, memory, and information…

Using interview data from 42 working, lower- and underclass African-American female college students, this article challenges the primacy of the cultural argument that educational failure of African-American women is primarily the result of their adherence to oppositional cultural forms and a preindustrial sense of time that inhibits success in…

Describes using picture books and science activities in early childhood science instruction. Suggests titles of books and activities for the following topics: Time for Pets; Environmental Awareness; Dinosaurs Galore; Nighttime Science; Simple Machines; Insect Collections; Snowy Days; Water, Water, Everywhere; and Experimental Activities. (PR)

Describes an instructional unit using graphic organizers to teach about federalism in a U.S. government course. Includes models of charts and lists of appropriate student responses. (CFR)

A multimethod study encouraged teachers, aided by supervisors, to examine their own teaching practices by viewing and discussing videotapes of their interactions with students. Results with four elementary school teachers, eight supervisors, and two observers indicate that the approach may facilitate teacher change and enhance effectiveness. (SLD)

Israel's AMAL Aleph High School combines advanced technology with regular high school academic studies. This article describes how one English-as-a-Second-Language teacher joined a project to develop an online English student magazine for the Center for Educational Technology Internet site, then used to the project to improve students' English…

The authors of an article on staff development for general education teachers serving students with learning disabilities respond to a commentary. They stress the involvement of teachers in the development and research process on Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) and Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS). They also note independent teacher…

Assessment at age seven of 17 very low birthweight (VLBW) children who had chronic lung disease (CLD) at birth and 28 VLBW children without CLD found that, although CLD did not appear to confer much added risk to health, it did seem to add significantly to risks for poor school performance that are known to be associated with very low…

Interviews were conducted with a small group of multilingual students in an adult literacy class to examine how, at the individual student level, everyday literacy practices differ and intersect with a number of linguistic, cultural, and situational variables, and thus, how students' literacy needs differ in terms of a literacy program. (39…