This study investigates the effectiveness of traditional and reform approaches in teaching earth science to future elementary school teachers. The research team was interested in whether reform strategies produce more content knowledge and a more positive change in attitude toward earth science among elementary education students when compared to…

Practicality is the "Achilles heel" of alternative assessment in middle school science. This 5-year study of an "early adopter" school explores factors that enable alternate assessment to thrive in spite of practical problems. Interviews with five seventh-grade life science teachers and five eighth-grade physical science teachers who initiated and…

The Lead Teacher Project at Ohio University included 84 teacher participants who represented 42 schools from 13 school districts in Appalachian Ohio. The project was designed to enhance the teaching and learning of science and mathematics at the elementary school level by helping the teacher participants develop skills, knowledge, attitudes, and…

More than one-fifth of American school-age children and youth come from language-minority families--homes in which languages other than English are spoken. This volume, the first in a series of three, presents findings of a study that examined exemplary school-reform efforts involving the education of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. The…

Although portfolio assessment is becoming increasingly popular, it may not survive unless portfolio scoring can meet the demands of large-scale assessment standards. The results of studies of interrater reliability with large-scale portfolio assessments have been mixed. This paper reports the scoring results of a nationwide portfolio pilot in…

The Learning Cycle Strategy enables students themselves to construct discrete science concepts and includes an exploration phase, introduction phase, and application phase. This book focuses on the use of the Learning Cycle to teach physical sciences and is divided into three sections. Section I develops a rationale for the Learning Cycle as an…

This is the second in a series of books that provide high-interest reading material for rural adults who read below the seventh-grade level. The book provides information on science, technology, and the environment for the people of Appalachia and other rural areas, helping to bring the concepts and meaning of science within their grasp. Many of…

This theme issue contains six articles on improving math and science education for minority group students, particularly language-minority students. "Accelerating Content Area Gains for English Language Learners" (Laura Chris Green) describes the Young Scientists Acquiring English project, which seeks to improve the content-area…

This paper reports on the dilution effect of the ozone layer which jeopardizes a section of land in Chile from 53 degrees South latitude to 33 degrees South and the necessity of preparing the population for the possible ecological consequences of an increase in ultraviolet radiation. Scientists in Chile assume part of this task by studying the…

This paper contains descriptions of some of the specific kinds of capital that are needed, sought, and used within two academic science support groups for women and girls that aim to be gender-sensitive. The ways in which the capital (cultural, economic, symbolic, and social) is acquired, the ways in which the groups interacted with the larger…

This report describes a project designed to expand higher order thinking skills in five primary students with disabilities in order to increase problem solving and decision making skills. The project incorporated higher order thinking skills into mathematics, science and language arts units, and implemented weekly, cooperative learning techniques…

Case-based approaches are effective for teaching and learning science, encouraging student-directed collaborative learning and active engagement. This paper looks at using cases in science teaching and learning at the secondary and undergraduate levels and the impact these approaches have on teachers, students, curricula, and classroom…

This article aims to: (1) improve novice and experienced science teachers' understanding of contemporary pedagogical research, its value in improving classroom practice, and how to effectively communicate this in an interview; (2) improve administrators' interviewing practices so that exemplary candidates stand out from other candidates; and (3)…

This collection contains 16 papers that focus on various problems and challenges relating to the design and implementation of training programs for international or foreign teaching assistants (ITAs or FTAs). It includes: (1) "An Outline of Analysis for Program Design" (Larry L. Loeher); (2) "A Survey of ITA Orientation Programs:…

Documented cases of quality science teaching have the potential to share the best of what has been taught with science teachers in all science classrooms. This paper reports on the use of case studies of practice as mechanisms for recognizing good ideas for teaching science, documenting them, and making them readily accessible to teachers. An…