Introduces the Envirobox Project that involves six classes from diverse regions of the United States where each class sends a shoebox including environmental samples to others. Explains the planning and preparation procedures of the project. Uses an interdisciplinary approach in the project which incorporates language arts, mathematics, social…

Describes a study comparing the performance of 61 adult (age 25+) and 95 traditionally aged (age 18-24) two-year college students in five remedial English and five remedial math courses. Indicates that age accounts for little variance in student expectations and that learner-centered classes had strong relationships with high grades. Contains 5…

Examines the historical contributions of women's colleges and their role in providing access to higher education for women, exploring contemporary contributions toward educational equity for women, particularly in the areas of positive role modeling and mentoring, leadership, achievement in male-dominated major fields such as mathematics and…

Two studies evaluated the effects of within-task and competing visual stimulation on the mathematics performance and behavior of 17 children (ages 8-14) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Results indicate the same high within-task simulation that enhanced student performance and reduced off-task behavior was effective only when…

This reprint of an article on the experiences of two mathematically precocious youths is preceded by a commentary that stresses the increased zest for learning experienced by the accelerants, the benefits of better educational preparation, and the importance of parental support for acceleration. (Contains 9 references.) (CR)

Reviews three qualitative case studies on the educational systems of Japan, the United States, and Germany, conducted as a component of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). States that the studies provide a basis for understanding the differences in mathematics and science achievement among Japan, Germany, and the United…

This article reports on a collaborative program at the University of Wisconsin among secondary level science, mathematics, and special educators. The program emphasizes coordinated courses and fieldwork experiences to students across disciplines delivered by an interdisciplinary cohort of instructors. Evaluation of program outcomes finds increased…

Examined the impact of high school participation in Upward Bound on freshman-year grade point average (GPA), dropout rate, mathematics performance, and English performance among African American students. There were no differences between intervention and control group students' freshman GPA and dropout rates. Mathematics performance was…

Uses a true-to-life story of accusations made against a college football team to illustrate ideal gas laws. Students are asked to decide whether helium-filled footballs would increase punt distances and how to determine whether a football contained air or helium. (WRM)

Describes the National Science Foundation's Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) to improve student performance in mathematics, science, and technology in 66 Appalachian counties. Discusses ARSI's principles of systemic change; the individual school as the unit of change; and ARSI activities in four areas: catalyst school and teacher…

Presents a new self-assessment package designed primarily for distance students to assess their readiness or mastery of particular topics; it allows a student to self-grade a series of questions, offering flexibility and the opportunity to be awarded partial credit. Results of evaluation conducted with engineering students studying mathematics…

In order to improve teaching, it is important to understand why teaching looks the way that it now does and how its general form can be explained. One way to address this question is at the classroom level. This approach has been found in the ethnographic work of anthropologists and has been skillfully applied in the recent work of such…

Based on national data from the Prospects study, we identified the individual characteristics that distinguished academically successful, or resilient, elementary school students from minority and low-socioeconomic-status (SES) backgrounds from their less successful, or nonresilient, counterparts. We also formulated and tested 4 models of the risk…

Who says learning always has to be drudgery? Sarah Butzin, the founder of the Institute for School Innovation, proposes "triangulated learning" as a way to give children time to play and develop, even as they pursue high standards. Triangulation is a metaphor for strength. A triangulated learning system taps the power of three to meet…

This paper reviews the work on gendered achievement in the English-speaking Caribbean, with its often explicit focus on underachieving males. However, patterns of gendered achievement are more likely region-specific and variegated in some contexts. In Trinidad and Tobago, the full-scale implementation of national assessments in 2004 provided an…