Influences of religion, gender, and social class on attitudes toward school and specific subjects were studied for 1,925 male and 1,837 female 11-year-old primary school students in England. Compared to others, children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds report more favorable attitudes toward school in general but not toward individual…

There is an emerging curriculum vision that transcends the subject-centered and multidisciplinary approaches characterizing most junior high schools and middle schools. This article addresses practical issues (course content, teacher identities, planning, classroom life, and larger purpose) that have arisen around the integrative curriculum…

The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Revised is a set of tests designed to measure cognitive abilities, scholastic aptitude, and achievement in the areas of reading, mathematics, and written language, in individuals aged 2-95 years. This paper describes the test battery's administration, scoring, standardization, reliability, and…

Discusses four models of staff development for cooperative learning in mathematics: graduate seminar with weekly meetings; workshop enhanced by support systems and followup; school-based staff development with monthly meetings; and projects involving collaboration between university and school district personnel. The article lists 10 important…

A high school teacher and four students restructured the curriculum for a shop math class based on Foxfire practices. The students, former underachievers, gained support and raised monies for building a gyroplane by writing grants, meeting with school administrators, and taking part in community speaking engagements. (LP)

Describes several student-tested activities built around "Jurassic Park." The activities feature students engaged in role-playing scenarios, investigative research projects, journal writing and communications skills activities, cooperative learning groups, and learning experiences that make use of reading skills and mathematical knowledge. (PR)

Data from the Colorado Adoption Project for 493 first-grade adopted and nonadopted children are used to separate parental intelligence quotient (IQ) from the effects of school environment. Several of the variables show direct environmental associations with reading and mathematics achievement independent of effects of parental IQ. (SLD)

Examines selected factors associated with classroom climate (satisfaction, friction, competition, difficulty, cohesiveness) as perceived by fourth-grade students and explores the relationship between those factors and student academic achievement in the areas of reading, math, and language. Findings indicate that climate plays a relatively minor…

Examines a hypothetical curriculum development plan for Texas schools, focusing on the integration of technology skills into seventh-grade history, mathematics, language arts, and science, as well as teacher inservice training. A sidebar outlines technology integration activities for Texas history, the stock market, spreadsheets, creative and…

A teacher of student teachers at Lulea University of Technology in Sweden uses fantasy and story telling to integrate mathematical thinking and problem solving into adventure-education programs for elementary students in nearby forests. Maps, magic places, rituals, mysterious signs, audiovisual aids, actors, and darkness restore a sense of magic…

Using Halpern's 1997 psychosocial model of cognitive development, this article evaluates and extends the literature demonstrating that gender differences on standardized tests of quantitative reasoning may reflect underlying differences in cognitive processing that may be explained in part by socialization patterns inherent in American culture.…

Describes a summer program for high-achieving middle school girls in math and science. It covers the organization, curriculum, instruction, and outcomes of the program and describes elements that students rated favorably (such as being outside a lot) and those which needed to be changed (such as too great an age span) for the second summer. (DB)

Explores challenges that teachers face when they attempt to include computers in instruction. Investigates teachers' adoption of educational reforms and teachers' perceptions of computers in classroom instruction. Presents information from a case study of a mathematics teacher's classroom practice; notes implications for the preparation of…

Video and electronic media have the potential to bridge the gap between classroom research and practice by providing rich and detailed data for grounded discussions about teaching and learning. Describes attempts to use digital video technologies to increase collaboration between researchers and practitioners. (WRM)

This study compared the effectiveness of using classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) in 14 heterogeneous eighth-grade math classrooms with traditional independent student practice to teach problem-solving skills to students in beginning algebra. Both CWPT and independent practice were equally effective strategies with students identified as at risk or…