This commentary examines the issue of youth participation in out-of-school time programs from two perspectives. It begins broadly with a youth-centered lens, by asking how children and youth spend their discretionary time and how time use patterns relate to outcomes. After painting a picture of the full out-of-school time landscape, this…

This research study attempts to explain the educational achievement gap between blacks and whites, the factors that cause the achievement gap, the consequences of the achievement gap for the black race, and possible solutions to the achievement gap. The data collected for this study has shown that the educational achievement gap between blacks and…

In the situated learning approach, knowledge and skills are learned in contexts that reflect how knowledge is obtained and applied in everyday situations. As an instructional strategy, situated cognition is a means for relating subject matter to learners' needs and concerns. Four major premises guide the development of classroom activities for…

The status and characteristics of women and people of color in educational leadership and administration are reviewed in order to acquaint readers with significant studies and to provide an overview of the experiences of principals and superintendents of minority status. Studies of educational leadership have tended to be rather limited in scope,…

Noting that it is by studying children's regular activities and their roles and interpersonal relationships that we come to understand how children develop as members of their cultural groups, this study examined children growing up in urban settings in a variety of societies. The study used an ecological perspective largely based on…

This report, commissioned by the College Board's National Task Force on Minority High Achievement, contains an analysis of possible changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the student-age population in the United States between 1990 and 2015. The data are presented disaggregated by social class, as measured by parent education and family…

This case study examined the role of field dependence in the failure of an online dyadic discussion of a complex issue, whether or not creationism should be placed on an equal footing with evolution in high school science classrooms. In this study, field is used to designate whole disciplines, rather than factions within disciplines. Using…

This paper aims to estimate the effects of individual and institutional factors on college transfer. The author used logistic transgression to estimate the probability of transfer. The author assumes the probability of transfer from a two-year institution to a four-year institution is a function of student characteristics, type of institution in…

Noting that an examination of play from diverse perspectives deepens understanding and opens up new avenues for research and educational practice, this book brings together studies, research syntheses, and critical commentaries that examine play-literacy relationships from cognitive, ecological, and cultural perspectives. Each set of chapters is…

Presents the results of a study that assessed the influence of individual and contextual factors on adolescent girls' interest in school physical education. Suggests that classroom environment is more important than individual goals in influencing pupil interest. Results are discussed in the context of theoretical propositions of goal perspectives…

Reports on two studies addressing the issue of ultimate attainment of pronunciation by late second-language learners. Findings indicate that it is not impossible to achieve an authentic, nativelike pronunciation of a second language after a specified biological time. The article argues that certain learner characteristics and learning contexts may…

The adequacy of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for taking into account dissimilarities in students' family, school, and community contexts when reporting test score differences among minority population groups was studied. Analyses show that the NAEP lacks a number of important social context measures and that the quality…

Notes study of interviewer influence on the moral judgment of children from New York City and Recife, Brazil, which found that heteronomy was influenced by the social interaction context. Discusses this influence in terms of the concept of heteronomy, adult-child relations and interaction, and cognitive uncertainty. (KB)

Examines the effects of different kinds of rich contexts for vocabulary learning based on second language oral input. The article compares the number and kinds of words learned through exposure to a dialogue or video, or by first listening to an oral account of the dialogue situation and then hearing the audio soundtrack without visual support.…

Provides an overview of administrative issues in supporting interdisciplinary library use at large universities. Topics include information resources; cataloging and classification; library services to users, including library use education and reference services; library organization; the campus context; and the politics of interdisciplinarity.…