The impact of mass media on public images of teachers and students is considered in a dialogue between two educational and mass media researchers. Stereotypes in films, such as teacher-savior and student-failure, and abundant reports about Latino dropout rates and low academic achievement impact teachers and the public, who accept negative images…

Texas A&M University's Evans Library conducted a survey (SERVQUAL) to measure service quality in terms of tangibles (appearance of facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials), reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Discrepancies between expectations and perceptions were found in reliability, responsiveness,…

Asks how beginning teachers differ from experienced teachers in their perceptions of classroom management and how elementary school counselors can help new teachers develop healthy learning environments. Collected teachers' classroom-management beliefs and found that inexperienced teachers may have unrealistic expectations regarding the effective…

Mothers (n=547) and fathers (n=547) of academically talented sixth grade students completed a questionnaire assessing parents' definition of academic success. Internal or external conceptions of success were related to parents' education level, gender, and ethnic group. Parents likely to emphasize internal standards were those without a doctorate,…

Discusses users' expectations of academic libraries and suggests that a commitment to making the library a learning organization will result in improved library staff and strengthened services. Topics include technological changes; the role of innovation in learning organizations, including systems thinking, mental models, and team learning; and…

Bilingual Spanish-speaking middle school students (n=344) completed Spanish versions of three career assessment instruments; the reliability and validity of the translations were supported. Next, instruments were completed by 105 students (63 Hispanic). Self-efficacy and outcome expectations contributed to intention and goals for minority…

Tested path models of academic interest and performance that were derived from social-cognitive theory. Results supported a model in which ability helps determine self-efficacy. Findings suggest that social-cognitive theory helps explain the academic behavior of high school students that can be key to their later career options. (RJM)

Minority students generally perform more poorly than whites, due to low teacher expectations, tracking practices, lack of a multicultural curriculum, school/home incongruencies, and a substandard learning environment. The current shortage of minority teachers is exacerbated by frustration, low salaries, crowded classrooms, and other intolerable…

Maintains that America's lowered expectations about education are not a loss of previous American virtues but neither are they a "culture of indulgence" as Damon suggests; they are simply adaptations by the populace to the difficult job of getting along in a highly competitive world. (MDM)

The conversational interactions of nine teachers, third-grade students who had disabilities or who were at-risk, and typical third-grade students, were recorded during individual seatwork time in academic lessons. Results found teachers who saw themselves as instrumental in effective inclusion engaged in more academic interactions compared with…

A study of 10 elementary teachers who were using classroom evaluations to create inclusive classrooms found the following factors improved classroom evaluations: moving around the classroom; observing student work frequently; discussing work with students; viewing behavior as indicators of understanding; not seeing teachers as the sole…

Presents a case study of how a pre-service teacher addressed the complexities of supporting the literacy learning of students in a learning-disabled class and a regular class setting. Suggests the pre-service teacher was a reflective practitioner with high expectations for her students' success and a high focus of control regarding her…

Compared parenting attitudes of Asian Indian mothers living in the United States with those of mothers living in India. Found that the Asian Indian mothers in the United States had lower inappropriate expectations and tended not to reverse roles with their children. Asian Indian mothers living in India favored the use of corporal punishment more…

Outlines how the Race Relations Amendment Act should contribute to addressing issues of underachievement and low expectations in London and throughout the United Kingdom, describing the responsibility of schools to prepare and maintain written race equality policies; assess and monitor the impact of policies on diverse staff, students, and…

Modifications and alternatives to tracking can address teachers' desires to match instruction to student abilities without the gross educational inequalities accompanying lower-tracked classes and without ignoring exceptional children's needs. Untracked classes can be improved by providing extra help, equipping teachers with useful teaching…