Discusses the historical and contemporary relationships between global competition and education. Compares similarities between educational initiatives following the launch of Sputnik and those of the Goals 2000 program. Provides examples to encourage students to think about the new world order in social studies classrooms. (CFR)

Discusses the use of teaching portfolios and portfolio-based conversations with colleagues to enhance teacher effectiveness, presenting a portfolio conversation guide that highlights the importance of conducting the sessions properly, organizing an appropriate group, and focusing on specific portfolio contents. Implications for teacher education…

Explores the career trajectories of young people (16-19 years) in Great Britain cared for by local social service agencies. Examines four areas: (1) educational attainment, (2) student perceptions, (3) further education, and (4) factors associated with career trajectories. Includes recommendations for public policy and practices. (CFR)

A unique, successful staff development program in three Louisville (Kentucky) middle schools provides opportunities for teachers of disadvantaged students to build pedagogical skills. The High5 Project promotes strategies for realizing high expectations, content, support, energy, and involvement. The paper examines change strategies and discusses…

An attempt is made to elaborate on the connections and differences between the objective and subjective elements of mathematical knowledge using case study analysis relative to how an epistemological perspective about probability and randomness impacts upon a short classroom teaching episode. (19 references) (Author/JJK)

The relationships and possible effects of various personal home and school variables on the acquisition of functional biological, chemical, and physical scientific knowledge by tenth grade Israeli students (n=544) was investigated. Biology was the only subject in which functional knowledge was significantly related to nonformal science activities.…

Examines the role of Canadian supervisors working with aboriginal student teachers and their non-Aboriginal cooperating teachers in the extended practicum. The article discusses how to solve interpersonal dilemmas using the contextual supervision model which conceptualizes the supervisory process and generates possible strategies to guide…

Presents five activities to help students construct meaning for multiplying fractions through real-world problem contexts, physical or pictorial models, the recognition of patterns, and the use of calculators. In the context of a garden plot, worksheets examine various aspects of parts of plots, patterns in plots, and a maximization problem.…

Reports development and results of the Kramer Project, a two-year study of the implementation of a problem-solving, activity-based mathematics program in the elementary grades. Describes the mathematical content covered, participating teachers, instructional materials employed, inservice teacher training provided, and academic achievement gains of…

Describes the use and rationale of "Silent Teaching," a teaching technique in which the teacher remains silent as students generate and evaluate hypotheses while trying to understand an as-yet undiscovered concept. (MDH)

Investigates how the high demand for academic performance in the French school system corresponds to optimal student development. Finds the experience for students less stressful than expected. Clarifies results through analysis of students' opinions. Concludes that educational ideas and systems are heavily dependent on social context and,…

A longitudinal study followed Brian from grade five through grade seven to examine his representation and development of mathematical knowledge. Some observations over the four years were that Brian liked to figure things out, responded poorly to suggestions not fitting the representation he constructed, and changed attitudes from purposeful and…

A study of 65 doctoral programs in higher education indicates disturbing trends: (1) mergers into larger academic units; (2) significant decline in student diversity among rather stable populations; and (3) retirement of most tenured faculty within 10 years. Despite continuity and stability overall, these changes suggest a need for unified…

Proposes a framework to help course developers design criteria for optimal media deployment. The merits of radio, television, audio, video, and print are briefly compared with computer-based media and analyzed in light of six types of media characteristics: symbol system, access, controllability, student reactivity, interactivity, and adaptivity.…

A total of 196 Latino bilingual students in grades 4, 6, and 8 were asked to give the Spanish equivalent for English words, some of which had derivational and inflectional suffixes. The results indicated that the students' ability to translate cognates increased with age above and beyond any increase in their vocabulary knowledge in Spanish and…