Introduces three articles that explore teachers' and children's talk in a program for struggling readers; describes how Vygotskian perspectives, along with structure and directness, form their teaching frame; examines three learning settings that have traditionally failed struggling readers; and pays attention to the social nature of learning,…

A study of nine teachers in inclusive elementary classrooms found that teachers who see themselves as responsible for the achievement of all their students interacted with all students more frequently and at higher levels of cognitive engagement. Students in the classrooms of these teachers had higher self-concept scores. (Contains references.)…

This paper examines instructional processes in two seventh-grade science classes and describes three components of general education middle school content classrooms (curriculum, verbal presentations during instruction, and assessed performance outcomes). It concludes that these three components need to be aligned for the successful inclusion of…

Antecedent conditions involving instructor's task demands and social comments were evaluated for three students with severe disabilities who exhibited problem behavior. An instructor emitted high rates of social comments and gradually faded in task demands. Social validity assessments indicated that substantial improvements were perceived in…

Shows that more women than men reported being targets of peer sexual harassment. Notes that women view certain behaviors as harassing and as more severe than men. Finds that classmates were a primary category of harassers for women and a secondary category for men. Documents peer sexual harassment in college classrooms and discusses implications…

Analyzes Australian students' public and private statements to themselves and their peers collected in the course of a multiyear study of teacher management of communication in cooperative learning groups. Data reflect how students perceived and responded to subtle features in the public enactment of the curriculum, the task, and the setting…

Examines male and female students' participation in class discussions (measured in word counts). Finds that students participated more frequently in face-to-face discussions after they participated in a Daedalus Interchange sessions, but socially constructed variables such as gender lead some students to participate less frequently in traditional…

Reacts to an article published in an earlier issue of this journal (Vol. 35, No. 1, Spr 2001) on discursive construction of the images of U.S. classrooms. Suggests that the author of the article misrepresents the work of others and challenges her to present her arguments ethically in future research. (Author/VWL)

This author reacts to a critique that was written in response to a previous article that she wrote on discursive construction of the images of U.S. classrooms. She suggests the critique is reactionary, defending a liberal pluralist stance that takes little account of the power and politics influencing the construction of images of the self and the…

Examines a subset of oral responses young children (grades K-2) make during interactive read-alouds of picture storybooks. Describes this set of responses and does some theoretical speculation about how educators might understand them. Describes how knowledge of the various types of these responses could be put into practical use in classrooms.…

Analyzes videotaped lessons of 5th grade students on equivalent fractions from seven American and six Japanese classrooms in terms of a recurrent pattern in public discourse among a teacher and students. Found two approaches to the teaching-learning of the criteria for evaluating mathematical arguments. (Contains 17 references.) (Author/ASK)

Discusses student hearing problems and ways schools can help to reduce hearing difficulties in the classroom through use of classroom amplification technology. Explores the benefits of sound amplification systems for both students and teachers. (GR)

Adopting the position that maximizing learner involvement is conducive to second language acquisition, examines the ways in which teachers, through their choice of language, construct or obstruct learner participation in face-to-face classroom communication. Concludes that teachers' ability to control their use of language is at least as important…

Offers five recommendations for teachers or facilitators of team communication: (1) students should avoid groupthink; (2) offer students methods for reaching agreement in a timely manner; (3) vary subjects of group writing assignments; (4) encourage all students to be active participants; and (5) emphasize the importance of good writing skills to…

Assesses the influence of student communication behavior on peer self-evaluation in basic communication courses. Shows that students in classes with "compulsive communicators" have significantly smaller gains in self-perceived communication competence. Indicates that the cognitive learning strategies model eliminates the suppression effect found…