Investigates the need to include computer screens in documentation for software using a graphical user interface. Describes the uses and purposes of "minimal manuals" and their principles. Studies student reaction to their use of one of three on-screen manuals: screens, icon, and button. Finds some benefit for including icon and button…

Examines findings from a study of six elementary school cohorts designed to explore each cohort's attitudes toward reading, reading sources, and places at home where they read. Results indicate that the differences between boys and girls became progressively fewer as the age group increased. Implications for reading policy and practice are…

Examines student responses to four versions of the Noah's Ark tale. Finds that the second- and fourth-grade children were interested in talking about the visuals in picture books. Notes a wide range in the amount of writing children did in response to the art, and that the written products were far less skilled and spirited than the discussion.…

As staff, students, and parents at a Long Island high school discovered, resolving the complicated issues surrounding the death of a beloved teacher and coach is not easy. In this case, there was unwavering support for a basketball coach dying of cancer and for students and staff afterward. Crisis intervention worked because responsible adults…

Examines students' use of higher-order thinking as they use an interactive multimedia program based on a situated learning framework. Analysis of types of talk used by students working with the program shows the majority of their thinking was higher-order. Findings suggest such a program can provide a learning environment capable of supporting and…

Describes development and implementation stages of a peer mediation program at an Illinois middle school. A key principle in the project was student ownership. It was important to let the mediators take disputants through a clearly defined process to arrive at a settlement. Despite time management problems, the program has been a success. (10…

Although an Illinois district had worked successfully with the Thoughtful Education model for instructional and curriculum reform, its tests still focused students' attention on grades. Using personalized learning principles stressing choice, understanding, motivation, engagement, critical thinking, and reflection, faculty created tests compatible…

Finds that, by teaching history in conjunction with literature, students grasp historical understanding because they begin to acquire a deeper understanding of their role in constructing the past. States that literature helps create strong images often missing in students' responses to nonfiction material. Gives Alejandro Morales's "The Brick…

Describes an evaluation of the Teachers as Counselors (TAC) program in which students were given an evaluation to complete that measured satisfaction with the program, life events, and associated stresses. Results show that a lack of consistency in the defining or supporting role of the counselor minimizes direct services to students. (Author/JDM)

Proposes two complementary strategies that contribute to opportunities for active learning: one, hyperlink teaching, is an alternative mode of in-class lecture delivery; the second, intelligent slides, resembles information bases that are enhanced with electronic links for use by students outside the classroom. The questionnaire used to gauge…

Explores the relationship between literary theory and children's literature in teacher-education classrooms, positioning itself in the gap between books and children, texts and readers, and theory and practice in literature. Concludes by offering the author's experience as an example of the richness the use of literary theory brings to an…

Discusses Mindy Faber's autobiographical video as an allegory of contradictory interpretations of female hysteria as both a theater of femininity and feminist revolt. Provides an analysis of the resonance between student responses to "Delirium" (her auto/biographical video about her mother's long battle with mental illness) and…

Analyzes the effort of a small group of high school seniors to interpret the character of Laertes in Shakespeare's "Hamlet" through a "body biography," a life-sized human outline they filled with images and words representing their understanding of the character. Examines their discussion as they composed their text. (PA)

Explores the effect of classroom-workplace collaborations on student learning. Explores how classroom-workplace collaborations help to teach professional genres. Examines how they replicate workplace activity and convey features of workplace genres and how they serve as transitional experiences for students. Examines students' reactions to the…

New Zealand is attempting to introduce a "seamless" system of qualifications for senior secondary school students delivered through modules (learning units) and linked to higher education qualifications. This paper studies how one school's change to a modular curriculum delivery system affected staff and students. Staff perceptions…