Historically, educators in the United States have responded to differences among individuals and groups by separating students and altering the content of the curriculum to which they are exposed. Since the 1920s, most high schools have offered a tracked curriculum, and tracking starts as early as elementary school. Research and public commentary…

In 1991, a study was conducted at Riverside City College (RCC), in California, to determine the development of science reasoning among students. A science reasoning test was administered at the beginning and again at the end of fall 1991 to two samples: a college-wide sample of 843 students enrolled in one of 55 courses, and a science-oriented…

This study investigates children's spatial cognition in the microcomputer environment created by "HyperGami." Two categories of spatial cognition have been described: spatial visualization, which involves mentally rotating, manipulating and twisting two- and three-dimensional objects; and spatial orientation, which involves the ability…

Researh in motivation and learning has demonstrated that differences in instructional practice influence the salience of learning and ability goals for students. This study considers several factors that may influence teachers' emphases in instructional practices--teachers' pedagogical beliefs, their achievement goals for their students, and their…

A study examined the influence of an intergenerational approach on the literacy development of parents and on the practice of family literacy at home. During a 3-year period, 367 families enrolled in multilingual, multiability literacy classes for at least one instructional cycle. The adult basic education classes were held in a community center…

If labor market phenomena are interpreted from an allocational point of view, where individuals differing in levels of various capabilities have to be matched with jobs differing in job requirements, education can be seen as an intermediary institution affecting the capability endowment of individuals upon entering the labor market. Vertical…

This practicum was designed to improve the process used to identify kindergarten and first-grade children who are at risk for academic failure and may need to be referred for a comprehensive special education evaluation. Prior to the practicum, the screening process consisted of a curriculum-based readiness measure which failed to identify…

This paper gives a description of a videotape used with inservice teachers as a model for demonstrating the clinical interviewing technique. It describes what is seen on the tape, as well as the child's and interviewer's comments and reactions. It also describes the plan and purpose of the interviewer's questions and outlines the process that…

The Urban Education Project developed by Research for Better Schools, Inc., has focused on meeting the needs of urban students in a changing and demanding society by creating the Urban Education Framework, which presents a new vision of the urban learner as culturally diverse, capable, motivated, and resilient. This vision suggests that urban…

This paper highlights how introductory textbooks on Egyptian art inhibit understanding by reinforcing student preconceptions, and demonstrates another approach to discussing space with a classroom exercise and software. The alternative approach, an active model for spatial representation, introduced here was developed by adapting classroom…

This study examined the effects of different types of cooperative learning environments on low, average, and high ability students' perceptions of the middle school science classroom environment. Subjects were 15 teachers and 1,185 students from the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grades of two middle schools. Data were gathered from a variety of…

To determine whether the range of ability within the classroom has a significant effect on students' performance in mathematics, and to identify the class compositional or instructional characteristics that contribute to differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous classes in terms of mathematics achievement, an analysis was conducted using…

The effects of previous mathematics, statistics, and computer science coursework; attitudes toward statistics and computers; and mathematics ability on statistics achievement were studied for 289 college students over 4 semesters. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine the effect of the computer laboratory component of an inferential…

This study assessed whether providing examinees with a choice between computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and self-adaptive testing (SAT) affects test performance in comparison with being assigned a CAT or SAT, and evaluated variables influencing examinee choice of either test form. The relative influences of test type and test choice on examinee…

This report considers the various facets of metacognition and their relation to adult literacy. The first section provides definitions of literacy and discusses the issue of single versus multiple factor hypotheses. The second section looks at the foundation of research on metacognition and literacy development in children. It examines whether…