Examines the relationship between story-telling and children's construction of meaning. Includes transcripts of children's discussions of a story involving Vietnamese refugee children. Maintains that children, especially when given encouraging contexts, can construct and discover meaningful insights. Discusses the role of the teacher in this…

Describes an observational study conducted to determine critical areas of school effectiveness. Notes that quality middle-level education has the components of educational empowerment and involvement and teacher techniques that focus on developmentally appropriate strategies, block scheduling rather than one-period scheduling, and ability grouping…

This paper presents results from a 3-year longitudinal case study of 10 racially and socioeconomically mixed secondary schools participating in detracking reform. It explores how broadly held conceptions of intelligence intervene in efforts to detrack schools and examines new constructions of intelligence and how they fit into school detracking.…

A Scottish council commissioned a study to inform development of policy concerning ability grouping, timetabling, and other practices related to the transition from primary to secondary schooling. Although the researchers became aware that the council expected a report supportive of their policies, the data supported the view that the key to…

Status-based social rules associated with race, gender, and ability were studied for 216 fifth and sixth graders, evenly male and female and white and African American. Questionnaire responses indicate that respondent approval ratings are strongly affected by the status of the target student. (SLD)

Explores the impact of the social and academic diversity of the class on teachers' perspectives about their schools as workplaces. Data from 370 Israeli secondary teachers indicate that classroom diversity is correlated negatively with average academic ability and positively with class size and discipline problems. (SLD)

Describes a self-instruction procedure designed to provide students of science and technology at the tertiary level with a basic vocabulary in a foreign language of around 1,000 items. The technique represents an efficient method for bridging the gap between the vocabulary that beginning L2 students possess and that required to read L2 scientific…

In a follow-up study of the effects of early day care on children's cognitive and socioemotional competence, children who entered day care before the age of 1 year were found to have a better academic performance at ages 8 and 13 and to receive more positive teacher ratings than other children on several socioemotional variables. (Author/GLR)

Presents a study to investigate the prevalence of mathematics anxiety in Navajo middle school students (n=358) and to explore possible relationships between learning styles and mathematics anxiety and achievement. Multiple regression procedures indicated that spatial ability and mathematics achievement were negatively correlated to mathematics…

Thirty-six educationally disadvantaged gifted fifth grade students completed a program to reinforce their academic skills in either language arts or mathematics. Compared to controls, subjects showed gains in achievement and aptitude test scores in language arts as well as mathematics and then became eligible for challenging gifted/talented…

The author of EC 604 296 explains the evolution of a pilot project to improve the basic skills and thinking ability of gifted minority children to improve their performance on standardized tests. The paper reviews the effects of the project and notes changes recommended in repeating the program. (JDD)

Processes and criteria used in assigning students to honors English classes in 5 communities (n=approximately 1,800 students) were studied through qualitative and quantitative data. Similarities and differences in the five districts are detailed, with attention to past ability-group positions and the role of socioeconomic status. (SLD)

Analyzes declining Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores since the 1950s. Distinguishes between the population of those who take the SAT and the population of all high school seniors. The culprit is the downward trend of educational skills of U.S. academically most promising students toward those of the average student. (JB)

Briefly reviews research on ability grouping and points out effects of such grouping on student achievement, self-concepts, and attitudes. Suggests ways in which educators can make significant differences with learners by implementing effective organizational practices as alternatives to ability grouping. (BB)

To reduce curricular fragmentation in science education, reform recommendations include using common, unifying themes such as scaling to enhance curricular coherence. This study involved 215 participants from five groups (grades 5, 7, 9, and 12, and doctoral students), who completed written assessments and card sort tasks related to their…