Current syllabi and textbooks, in trying to cover every important idea, trivialize them all. The Coalition of Essential Schools believes that students will learn more if teachers are allowed to cover less. The advantages of a slower, thought-provoking curriculum, and recommendations for designing one, are provided. (BJV)

Examines teachers' and young students' perceptions of responses to task difficulty in classroom settings in two studies. Study 1 indicated that teachers' ratings on a questionnaire of appropriate strategies reflect a preference for active, goal-oriented responses. Study 2 showed some disagreement between teachers' and children's beliefs.…

Reports on attempts to find alternative methods of group instruction. Discusses the use of mastery learning techniques and the need to improve the students' learning processes, the curriculum and instructional materials, and the home environmental support of the students' school learning. (CMG)

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the impact of a direct reading instruction program, "Reading Mastery (RM)," on literacy performance of students over a five-year period. Initially, 700 students in grades K-3 were randomly selected from six elementary schools to participate in the study; an additional 100…

This textbook of English Grammar presupposes a certain amount of previous training in the theory and practice of English, and its specific place in the curriculum is to be found in the advanced grammar grades of public schools, though the book is also suited to the wants of high schools and academies. The author would state in a single sentence…

It is contradictory to expect all students to achieve certain marks and to master given course content and simultaneously to call some students low achievers to accommodate test distribution curves. Mastery learning, emphasizing students' learning rates and presentation of material, can help resolve this contradiction. (PP)

Attitudes of students, faculty, and recent graduates to a self-paced, self-instructional junior-level program using learning modules were significantly positive for all groups. Faculty stressed the need for continuing support, and older students and seniors were the most positively disposed group. (MSE)

Physical educators can help mainstreamed handicapped children by (1) preparing classmates to understand and accept disabled children; (2) avoiding practices that unintentionally embarrass the mainstreamed child; (3) building self-esteem through success; and (4) using mastery teaching and peer tutoring. Modifications of rules and equipment are…

Summarizes a study into the feasibility, problems, benefits, and implications of using mastery learning in teaching French to students in Scottish secondary schools. Examples are provided of target objectives, specimen test materials, progress cards, and class activity records, and implications on class organization are discussed. (EAO)

A group-based, teacher-paced mastery learning format was used to instruct students in two sections of an undergraduate course on teaching mainstreamed handicapped children. Students in these sections displayed greater achievement and higher motivation, measured by their number of absences, than did students taught the course by more conventional…

Eighty-eight seventh grade students were randomly assigned to mastery or nonmastery approaches to learning four hierarchical chapters about sailing. The price of increased achievement benefits of group-based mastery learning seems to be increased time costs of (1) extra remedial time and (2) "wasted time" of faster learners. (Author/PN)

To determine whether increasing teachers' effectiveness influences the relationship between teachers' initial expectations for a student and the student's actual performance, data were gathered on intermediate grades and secondary school teachers who participated in a mastery learning workshop. Correlations between teacher expectations and student…

Results of modifying mastery learning strategy to two diagnostic cycles with high school chemistry students (N=156) indicated that achievement of mastery learning students was significantly greater than that on nonmastery learning students. Attitudes toward science/science instruction were not significantly different but were positive in both…

Investigates the effect of mastery testing on student performance in an introductory college physics course at Cornell Univeristy, Ithaca, New York using an interview technique with a sample of 22 students. (HM)

Mastery learning is a philosophically based approach to teaching and learning which focuses on effective individualized instruction in the group oriented classroom setting. This article discusses the development and application of mastery learning theory and its implications for teachers. (JN)