Educational finance reforms and desegregation have both sought to address inequities in educational opportunities for minorities and low income families. The recent methods of addressing desegregation issues have tended to focus on attaining racial balance rather than educational quality, however. This paper explores how desegregation goals can be…

Education professionals have long known that family background is a stronger predictor of academic success than are school or teacher characteristics. The past 30 years have seen a series of drastic alterations in patterns of family living in the United States, and these changes mean that a substantial number of youngsters are being born or are…

A study investigated the effects of sex and grade in school on students' reading proficiency, students' beliefs about their reading, parents' beliefs about the students' reading, and teacher's beliefs about the students' reading. The study also examined causal relationships between student, parent, and teacher beliefs and students' reading…

Implications of changes in the Hong Kong secondary school curriculum are examined, focusing on the syllabus leading to a new school-leaving examination in English literature. The new curriculum, based on developments in composition theory and practice and departing from the traditional, narrowly-focused syllabus, emphasizes the process of writing…

This packet of instructional materials is designed to give social science students in grades 6-9 a first-hand experience in working out solutions to real-life problems involving the management of California's water. Students work in groups on one of three problems presented in the packet: (1) the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that…

These volumes report on investigation, activities, and viewpoints related to rural library service. Topics covered are the role of rural libraries, the needs and characteristics of its users, the characteristics of its trustees, difference in operation and information service between rural and urban libraries, and the role of technology in helping…

Abstracts of most of the papers, symposia, discussion groups, round tables, and poster sessions presented at the 64th conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) are provided. Subject areas addressed are as follows: teacher knowledge, cognitive development, conceptual change, curriculum issues, reform in science…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study measured the level of Basque and Spanish of fifth-graders (n=586 divided among 167 classrooms) in three program models (Basque taught as a second language--Model…

This study on Basque language learning is part of a project investigating alternative curriculum designs to promote native language maintenance in the Basque Country of Spain. This study, similar in design to an earlier study, measured the level of Basque and Spanish of second-graders (n=1,196 from 301 classrooms) in three program models (Basque…

This product of an annual meeting presents abstracts of symposia, contributed papers, paper sets, discussion groups, reports, poster sessions, and panel presentations. Topics include: science teaching, gender differences, science education reform, constructivism, biological concepts, concept mapping, attitude/behavior change, conceptual…

Teaching for understanding is a concept that portrays teachers as guides, coaches, and facilitators of student learning. This book, which provides concrete illustrations of what teaching for understanding entails, is divided into chapters as follows: (1) "Introduction: New Visions of Teaching" (Milbrey W. McLaughlin, Joan E. Talbert);…

Patterns of assistance in parent-child dyads were examined by developing measures that could be used to explore the nature of assistance and learner action sequences. A microgenetic approach was adopted in a teaching experiment that may be regarded as a variation of the double stimulation method of L. S. Vygotsky. A second goal was to explore the…

This publication is the first interim report from the Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity (Prospects), and describes students' characteristics and the schools they attend. Prospects is designed to evaluate the short- and long-term consequences of Chapter 1 program participation by following for 5 years large…

This study examined how high-achieving Latino college students perceive the receptivity of their institutions to a Latino presence on campus. The multi-institutional study had the prime objective of identifying areas for institutional improvement and increasing awareness by college administrators of specific campus climate issues facing talented…

Research, policy, and practice in the field of school and family partnerships are reviewed; and practical ideas are offered to help educators move toward partnership. Important distinctions are drawn in approaches that avoid or promote full partnerships. Less than adequate approaches discussed are a protective model, a school-to-home transmission…