Investigated gender-specific contextual and individual socioeconomic predictors of the timing of first intercourse among low-achieving African American high school students, following financial deprivation and collective socialization theories. Data from 3 years of surveys indicated that males and females were affected differently by social…

In successful schools, teams of teachers meet regularly to examine student work through assessment and change their instructional practice accordingly to get better results. Staff developers should advocate simple but effective improvement mechanisms. The paper discusses what many improvement plans do wrong and recommends systematically reviewing…

Presents a model of instruction to illustrate that helping students understand a text need not be at odds with engaging them in student-oriented transactions. Analyzes effects of giving lower-track students direct instruction in how experienced readers evaluate reliability of literary characters by examining the writing and discussions that the…

Describes how Warner Middle School in Westminster, California, went from an underperforming school to a California Distinguished School and winner of a Title One Achieving School Award in 3 years. (PKP)

Inadequate achievement in mathematics frequently occurs especially amongst black learners, and the problem is assuming critical proportions. Tswana learners in the Mafikeng area find themselves in an educational situation that does not always promote optimal actualisation of their personal potential. One possible outcome of this situation is…

Many struggling learners resist academics, thinking that they lack the ability to succeed, even if they expend great effort. In other words, these struggling learners have low rather than high self-efficacy for academics. It is widely believed that without sufficiently high self-efficacy, or the belief that they can succeed on specific academic…

This article reveals the intrinsic connection between the constructs normality, identity, meaning, cultural tracking, and school achievement. In particular, it illuminates the indirect connection between cultural tracking and a reduction in the meaningful engagement of school tasks. As documented elsewhere, learning proceeds in a meaningful…

This article begins with a discussion of recent critiques of Fordham and Ogbu's argument on the "burden of acting white". These critiques point to the stereotypical and homogeneous characterization of the black peer group by Fordham and Ogbu, as well as their inattention to the ways in which schools relegate into the lower tracks those students…

This article describes the use of curriculum-based measurement, specifically oral reading fluency, as a tool for monitoring students' overall reading achievement. A brief overview of curriculum-based measurement is provided as well as a description of procedures for collecting and graphing data. A case study illustrates the application of…

This research addresses the impact of technological projects at high school on pupils' learning. The participants were sixty low-mid achieving pupils who worked for one year on final projects for matriculation exams. Data were collected through observations of laboratory lessons, interviews with pupils and teachers, and analysis of pupils'…

The initial results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) indicated that Finnish and Swedish students are among the best readers in all OECD countries. However, the literacy performance of 7% of Finnish and 12% of Swedish students remains at a level which is not sufficient for further studies or active citizenship. This…

The study investigated achievement status as a factor determining the use of language-based activities for learning science. A total of 154 eighth-grade students were randomly assigned to four groups, all stratified for gender and achievement level. The treatments involved various combinations of talk and writing, and descriptive and explanatory…

Although teachers focus on style, fluency, tone, and correct grammar in writing, they rarely emphasize the importance of content. Both the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges and the NAEP seem to favor emotional and personal writing, at least at the high school level. Judging from their guidelines, both the SAT and the…

This article presents a fluency-based measure of reading comprehension. A part of the Vitals Indicators of Progress (VIP) system, the measure outlined here represents an alternate form to the retell-fluency measure in the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy System (DIBELS). Measures of retell fluency provide an efficient, fluency-based tool…

The results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2001) were published in 2003. In addition to data about the reading achievements of 10-year-olds in 35 countries, PIRLS 2001 also collected questionnaire information from children, their teachers, headteachers and parents. The results showed not just how well students can…