Describes a bilingual Spanish/English teacher's grade 4/5/6 students, many of whom are children from migrant families with little or no formal schooling. Notes that classroom routines are helpful for these students. Describes an agriculturally-themed unit that draws on students' prior knowledge and that presents concepts they may have missed in…

Provides suggestions on how to interweave data collected from authentic student writing samples (student or teacher portfolios) into classroom instructional planning and implementations. Shares practical hands-on ideas for teachers of students with learning disabilities and/or low achievers. Notes examples of student performance authentication…

This study compared the perceptions of 308 adolescents with learning disabilities, 355 average achievers, and their 57 teachers on student level of effort, strategy use, and academic performance. Findings indicated that the students with learning disabilities demonstrated positive academic self-concepts, whereas teachers' judgments were…

This study links the social capital literature with research on student mobility to investigate low test score performance among Mexican origin youth. Specifically, it examines whether Mexican Americans learn less in school than non-Latino Whites, in part because they have limited social capital due to the fact that they are more mobile during…

One of the main goals of recent education reform efforts, including NCLB, is to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and minority students and their wealthier, white peers. In this article, the authors present data showing that closing those gaps once they have emerged is no easy task. (Contains 10 endnotes.)

This study extends previous research examining the relations between Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive abilities and math achievement. The cognitive profiles of children with normative weaknesses in Math Calculation Skills or Math Reasoning were compared to those of their average-achieving peers. The cognitive profile of the low Math Calculation…

A data from 1996,1998 and 1999 Minnesota comprehensive statewide testing on eight graders is used to analyze whether African American students perform worse than the white students who attend the poverty schools. The analyses conclude that African American-White test score gap is attributed more to the racial discriminations and racial treatments…

Reading difficulty is often the result of a host of interacting factors, including cognitive, linguistic, psychological, social, emotional, physical, and educational, but educational factors are at the heart of many instances of low achievement in English learning. This study explores the educational factors that failed Mei, a 14-year-old sixth…

Classroom communication figures prominently in current math reform efforts. In this study, we analyze how one teacher used writing to support communication in a seventh-grade, low-track mathematics class. For one school year, we studied four low-achieving students in the class. Students wrote in journals on a weekly basis. Using classroom…

Investigated the failure of New Zealand schools to address Pasifika students' low achievement, discussing the importance of students carrying out their own identifying process and having this valued by the school. Examination of students' and teachers' perceptions of each other indicated that schools' and teachers' perceptions of Pasifika students…

This case study describes a 14-year-old male suffering from significant academic and personal difficulties, who has been diagnosed with depression, schizotypal personality disorder, and learning disabilities. Because of excessive sleepiness, assessment for a potential sleep disorder was performed. An overnight polysomnographic study revealed no…

This study examines students' perceptions of the Group Investigation method of cooperative learning. A total of 142 students (62 low-achievers and 80 high-achievers) from two schools worked in cooperative learning groups during a period of over six weeks using the Group Investigation method. At the end of the study, they were asked to write their…

Colleges typically group students homogeneously in classes by means of both admission requirements and course prerequisites, but when professors form cooperative learning groups within classes they generally use heterogeneous grouping. Authors compared heterogeneously and homogeneously grouped cooperative learning groups in six paired classes,…

Various research studies have asserted the significance of school leadership on student learning. Although the research-based knowledge about principalship continues to grow, there is a paucity of practical information about how to perform the essential tasks. How do principals develop and then act upon a deep understanding of supporting teachers?…

This article outlines a research and development programme that focused on a group of 8 secondary schools in England. The schools in this study were considered to be facing exceptionally challenging circumstances characterised by high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and deprivation. They were also schools considered to be seriously…