Reports on a study in four Scottish schools (with differing socio-economic and school-effectiveness ratings) of how lower achieving students experience schooling. Emphasis is on the available pupil-support systems: learning support, behavioral support, and guidance services. (DB)

Discussion of students' effective help-seeking focuses on a study that compared the help-seeking strategies used by students identified as high achievers in courses at the Open University of Hong Kong and groups identified as low achievers. Examines gender differences in both groups based on results of questionnaires and telephone interviews.…

Every month, "Leadership" features articles written in an informal, conversational style that provide practical information for school administrators. This issue of "Leadership" contains the following titles: (1) "A Better Approach to Testing" (Smith, Franklin); (2) "Accelerating Learning: Time to Pick up the…

The year 2005 began with high schools taking center stage in Washington's continuing drama concerning education reform. President George W. Bush started things off in January, when he delivered a ringing address at a suburban District of Columbia high school about the urgency of reforming American high schools and offered a bold $1.5 billion plan…

In the study reported here, I examined the diagrams that mathematically capable high school students produced in solving applied calculus problems in which a diagram was provided in the problem statement. Analyses of the diagrams contained in written solutions to selected free-response problems from the 1996 BC level Advanced Placement Calculus…

This study compared the social-emotional implications of academic achievement for students with and without learning disabilities (LD) and identified predictors of effort investment. Students with LD showed lower levels of achievement, effort investment, academic self-efficacy, sense of coherence, positive mood, and hope, and higher levels of…

Several years ago the author attended a week-long orientation for a new job she was taking as an English teacher in an affluent suburb of Chicago. On the first day, the school's director of student activities led all of the new teachers in an "icebreaker," wherein they were taught how to juggle. However, the author could not juggle. When it was…

The growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools and the low academic achievement of many of these learners have been the subject of much debate. A significant related issue is determining the sources of ELLs' difficulty, namely, understanding the distinction between learning disabilities (LD) and learning difficulties…

The Summer Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a one-year program, emerged in response to a California State University directive to increase the number of credentialed teachers. This article explains the rationale and program approach, describes the participants of the first two cohorts--SITE 1999 and SITE 2000, and uses yearly program…

Often the victims of bullying are singled out because they are different from the majority. The fear of being bullied is a life-shaping fear that effects the lives of more than 160,000 students who miss school every day to avoid victimization by bullies. The damaging effects of bullying can lead to poor academic performance, low self-esteem, early…

Which are the characteristics leading teachers to judge a child as "gifted"? To answer this question 384 German primary school teachers were asked to describe a gifted child in their own words as well as on a 90 item rating scale. A total of 192 teachers, who declared they had never instructed a gifted child, described a fictitious…

A large number of community college students have difficulty with postsecondary-level reading, writing, and math demands, necessitating remedial education. A qualitative case study was conducted to investigate state and institutional practices for remediation in 15 community colleges selected for region, size, and urbanicity. The six states in…

Researchers in this study analyze the websites of 30 Washington state school districts to explore differences and similarities between high- and low-performing districts. The study offers evidence about ways educators use accountability data on district websites to communicate with parents, community members, and business representatives about…

This study examined the performance of one hundred thirty-one fifth graders on timed versus untimed mathematics tests. Measures of math fluency and calculation were administered. Low achieving students performed poorly on both calculation and math fluency. Normally achieving children performed within the average range on both calculation and math…

Despite the possibility of poor teacher performance causing damage to pupils and to a school's reputation, the subject has rarely been studied. This article examines, within the Israeli context, who the poor performing (referred as "challenging") teachers are. Based on interviews with 40 elementary school principals, over 7 percent of…