Two programs are described in which students monitor water quality and pollution in local streams and rivers. Discussed is the integration of computers and telecommunications into the classroom. Suggested activities that might start students thinking about a classroom project are included. (KR)

Describes reforms at a Bronx intermediate school which registered large gains in students' comprehension performance. The success depended on active, engaged learning, intensive assistance for low achievers, personal development of students, coordination of instruction, availability of instructional support personnel, outstanding leadership, and…

Describes a study that investigated the effects of three levels of personalization--individualized, group, and nonpersonalized--on the achievement of seventh-grade Hispanic students on printed mathematics word problems. Previous research is reviewed, criterion measures are described, and student attitudes are discussed. (30 references) (LRW)

Reports research examining the effects of writing activities on mathematics achievement. Results indicate that prewriting activities, such as modeling or prompts, are essential and that regular, systematic writing over an extended period can improve students' performance in, and attitude toward, mathematics. (15 references) (MDH)

Advocates teaching constitutional history and principles to middle school students in accordance with the 1988 California History-Social Science Framework. Reports findings of a survey of 118 California middle school and high school teachers that revealed a need for improved teacher knowledge about the U.S. Constitution. Recommends steps to ensure…

Reports that students from fourth and fifth grades, along with middle and advanced history students acting as mentors, planned and executed a five-month historical research field project. Student research teams carried out at a local site a two-week archaeological dig uncovering artifacts and discovering how their predecessors lived. (NL)

Presents a unit developed by the 1991 Oregon Mathematics Teachers of Middle School project in which students investigate the average temperature, precipitation, and snowfall in their town using spreadsheets and graphing packages. Students compare the averages over a period of 30 years to a particular year. (MDH)

Comments on "The Timing of a First Birth and High School Completion" (Dawn M. Upchurch and James McCarthy) (1990). In considering relationships between adolescent childbearing and completion of high school, Upchurch and McCarthy misinterpret socioeconomic data. Their conclusion that young mothers are no less likely to graduate from high school is…

Explores high school restructuring efforts under the Kentucky Education Reform Act. Issues of performance-based measures of learning and graduation requirements are discussed. Designing schools with the goal that all students succeed can overcome the friendly fire of cross-purposes in education. (SLD)

Describes the Global Thinking Project, a collaborative effort between Georgia State University and the Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences to develop strategies, methods, and teaching materials to help students think globally. Students are connected through the AppleLink network. Student and teacher attitudes toward the project are reported.…

This paper describes the evaluation of three curriculum models to teach technology. The three modules present technology as a design process involving problem identification and analysis; generation and evaluation of alternative solutions; planning and construction of models; and trialing, modification and evaluation. Participating pupil's…

Both teachers believe that the most important student outcome is factual knowledge, middle-grade students learn through repeated drill and practice, and these students require a great deal of direction. Their beliefs differ from the philosophy of an intended curriculum, thus hampering its successful implementation. (PR)

Presents a series of science teaching ideas with the following titles: When Demonstrations Are Misleading, Lasers and Refraction, An Improved Stair-Step Model, Correcting Your Compass, Seeing Is Not Believing, Food Coloring: From the Kitchen to the Lab, Punny Business, Portfolios in Science, Feathers or Gold: A Case for Using the Metric System,…

Presents five brief articles related to middle-level learning. The articles are, "Using Children's Diaries to Teach the Oregon Trail"; "Living the Geography of Joseph and Temperance Brown"; "The ABCs of Small Grant Acquisition for Social Studies"; "Isomo Loruko: The Yoruba Naming Ceremony"; and "Child…

Examines the effects of issue-based science teaching on students in rural Idaho. Eighth-grade students investigated the use of the Bear River using the Jurisprudential Inquiry Model of Science, Technology and Society (STS) as a guide. Describes challenges encountered in attempting to integrate the use of technology as part of the project as well…