Partnerships between schools, families, and communities provide a support net for each student and play a role in promoting academic success (Epstein, 1995; Shapiro, Ginsberg, & Brown, 2002) and moral development. This article is based on a qualitative study of a secondary school with numerous partnerships selected from a southern Ontario school…

Over the last three decades, many studies have been conducted to identify students' preconceptions on various science topics. It is time now for a synthetic study of preconceptions to enhance our understanding of students' everyday cognition and to benefit our effort in developing effective instructional inventions for conceptual change. Through a…

The issue of the "research-practice gap"--the problematic relationship between research in education and educational practice--has been widely reported in the literature. This critical literature review explores some of the causes and features of the gap and suggests some possible approaches for addressing it. These solutions involve changes in…

The purpose of this study was to assess the educators' perspectives on the introduction of computer technology in the early childhood education environment. Fifty early childhood educators completed a survey and participated in focus groups. Parallels existed between the individually completed survey data and the focus group discussions. The…

This study represents an initial effort to determine the content of induction programs to improve beginning teachers' instructional performance. The study investigated the perception of beginning teachers' instructional performance problems and explored its relationships with demographic characteristics such as years of teaching experience and…

An exploratory attempt to generate preliminary data with a limited sample, this study examines the feasibility of elementary school children and their teachers using infra-red false color landsat images in the pursuit of social studies. (JC)

The attempt to integrate school curricula with social concerns is a recurring motif in North American education. Impediments to integration can be reduced by incorporating a cognitive approach to social issues analysis. The approach was tested with 4seven9 grade 7-10 students in two Ontario, Canada, school systems with positive results. (MM)

Four experimental reading-treatment classes (n=94) and four control classes (n=100) wrote pre- and post-compositions which were evaluated for overall quality, syntactic density, T-unit length, productivity, and selected grammatical errors. Analysis of results found significant differences in reading skills but no differences in writing skills. The…

Analysis of results from a study of 41 grades three and four Native students found significant positive correlations among self-concept, academic achievement, and teacher expectations and low positive relationship between creativity and academic achievement. Support for the phenomena of age grade deceleration and academic retardation with…

To indicate areas for training program improvement, 476 prospective teachers responded to questions developed around educator-identified societal and educational trends to obtain self-analysis of preparation to meet future demands of the teaching role. Less than half felt adequately prepared; most placed heavy emphasis on the practicum component…

Forty-five principals were interviewed concerning their experiences with and perceptions about serious incidents of teacher misconduct. The principals protected the image of the school by heading off, dampening, and containing the incidents. They preferred to resolve incidents in-house, but resorted to formal sanctions when necessary. (Author/DC)

Correlations of home and school environment variables with the educational performance of 392 seven- and ten-year-old students in Northern Ireland were studied in 1970. Home influences of parent behavior, home literacy, and educational ambition were more important predictors of intelligence and reading/math attainment than were school and…

Time-of-day effects on children's incidental visual memory for words and ability to solve verbal analogies were investigated. Thirty-six normal, learning disabled, and educable retarded children were assigned morning or afternoon learning/recall sessions. All showed afternoon superiority for superficially processed words, but no differences for…

To assess Feuerstein's Learning Potential Assessment Device's (LPAD) ability to identify deficient cognitive functions, Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices were administered to 176 elementary/junior high students--25 percent were rescored--and 12 complete LPAD reports from a university educational clinic were reanalyzed. Correlations were…

Pretend play training was given to an experimental group of 15 children aged three to five years. A matched control group was given mastery tasks. Results showed the experimental group gained significantly on observed make-believe play, non-standard alternative uses, Say-and-Tell total, Self-Concept Empathy Preschool Embedded Figures, and Matching…