This study involved the development, implementation, and assessment of a comprehensive schoolwide mailing program as a practical tool to communicate enthusiasm towards writing to children and actively engage them in letter writing. The author played the dual role of teacher-researcher and worked for one school year with one teacher from each grade…

If educators are to bridge the black/white achievement gap, they must find a way to engage low-income and minority youth in academic learning. While ample evidence indicates that some teachers are highly effective in engaging students, the persistence of the achievement gap suggests that most are far less effective at engaging African American…

Over the last 30 years, biracial individuals have become one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Despite this rapid growth, these citizens are only slowly beginning to be acknowledged among monoracial groups and in academia. Because biracial identities "potentially disrupt the white/"of color" dichotomy, and thus call into…

In San Diego, California, 800 public school students from the inner city are attending a program called School in the Park (SITP), for approximately one-fourth of their 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade education. This unique program blends rigorous academic standards (formal learning) with hands-on, experiential curricula (informal learning), using…

With the advent of the standards movement, most states have produced statewide tests that evaluate children's understanding of expository science text. Expository texts are designed to explain, describe, or present a logical argument. Usually, the purpose of expository texts is to present new information. This article describes a research-based…

Whether students' motivation, organizational approaches, physical needs, and environmental and interpersonal preferences during the homework process predict homework achievement and attitudes toward homework was examined in 1,776 Turkish students in Grades 5 through 8. The Homework Motivation and Preference Questionnaire was utilized to assess…

The purpose of this study was to examine the executive function of 4th- to 6th-grade students in three distinctively different private school environments: a Montessori school, a classical school, and a Catholic school. Using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, parent-teacher dyads rated the executive function of 112 students.…

Some literature exists on children's real-life interracial and interethnic friendships. However, a scarcity of research exists on children's perceptions of these relationships. This cross-sectional study investigated children's perceptions of interracial friendships by employing the Perceptions of Intergroup Friendships Questionnaire. A total of…

Many childhood educators are attempting to shift from the dominant "recitation" format of discussions found in today's classrooms. This study draws on reader response, and sociocognitive and sociocultural theories to investigate children's perceptions of social skills and leadership moves after participating in small-group discussions of…

Teachers around the world face similar issues. For example, they worry about how to provide effective instruction, they ask themselves what they can do about inadequate funding for education, they question the efficacy of standardized testing, and they wonder about their status and position within the social structure. However, each country's…

A total of 761 students (58.1% female) from selected fifth- and sixth-grade mathematics classrooms in Alabama were examined to investigate the relationships between individual learner variables (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES]) and mathematics performance. Specifically, this portion of the study examined individual learner variables…

Self-representations of 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-graders' social and academic competence were examined in relation to children's personal (grade/age); family (attachment to parents, marital conflict, anxiety related to conflict); and school (teacher appraisals) contexts. Children who reported higher levels of security of attachment to parents and lower…

As the effects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and its ensuing mandates for compliance are felt in classrooms across the United States, the issues of high-stakes testing and rigorous benchmark paradigms are becoming a daily challenge for teachers. NCLB mandates rigorous testing for every child in grades 3-8 in reading and math. Children…

The following article describes how Mrs. Mansfield (Mary), Ms. Bortz (Elaine), and the author combined their talents in order to promote students' literacy learning through the integration of multicultural literature and information technology with a reading/writing curriculum. The students in Mary's and Elaine's classrooms, who come from diverse…

Statistics indicate that many victims of fatalities from abuse are children of teenage parents. Profiles of typical abuse perpetrators match the characteristics of many students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and place them at higher risk of acting impulsively and using violent and abusive behaviors. Teaching students parenting…