Assessed 32 kindergartners' prior knowledge of left and right, then exposed experimental group to software program "Jellybean Hunt" from Edmark Corporation's "Trudy's Time and Place House." Found that students exposed to the software significantly increased their scores on the posttest measure of their understanding of the concepts of left and…

Examined whether use of robotics had a greater effect on elementary school children's achievement in science concepts and problem-solving abilities than use of battery-powered motorized manipulatives or no manipulatives. Found no significant difference in achievement from use of robotics except in programming language problem solving. Both…

Introduces this theme issue on middle childhood and early adolescence. Notes the importance of the 9- to 14-year-old developmental period and the need for research into these years. Suggests several research areas that need to be explored. (LPP)

Discusses the efficacy of a Writers' Workshop (WW) approach for promoting writing skills and writing self-efficacy in fourth- and fifth-grade learning-disabled students who had significant writing deficits. Compares various outcomes from WW students with outcomes of students with significant writing deficits who were exposed to a "writing across…

Observed four fifth-graders who collaboratively solved problems integrating concepts related to fractions and area. Compared features of learning through peer collaboration with teacher-directed learning, including whole solution versus component parts, appropriation versus scaffolding, analysis versus synthesis, conflict versus errorless…

Chronicles events in a class experimenting with a theme-study approach, examining teachers' and students' conceptions of knowledge. Examines changing relationships to knowledge; defines three approaches to knowledge students could take within classrooms. Explores possible underlying causes for changes in students' approaches to knowledge.…

Describes an action research project that explored whether internally negotiated group control was possible among preadolescents in school settings. Presents John Dewey's thoughts on social control. Discusses study of students' perspectives and actions concerning authority issues and social control. Describes a social studies curriculum used to…

Describes an ethnographic study that traced the narrative thinking strategies successfully used by adolescents in two self-contained special education classrooms as they made sense of their textbooks and composed original stories based on subject matter studied. Notes role-playing and composing original texts inspired by structured play also…

Compared learning-style preferences of intellectually gifted, average-ability, and special-needs students on the Learning Style Inventory. Also examined the general differences among ability level and gender. Analyses indicated that gifted students preferred learning alone, being self-motivated, and using tactile learning approaches, and that…

Notes that magnet schools are part of reform desegregation efforts in many school districts. Describes a study that explored perceptions of isolation among parents of students from different races in upper elementary and middle school magnet programs. Characterized the sensitivity of teachers to isolation in their schools. (Author/LPP)

Surveyed elementary school teachers and parents from two cultural groups--Middle Eastern and White Other--regarding their views on standardized testing. Parents supported use of tests to compare teachers, schools, districts, and administrators, while teachers opposed such uses and reported considerable personal stress and some child stress due to…

Asserts that the work of early childhood educators in most European countries has been informed by theory and research underpinned by developmental psychology, and that the recent questioning of this discipline is healthy. Calls on early childhood educators to problematize assumptions derived from developmental psychology and search for new…

Discusses how modernization processes (rationalization, secularization, and individuation) produce continuous change in children's life conditions in the Scandinavian welfare states. Argues that scientific knowledge about early childhood fails because it abstracts children from their particular contexts. Proposes that "childhood" is the particular…

This study explored child and parent perceptions of the purposes of nursery education. The study's theoretical underpinnings were ecological systems theory and phenomenography. Participating British nursery classes differed in openness to parents, buildings and resources, and styles of teaching. Findings suggested different adult and child…

Administered a questionnaire with closed and open questions on sexual development and sex education to 284 experienced preschool teachers in Greece. Findings indicated that the teachers feel that sexual development constitutes an important aspect of children's personality, and that sex education should start at an early age. (EV)