Letter grades are still the most popular way of indicating student performance. Both included (special-needs) and general-education students perceive the use of adaptations for some but not all students as unfair. Although half of all general-education teachers use informal grading adaptations, few consider them fair. Schools should develop a…

The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (1987) provides considerable protection for homeless children's educational needs. States cannot create a separate education system for these kids, and must revise all restrictive policies, laws, and regulations. Educators should work to facilitate schooling continuity, minimize enrollment delays,…

Elementary teachers often unwittingly contribute to inequitable classroom environments. As part of a senior project, education majors at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, observed a fifth-grade class at a Guilford County school and solicited students' responses to two case studies involving gender equity issues. Kids enumerated…

Profiles Anna Kasov, veteran high school chemistry teacher disturbed by society's messages that chemistry is not women's work. Kasov tries to create an emotionally safe classroom atmosphere for both sexes. She suggests that teachers model intellectual risk-taking, encourage students to play with ideas, require students to treat classmates'…

Distressed by their students' reading failure rate, teachers at two Georgia schools developed a parallel block-scheduling plan that allows for whole-class instruction, direct-instruction miniclasses, and enrichment labs for all students. Success depends on matching creative, resourceful teachers to the enrichment lab positions. Over the past two…

About 1,300 school students in Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District attend redesigned summer school program that provides intensive interventions in reading and math for students functioning below grade-level standards. Most take reading and math on alternate four-hour days for six weeks in classes with 15:1 student/teacher ratio.…

To serve poor youngsters and their families, South Bay Union School District developed its own preschool campus, the VIP (Very Important Preschoolers) Village. The program depends on strong administrative support, planned staff development, parent involvement, parent education programs, community partnerships, curriculum/assessment alignment, and…

Alexandria (Virginia) Community Network Preschools is a private, nonprofit preschool system that serves over 125 low-income children and their families. Network Preschools follow the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation's principles for a superior early-childhood curriculum. The four schools use developmentally appropriate practices, enable…

The Interactive Learning Model illustrates how we process information (cognition), perform learning tasks (conation), and develop a self when performing difficult learning tasks (affectation). Individuals approach learning tasks with varying degrees of sequence, precision, technical reasoning, and confluence. These ingredients are embedded in the…

Studies have shown that students understand material better and do better on tests at their preferred time of day. About 33% of high school students have no time-of-day preferences, fewer than 10% favor morning, fewer than 10% favor late morning, 15% prefer afternoon, and 15 percent prefer evening. Some have multiple time preferences. A…

Educational Testing Service completed a four-year study that analyzed results from over 400 different assessments and 1,500 data sets involving millions of students. By comparing statistic Ds (standard mean difference) across assessments, researchers found that gender differences among subject areas are smaller than one might expect but grow by…

Discusses recent brain-research findings relevant for educators: the brain changes physiologically as a result of experience; IQ is not fixed at birth; some abilities are acquired more easily during certain windows of opportunity; and learning is strongly influenced by emotion. Environmental enrichment unmistakably influences the brain's growth…

Three big ideas from brain science have arisen during the past 20 to 30 years: neural connections form rapidly early in life; critical periods occur in development; and enriched environments profoundly affect brain development during the early years. Current brain research has little to offer educational practice or policy. (10 references) (MLH)

Interviews with five neuroscientists--Martin Diamond, Pat Wolfe, Robert Sylwester, Geoffrey Caine, and Eric Jensen--disclose brain-research findings of practical interest to educators. Topics include brain physiology, environmental enrichment, memorization, windows of learning opportunity, brain learning capacity, attention span, student interest,…

The new consensus on the nature of learning helps educators understand what fosters learning and how to improve ineffective, detrimental aspects of teaching. Science curricula should capitalize on three concepts: learners construct meaning for themselves; to understand is to know relationships; and knowing relationships depends on having prior…