Studied how four aspects of quality instruction (quantity of assignments, coherence of instruction, student voice in curricular and pedagogical issues, and content of instruction) affect growth in reading achievement from grades 8 to 12. Findings for 8,157 students show the influence of some of these aspects. (SLD)

Used data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to study school violence in 37 nations. Findings show that national patterns of school violence are not strongly related to general patterns of violence or lack of social integration in society , but that there is more violence in systems with more disparity between high- and…

Used life stories of 19 black women who were first-generation college graduates from three different age cohorts (pre civil rights era, post civil rights era, and post-Reagan era) to show how structural constraints shifted from one generation to another to place the women differentially at risk for limited educational attainment. (SLD)

Examined types of discussion in three Paideia Seminars through observations, questionnaires, focus group interviews with eight students, and interviews of the teacher and principal. Findings suggest that the observed discussions reflected the teacher's transitional status in conducting dialogic discussion, with some "ideal" Paideia Seminar…

Studied the effects of group ability composition (homogeneous versus heterogeneous) on group processes and outcomes for high-ability students completing science assessments. Results for 83 high ability students show the quality of group functioning serves as the strongest predictor of high-ability students' performance and explained much of the…

Studied the playground games of children in their first year of schooling. Findings for 77 urban first graders show that facility with games forecast the social competence of boys and the adjustment to first grade of both boys and girls. (SLD)

This case study of a novice teacher used sociotransformative constructivism as the theoretical framework of the examination of the preservice year and first year of teaching. Presents insights into the issues and difficulties a beginning teacher of Anglo-European background faces working with predominantly Latino children in an impoverished…

Studied the work of three high school mathematics teachers who have advanced large numbers of their Latina/o students through the curriculum. Findings suggest that some strategies used at lower grade levels are also effective with high school students, including group work, work in the primary language, supplementing textbook materials, and…

Engaged a class of 23 diverse fifth graders in historical investigation of U.S. colonial history to help their thinking skills and understanding of the past. Focused on a teaching dilemma provoked by history's interpretive paradox and showed how the teacher/researchers found his pedagogical thinking changed by that encounter. (SLD)

Investigated the effects of student motivation, attitude, and academic engagement on eighth graders' mathematics and science achievement. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 supported the positive effects of the two motivation factors, attitude, and academic time on mathematics and science achievement. The strongest effects…

Examined the thinking of students who constructed personal knowledge about division of fractions. Mixed-ability fifth grade mathematics students used pictures, symbols, and words to resolve situations and communicate solutions. All strategies that the students used represented some manifestation of conceptual knowledge about addition and…

Examined the effectiveness of a conflict-resolution skills training program offered as an alternative to out-of-school suspension in reducing violence among high school students. Pre- and post-intervention disciplinary data highlighted a statistically significant differences between groups regarding expulsion. Program completers received no…

Investigated the effects of cooperative learning on achievement in and attitudes toward mathematics among fifth graders of color in a culture different from that of the United States (Bermuda). Participants completed parts of the California Achievement Test and Penelope Peterson's Attitude Toward Mathematics Scale. Pre-test and post-test data…

Investigated the effects of professors' instructional methods and university students' conceptual levels on students' achievement and motivation in a course designed to teach computer technologies. Matching high-conceptual-level learners with student-centered instruction and low-conceptual-level learners with teacher-centered instruction enhanced…

Examines a nineteenth century recommendation by Matthew Arnold for democratic educational reform calling for a broadly accessible liberal education to cultivate a magnanimous and civic-minded democratic populace. Discusses how the old vision might become a new blueprint. (SLD)