Used data from interviews, observations, and evaluations of high school students to study four interdisciplinary teams and examine how teaming informed practice. Data affirm teaming as a best practice and suggest that to begin and sustain successful teaming, high schools should rethink standard practices. Data also confirm that for teaching to be…

Describes the development and validation of the Standards Performance Continuum (SPC) for assessing teacher performance of the Standards for Effective Pedagogy. Three studies involving Florida, California, and New Mexico public school teachers provided evidence of inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity, and criterion-related validity…

Examined students' after-school pursuits by category (in- or out-of-school, academic or non-academic, organized or unorganized), considering the association of the pursuits with achievement after dis-aggregating the data by ethnicity. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study indicated that differing pursuits had differing levels of…

Investigated the relative importance society places on various cognitive skills using data from 1902-13 Ohio high school entrance examinations and Ohio 9th-grade proficiency tests of the late 1990s. The earlier exams demanded deep declarative knowledge of culturally valued information but only simple interrelations between facts. The modern exams…

Surveyed preservice teachers regarding their perceptions of effective teachers' characteristics and whether those perceptions were related to educational beliefs. Respondents believed that many characteristics reflected effective teaching (student centered, effective classroom and behavior manager, competent instructor, ethical, enthusiastic about…

Provides guidelines for what to expect in an article using logistic regression techniques, discussing tables, figures, and charts to be included to comprehensively assess results and assumptions to be verified; demonstrating the preferred pattern for applying logistic methods, with an illustration of logistic regression applied to a data set; and…

Taiwanese and U.S. preservice teachers at the beginning and end of their preservice programs completed a teacher efficacy scale. The two groups had conceptually different expectations of teaching, however, their efficacy beliefs showed similar patterns regarding ability to adjust teaching methods to individual students' needs. Participants'…

Examined the efficacy beliefs of elementary teachers regarding character education. Data from the Character Education Efficacy Belief survey indicated that respondents felt efficacious about most aspects of character education. Teachers who earned their undergraduate degrees from private, religiously affiliated universities had a greater sense of…

Examined efficacy beliefs and choices of differentiated instructional strategies needed for effective teaching in inclusive classrooms. Israeli preservice teachers completed teacher efficacy scale and instructional strategy scales. Overall, personal teaching efficacy related to choice of instruction, but teaching efficacy did not. Participants…

Presents a theoretical analysis of constructivism in practice by building a framework of dilemmas that explicates the conceptual, pedagogical, cultural, and political places of the constructivist teaching experience. The framework serves as a heuristic for teachers, allowing them to interrogate their own beliefs, question institutional routines,…

Reviewed research on teaching beliefs and practices of university academics and revealed that espoused theories of action have not been distinguished from theories-in-use by some studies. Contends that research must examine what university teachers say and what they do in practice. (SLD)

Provides a review of the literature published in the past two decades on the role and effectiveness of local school boards, specifically with respect to school boards' influence on students' academic achievement. Identifies characteristics of effective school boards. (SLD)

Reviews U.S. evidence from cross-sectional research on educational outcomes when schools must compete with each other. A sizeable majority of studies report beneficial effects of competition. The positive gains from competition are modest in scope with respect to realistic changes in levels of competition. (SLD)

Investigated the relationship between oral language and early reading development by administering to 39 children a broad range of oral language, background, and reading ability measures in kindergarten and first and second grade. Overall, semantic abilities, not phonological awareness, predicted second grade reading comprehension. Phonological…

Examined advanced mathematics achievement among high school students using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Examination of school- and student-level factors indicated that gender and economic disparities existed, even with the most advanced students. This disparity varied by school. Parent education related to…