Analyzed expressions of cognitive "acquisition" and social "participation" metaphors for learning in the practice of support people in an information and communication technology company department of 100 employees. Findings show the support people's practice is characterized by interplay between these two metaphors. (SLD)

Studied aspects of listening comprehension skills in 107 second, fourth, and sixth graders in Finland using the Sentence Verification technique. Findings, comparable with previous research, show age-related improvement in listening comprehension for narrative, but not expository, passages. Cluster analysis produced four comprehension strategies.…

Discusses "new" phenomenography and its links with research tradition, which are not immediately obvious. Makes the case that an interest in variation is the thread that runs through the phenomenographic movement as it explores the different ways in which people experience the same henomena. (SLD)

Identified the learning practices created by 12 vocational teachers in Sweden from 5 programs in the tasks they gave students. The different learning practices represented by the tasks can be seen as bridging the social practice of the school to the practice of the vocation. (SLD)

Examined how student teachers constructed their teacher identities by using autobiographical stories. Analysis of 35 student teacher essays shows that autobiographical studies are a powerful tool in making the moral dimensions of teachers' identities visible. (SLD)

Studied personal context and continuity in the thinking of 23 Swedish students from grade 2 through grade 8 using data from a longitudinal study of conceptualizations of ecological processes. While there was substantial conceptual development, there was also a strong element of personal continuity for these students. (SLD)

Analysis of Ontario standardized-test scores indicates that French-immersion students, who had lagged behind regular English-program students in grade 3, had comparable or higher achievement scores in reading, writing, and mathematics by grade 6. Little support was found for possible explanations involving selective attrition of weaker students…

A survey of 357 final-year preservice teachers at a small Canadian university found that male and female participants did not differ in mathematics achievement or time elapsed since taking a mathematics course, but women had significantly greater mathematics anxiety and reported less positive beliefs about mathematics utility and more negative…

A survey of 371 principals and 24 interviews in Victoria, Australia, found significant differences between male and female principals in their leadership styles and their beliefs about the nature of the principalship, educational goals, and professional roles and behaviors. However, level of schooling, institutional scale, students' gender, and…

Two Aboriginal and White educators co-developed and taught an integrated anti-racist course for predominantly White preservice teachers in Saskatchewan. Analysis of student comments yielded three common ideological assumptions contributing to student resistance: race doesn't matter; everyone has equal opportunity; and one's individual acts and…

An international professional community of 64 elementary and secondary teachers came together on the Internet to make sense of their practice of teaching French as a second language using the Internet. Excerpts from listserv discussions on classroom control and monitoring demonstrate how teachers collaboratively reflected on specific classroom…

The estimation accuracy of procedures based on classical test score theory and item response theory (generalized partial credit model) were compared for examinations consisting of multiple-choice and extended-response items. Analysis of British Columbia Scholarship Examination results found an error rate of about 10 percent for both methods, with…

Observations were carried out in 10 regular elementary classrooms in Winnipeg (Manitoba) in which instructional assistants were assigned to students with severe disabilities for at least 2.5 hours per day. Instructional assistants were found to facilitate inclusive practices by interacting with regular and special education students together,…

A survey of 318 students at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan) found that a more positive educational experience was related to higher grade point average, better attitudes toward school and learning, higher socioeconomic status, and higher self-assessed academic ability. Academic performance was significantly related to academic ability,…

Analysis of school improvement projects in Britain and elsewhere identified successful practices: vision, extended view of leadership, program-context match, multilevel approaches, and focus on student outcomes. Projects failed when contextual factors were ignored, schools were treated the same, or single-level perspectives were adopted.…