Considers aspects of local authority policy-making regarding the segregated special school provision for children with special educational needs and the resilience of separate special school sectors. Suggests that the use of incremental policy development has not resulted in significant long-term change and that a fundamental policy initiative has…

Investigates the effects of four structural characteristics of instruction on student learning: (1) authenticity; (2) challenge; (3) demand for skills; and (4) allowance for student autonomy. Shows that high quality learning experiences are authentic, allow choice, and demand student skills. States that a boring and alienated experience results…

Examines the reciprocal nature of contributions made by 36 pairs of English infant school peers as they worked in classroom task groups. Indicates that year two children were significantly more responsive and demonstrated a great capacity for extended reciprocal interaction. Discusses the relational findings that children develop the ability to…

Reports an evaluation of the effectiveness of a volunteer tutor reading intervention. Indicates that children receiving the volunteer intervention failed to make greater progress than same-school controls. Considers possible reasons for the apparent intervention failure. Concludes by cautioning against simplistic expectations that adult support…

Investigates the effects of consistency of candidates' performance across questions within an examination paper based on examiners' judgments of A level grade-worthiness for biology and sociology examinations. Finds that inconsistent performance produced lower judgments in biology, while very consistent performance was preferred in sociology.…

Analyzes the experiences of 15-16 year-olds in England focusing on how the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) constitutes a source of stress in young people. Argues that when doing GCSEs in year 10 and 11, the stress experiences can be linked to the social conditions of late modernity. (CMK)

Focuses on the role of gender as a significant aspect of self-concept suggesting that transitional phases intensify the sociocultural processes of identity construction and that gender acquires salience as an aspect of identity during the transitions. Highlights studies on gender as an aspect of identity during transitional phases of the school…

Explores the different attitudes of English girls and boys to General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) work. Provides suggestions to account for the differences, particularly related to peer pressure, image, and social groupings. Finds that boys were ridiculed more for working hard and were under greater pressure to confirm to a cool,…

Provides a cultural and political critique of the constitution of bilingual/English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education as a disciplinary practice in New Mexico. Uses genealogical and postcolonial, poststructural, and critical frameworks to show that the directions advanced by the Chicano/Chicana movement have been lost, replaced by an education…

Presents the results of a meta-analysis of cross-time relations of academic/cognitive and social/behavioral readiness assessments from preschool to second grade that used 70 longitudinal studies. Discusses findings in terms of assessment and conceptualization of school readiness, the role of school and classroom experiences in individual…

Focuses on the experiences of minority group teachers as they move from teacher credential programs into the teaching profession, drawing on research reports published between 1989 and 1998. The review demonstrates the power of the presence of minority group teachers as well as the obstacles to the full realization of their potential. (SLD)

Draws on theoretical and empirical literature on trust over four decades and brings that literature to bear on relationships of trust in schools. Synthesizes this research as it relates to such processes as communication, collaboration, climate, organizational citizenship, collective efficacy, achievement, and effectiveness. (Author/SLD)

Compared the classroom practices of beginning teachers assisted by mentors who had completed a formal mentoring program with proteges mentored by experienced teachers with no formal mentor training. Results indicated that proteges of mentors from the mentoring program could more effectively organize and manage instruction and establish more…

Studied the effects on engagement of school reform initiatives that are consistent with educational theories. Also studied patterns in student engagement in a sample of 3,669 students from restructuring elementary, middle, and high schools. Hierarchical linear analysis suggests that reform initiatives substantially influence engagement in a…

Examined the prevalence of delay of kindergarten entry (academic redshirting) by examining records of more than 8,000 Wisconsin students. Results show that 7% of the sample had delayed school entry and that these students were primarily boys with birth dates just before the entrance cutoff. Achievement of redshirted students was comparable to that…