Three case studies of teachers in a disadvantaged, urban elementary school are examined to determine how teachers understand recent mathematics reforms. Although all teachers have access to learn about reforms, this access does not guarantee common knowledge. This leads to questions about systemic reform and the notion of alignment in a…

This review of intervention studies in which students have been taught to generate questions as a means of improving their comprehension finds that teaching students the cognitive strategy of generating questions results in gains in comprehension as measured by posttests. Skill-based instruction and reciprocal teaching yield similar results. (SLD)

Kindergartners who received learning-set instruction on unidimensional classification, unidimensional seriation, and number conservation were retested at the end of first grade. Followup tests showed that the cognitive advantage and improved academic achievement gained from that teaching method was generally present 15 months later. However, a…

A sample of 144 mathematical tasks used during reform-oriented teaching was analyzed in terms of task features and cognitive demands. The ways cognitive demands of high-level tasks declined and factors associated with task changes were explored. Teachers used tasks that led to the development of students' thinking capacities. (MAK)

A review of 39 studies indicates that achievement-test scores decline over summer vacation. Meta-analysis results from combining the 13 most recent studies indicate that the summer loss equals about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale. Discusses implications for school calendar changes. Contains 68 references. (SLD)

The analysis by R. Greenwald, L. Hedges, and R. Laine (1996) suffers because of its statistical methods and because it is based on a sample that biases the study toward their conclusions. Econometric evidence and the aggregate performance of U.S. schools points toward serious problems with inefficient use of resources. (SLD)

Studied educational attainment in a longitudinal study of 2,038 Dutch secondary school students and found motivation, metacognition, and self-regulation to be predictors of attainment, along with student background variables and prior achievement. Metacognitive and self-regulation variables were scarcely related to mean achievement. (SLD)

Studied the characteristics of effective high schools in rural Western Australia by investigating factors influencing science and mathematics achievement. Results for at least 1,024 students in each of 3 years show the most variability in achievement at the classroom and student levels, and show that teacher effects are substantial. (SLD)

Analyzed nonparticipant observations of five visually disabled adults in two extra mural arts education classes using W. Doyle's theory of ambiguity and risk in classroom tasks. Results show that these students attempted to avoid activity or renegotiate lecturers' expectations when their performance became especially threatening to their…

Studied the average development of word recognition, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling of poor and better readers during the elementary school period and studied whether differences between these readers increased over time. Results for 3 cohorts of about 900 children each contradict the existence of a Matthew effect for word…

Analyzed data for more than 1,000 students in 62 classes in England to focus on the progress made during the first 3 years of schooling. Considered the adequacy of the baseline assessment in predicting later progress and the progress students made. Overall, results show that effective early provision has a positive impact on academic achievement…

Studied homework characteristics and effectiveness in mathematics education for secondary school students using a sample of 1,394 Dutch students in 28 schools. Results show a lack of policy directed at coordination and increase of homework. Amount of homework was the only homework variable related to achievement. (SLD)

Reviews research concerning within-class grouping of students for learning and addresses some issues related to the integration of research on small group instruction raised by S. Prais (1998, 1999). Elaborates on pedagogical techniques that encourage effective small group instruction. (SLD)

Uses findings from previous studies of teacher work context to hypothesize that some features of the school workplace may contribute to greater parent involvement in urban high schools, especially home-school communication and parent volunteering. Discusses the roles of communal school organization and a context of caring. (SLD)

Studied the attitudes of 254 teachers in Cyprus toward their students' errors in mathematics. Teachers who had attended a specialized inservice course in teaching mathematics were more likely to be influenced by cognitive theory and the obstacle theory of knowledge. (SLD)