This study collected data on the physical development, attendance, and school performance effects of four types of school lighting on elementary students over a two-year period. Results indicated that regular exposure to the lights had important nonvisual effects on students. Full-spectrum fluorescent lamps with ultraviolet supplements were found…

This study compared literacy knowledge in preschoolers from low- and middle-class homes. Students and parents completed assessments and questionnaires about literacy activities. Results indicated that children from low-income homes were at a disadvantage in understanding written language. Literacy development also related to amount of early…

Only the socioeconomic composition of the student body and the percentage of black students were significantly related to between-school differences in student academic norms in a study of student body variables, school organization, and teacher attitudes in 76 Louisiana schools involving 5,400 3rd graders. (SLD)

An innovative classroom exercise that relieves anxiety related to psychological statistics courses and is relevant to the real world was tested with 26 psychology students. The use of real-world data based on a taste-test television commercial helps students understand the practical applications of statistics. (SLD)

A study of 20 North Carolina elementary schools shows that changes in California Achievement Test scores over a 2-year period do not correlate with changes in effective schools correlates. Results suggest that prescriptive use of the effective schools practices may be misguided. (SLD)

The reported practices of 25 elementary school teachers related to teaching mathematics with manipulatives, and reasons offered in support of instructional methodologies, were studied. Results reveal a wide range of interpretations of the term manipulatives and much variation in practice, highlighting a gap between research theory and practice.…

A framework connecting features of subject matter with curricular activities was tested with 399 survey responses from high school teachers of 5 different subjects. Teachers differed in their perceptions of their subjects as defined, sequential, and static, but some curricular activities did seem to differ depending on subject features. (SLD)

This interpretive case study examined how members of a college culture (faculty and administrators) experienced change related to the entry of a new college president, and how the president himself changed as a result. The relationship between established community members and the new president is explored in five phases. (SLD)

In 2 studies, 53 elementary school students in Australia participating in gifted and talented programs experienced systematic declines in 3 components of academic self-concept but not in 4 components of nonacademic self-concept. Results are discussed in terms of the "big-fish-little-pond" effect proposed by H. Marsh. (SLD)

The types of help students sought while solving mathematics problems under the tutelage of an adult were studied for 118 3rd and 6th graders classified as high, medium, and low achievers. Sixth graders were more likely to ask for process-related hints. Other age and ability differences are discussed. (SLD)

Critical incident methodology was used to study the attributional beliefs of 211 junior high school students in 4 subject areas. Results highlight the context-specific nature of causal beliefs and their linkages to reported classroom achievement. External attributions were more likely to generalize across subject areas. (SLD)

Views on the concepts of knowledge and beliefs were compared for 54 adults in the United States and 66 in Europe (primarily in the Netherlands). Differences related to the definition of and relationship between knowledge and beliefs were identified, with European respondents tending to be more diverse in their viewpoints. (SLD)

This brief report compares the lessons on addition and subtraction of signed whole numbers in three seventh-grade Japanese mathematics texts and four U.S. mathematics texts. Japanese books contained many more worked-out examples and relevant illustrations, while U.S. books had more irrelevant illustrations and unsolved problems. (SLD)

Developmental assumptions that are frequently regarded as constraints on elementary school science curricula are analyzed. The argument that elementary school children cannot function as experimentalists because they have not yet attained formal operational thought is not supported by the Piagetian or non-Piagetian research reviewed. (SLD)

The relative impacts of cooperative and competitive efforts on problem-solving success were explored in a review of 46 studies. Findings from these studies were categorized by problem-solving type and subjected to a meta-analysis. Members of cooperative teams outperformed competitive individuals on the identified types of problem solving. (SLD)