Reports a study that investigated how locus of control in 588 of Hong Kong's secondary teachers related to multiple aspects of job attitudes and perceptions of school characteristics. Survey data suggested locus of control was a powerful indicator of teachers' job attitudes and organizational perceptions. (SM)

The influences of writing tasks and gender on the quality of student writing of black and white eighth graders were examined. Data from statewide writing assessments of 170,899 Georgia students indicated both writing tasks and student characteristics were significant predictors of writing quality. There were both racial and gender differences. (SM)

Study tested several hypotheses relating concept learning to the use of teaching skills in training settings. Data from 14 training studies that measured both factors were analyzed. Results showed significant relationships between the concept and skill variables and suggested that skill acquisition in a training setting is mediated by concept…

Reports a study that used belief statements and lesson plans to examine preservice and inservice secondary teachers' orientations toward content area reading and instruction. Data analysis indicated preservice teachers favored an interactive model of reading but reader-based instruction. Inservice teachers held reader-based beliefs in both areas.…

Researchers analyzed data from a longitudinal study of black children at risk to study fifth graders' writing. Analysis of 186 students' compositions indicated students were optimistic despite their many problems. Writing achievement was low. Significant correlations appeared between affective characteristics and both structure and thinking. Girls…

Reports a study that identified the dimensional structure of mentoring and other support behaviors that occur among adults in elementary schools. A questionnaire about support relationships completed by 488 elementary teachers found 6 factors that were dimensions of support: mentoring, supporting, collaborating, career strategizing, supervising,…

Study investigated 5-7 year olds' understanding of electricity. Researchers collected data from students involved in a unit on flashlights both during and after the unit. The views children acquired (alternative or scientific) during the science unit were maintained after the unit's completion. Students did not hold sophisticated ideas about…

Two normative interpretations, professionalism and democracy, are advanced for research that argues for such school reform as decentralized management, a team approach to school operation, and more autonomy for teachers. It is argued that a democratic conception is distinguishable from, and preferable to, a conception of teachers as professionals.…

The impact of out-of-class experiences on outcomes of college attendance considered important by students were studied through interviews with 149 seniors at 12 colleges and universities. Fourteen categories of learning and personal development were identified. Results demonstrate the importance of experiences beyond the classroom. (SLD)

Using the discipline of history as a case study, the scholarly community of inquiry is compared with the community of inquiry in the classroom. The teacher's role in negotiating knowledge of each is discussed. The more teachers are integrated into the scholarly community, the better they will interpret it. (SLD)

A whole-class model providing for student diversity through remediation and enrichment in small groups was compared with a two-group model accommodating diversity through fixed within-class ability groups. Higher mathematics achievement was found for the whole-class model in a study of 1,736 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. (SLD)

Results of a microanalysis of 3,003 oral reading errors by 116 second and third graders support the idea that the actions of students and teachers during error episodes are situated in social contexts, emerging in response to a dynamic interplay of factors that converge at particular moments. (SLD)

Classrooms that used different instructional approaches to mathematics were observed, contrasting instruction that aimed to promote conceptual understanding rather than algorithmic skill with more conventional instruction. Results with 6 second-grade classrooms (135 students) suggest that relationships between teaching and learning are a function…

Effects of a staff development program on the professional lives of four elementary school teachers were studied. The Teacher in Residence partnership of the University of Alabama brings experienced teachers to the college for terms as adjunct faculty, allowing them to clarify what they have known and recommit to teaching. (SLD)

Multivocal literatures are comprised of all accessible writings on a common topic and embody the views of diverse authors. The exploratory case study method is proposed as a way to ensure rigor in reviews of such literatures because it addresses problems associated with the selective use of data. (SLD)