A framework is presented to document the process of category development. This two-dimensional model designed to facilitate the documentation of procedures used to generate categories specifies components associated with the development of categories and addresses the temporal aspects of category development. A study of preservice teachers…

The current interest in reflective approaches to teacher education is examined, arguing that the move toward more reflective orientations toward teaching and teacher education must be viewed in institutional contexts and structural adjustments in Western capitalist systems. A more socially, culturally, and politically reflective approach to…

The relationship among beliefs based on personal history that preservice teachers bring to their study of teaching and principles of reading, writing, and discussing to learn advocated by one professor was studied for nine college students. Personal histories of preservice teachers function as prior knowledge of good teaching. (SLD)

A four-year longitudinal case study of changes in the teaching of reading and writing made by one female elementary school teacher is described. Changes in the teacher's beliefs and practices and the influence of reflective thinking and collaboration promoted by a master's program and research project are described. (SLD)

The collaborative conversation of the researcher and seven relatively new female teachers is described to contribute to an epistemological understanding of learning to teach while raising questions about facilitating and studying the learning of beginning teachers. Also noted is the emergence of a feminist consciousness in the participants. (SLD)

How parent configuration (2-parent, mother-extended, or solo-mother) and number of siblings affect first graders' conformity to the student role was studied for 256 African-American and 228 white students. The positive effects of two-parent families may have been overestimated in previous research in which sibling effects are neglected. (SLD)

Current literature on status attainment and student college choice is reviewed, and a structural model of predisposition to attend college is presented. Data from 2,497 ninth graders attending 21 high schools in Indiana and their parents, analyzed using LISREL, support the model's usefulness in determining students' college choice. (SLD)

Describes a pattern of failure to apply relevant scientific principles among pupils. Tenth grade Israeli students were tested and later interviewed in order to determine areas of knowledge in which there was some question concerning knowledge of scientific principles. Suggests that teachers must involve the pupils in situations in which erroneous…

Results of a study of 23 7th-grade students revealed that underachievers are less self-confident, less socially and emotionally mature, less able to focus on one concern at a time, less accurate in their perceptions about themselves and their work, and less hardworking than achievers. (IAH)

A report is given of a study which examined the effects of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in mathematics on 99 disadvantaged and 112 advantaged Israeli students. Higher performance levels and larger gains were found for advantaged over disadvantaged students, for high achievers over low achievers, and for boys over girls. (IAH)

Thirteen-year-olds' interest in writing is alterable in educational settings; and is significantly associated with the educational productivity factors of subjects' (N=28,405) peer group, gender, and quantity and quality of instruction. Essay writing performance appears to be associated significantly with a student's ability, peer group, and a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the home and school effects on science achievement of 12th-grade students (N=2,277) in Israel. Significant correlates of achievement included home environment, quantity of instruction, interest, and motivation. (IAH)

A study, involving 80 Israeli junior high mathematics classrooms, sought to establish some of the variables related to the classroom learning environment, with emphasis on teacher credentials. Results indicate that observed teaching effectiveness was the most powerful and most consistent predictor of the mathematics classroom learning environment.…

Primary-aged children (N=264) preferred cartoon style illustrations to representational and expressive style. They also equated cartoon style art with make-believe stories, whereas photographs were viewed as representing real life. Preferences for realism increased with age. (IAH)

Implications of Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory for teacher reward programs were tested by comparing changes in teachers' (N=38) job-enrichment opportunities and recognition after the teachers had chosen one of two rewards (travel to professional training conferences or cash). Results were consistent with the motivation-hygiene theory. (IAH)