Investigated school-level variables thought to influence the degree of parent participation in their children's education. Data from the 1988 National Educational Longitudinal Study, which examined 8th grade students and schools, indicated that many forms of parent involvement are not easily influenced by school- level variables. However, several…

Investigated the involvement of Mexican American parents in their children's elementary schools. Interviews with teachers, parents, and administrators and observations of parent activities indicated that parent involvement was influenced by factors like language, parent cliques, parent education, school staff attitudes, cultural factors, and…

Explored the beliefs of parents, teachers, and administrators regarding characteristics of effective elementary schools. Data from searches of journal articles, textbooks, and online materials indicated that though there was much variability in effective school characteristics, many effective school indicators were consistent across the three…

Evaluated classroom assessment practices of preservice teachers who had completed coursework in educational measurement. Review of 65 student teachers' lesson plans indicated that student teachers did not follow many assessment practices recommended during their coursework. No lesson plans contained all of the criteria deemed necessary for…

Investigated the effects of content and perceived ethnicity of authorship on teacher bias in scoring writing samples. Teachers read and scored four writing samples that included markers to promote assumptions about certain ethnocultural/racial groups and that varied in violent content. Results indicate that teachers' attitudes regarding ethnicity…

Examined whether well-administered verbal praise from their professor would affect college students' time spent on homework. The professor provided verbal praise or no verbal praise to different groups, and students completed a time-spent-on- homework-log. Results revealed that students who received verbal praise studied significantly more outside…

Investigated elementary students' interracial interaction preferences in four desegregated, urban magnet schools. Data from a sociogram of students' working, playing, and sitting choices indicated that black students were less willing than white students to interact. Racial considerations were more pronounced among girls. There was no trend toward…

Investigated sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of university and public school participants in a middle school Professional Development School (PDS). Participants from collaborative inquiry groups completed questionnaires at the end of their first PDS year. Satisfaction outweighed dissatisfaction, with members of co-led groups more…

Examined the relationship of two school mobility indexes (school changes and parental perceptions of mobility effects) to second grade academic achievement. The study involved data from Head Start students who transitioned to public school, from students' teachers, and from students' mothers. Results indicated that frequent school changes in the…

Explored relationships between second graders' multidimensional self-concepts (SC) and their teachers' beliefs about developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). Survey data indicated that neither beliefs about traditional practices nor about developmental practices predicted any dimension of SC for girls. Beliefs about traditional practices…

Examined the effect of part-time work intensity on high school mathematics and science coursework completed and its indirect effect on 12th grade achievement. Longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample indicated that there was a significant negative effect of part-time work intensity on coursework. The indirect effect on 12th-grade…

Investigated middle school students' computer tool use in managing and manipulating Internet-based hypermedia resources, hypothesizing that tools would let students process hypermedia resources at higher levels to solve complex, open-ended questions. Tools alone did not help students manage hypermedia information for solving these problems.…

Used data from the National Household Education Survey to examine parents' conceptions of kindergarten readiness and home learning, noting relationships with race and ethnicity. Racial/ethnic differences existed in parents' attitudes about readiness. Parents considered several academic and behavioral skills important for kindergarten success.…

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…

Discusses the different roles played by eclectic versus specialized scholarly journals in education. The narrow focus of specialized journals is useful to scholars with limited time but may exclude authors with controversial viewpoints. Eclectic journals provide a broader picture of educational trends and a forum for scholarly debate, unorthodox…