Parent-teacher communication and partnerships are important in children's early years. This study compared goal setting, conducted in English, during Head Start parent-teacher conferences with native Spanish speaking, Latino bilingual, and native English speaking parents and their children's teachers. To understand conference…

Educational policy is often developed using a top-down approach. Recently, there has been a concerted shift in policy for educators to develop programs and research proposals that evolve from "scientific" studies and focus less on their intuition, aided by professional wisdom. This article analyzes several national and international educational…

Whether students' motivation, organizational approaches, physical needs, and environmental and interpersonal preferences during the homework process predict homework achievement and attitudes toward homework was examined in 1,776 Turkish students in Grades 5 through 8. The Homework Motivation and Preference Questionnaire was utilized to assess…

This study tested the hypothesis that children's books accurately reflect the gender-based division of labor in the culture and historical period in which they were published. A content analysis was performed on illustrations in books that won the Caldecott Medal or Honor between 1990 and 2009. The final sample included 490 illustrations in 68 of…

With the 2008 reissue of Francine Pascal's (1983) "Sweet Valley High", the popular cultural icons of twins Jessica and Elizabeth have been revitalized. Jessica and Elizabeth are the much-beloved protagonists in romance novels strategically targeted for young adults in "Sweet Valley High" or "Sweet Valley U", and for first- and second-grade readers…

Children's perceptions of the developmental opportunities afforded by school and afterschool were studied. The data support prior research showing that inequitable patterns exist, across gender, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status, in children's perceptions of the opportunities provided by school. Afterschool programs, conversely, are faring…

The study compares two groups of students who graduated from high school in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) during 1997-2001. Students who had participated in MPS Montessori programs from preschool through 5th grade were matched to a comparison group on the basis of gender, SES, race/ethnicity, and high school attended. Data from the ACT and…

This study explored gendered relations between children's self-perceptions and emotion understanding. Ninety-one children (52 girls, 39 boys; 5-8 years) completed self-report self-perception measures and participated in individual interviews to assess three dimensions of self-understanding (continuity, agency, distinctiveness) and emotion…

The purpose of this study was to further test the psychometric properties of a scale developed to measure children's perceptions of their after-school teacher and to understand the scale's relationship to the quality of the school-age child care program. Eleven after-school programs were observed and rated on program quality, and 146 children…

This issue highlights five distinct studies. The first study looks at achievement and its association to Montessori programs, magnet programs, and traditional schooling programs. The second provides evidence on the efficacy of the Even Start program in comparison to Title I programs. The third examines the effects of full-day and half-day…

End-of-year marks and achievement test results in intermediate grade math and reading were linked to high-stakes test results at the secondary level. The results suggest that analysis of marks and test scores would alert educators to students who may be at-risk. This study is an example of the scientific approach to school improvement advocated by…