Home- and center-based child caregivers were randomly assigned to training and control groups. Caregivers who received training on inclusion attended group meetings and observed either live, or videotaped, on-site demonstrations. Caregivers who received training scored significantly higher on an observation scale and self-rating questionnaire than…

Examined low socioeconomic-status (SES) preschool classrooms for teacher perceptions of children and teacher/child interactions as a function of ethnicity. Hispanic teachers described Hispanic boys as having high levels of difficulty; they engaged in high levels of interaction with them. Perceptions of girls were more positive and less influenced…

Examined ethnic attitudes in a multiethnic elementary school in Hawaii. Interviews and surveys in Study 1 revealed age-related differences in how children described different ethnic groups. Results of Study 2 (participants nominated peers to fulfill certain roles with positive and negative connotations) indicated some differences from research in…

Surveyed teachers and mothers from early-childhood-education programs in Jamaica about child rearing. Found that teachers accorded more importance to fostering inquisitiveness and less to rule-conformity than mothers, and were less likely to think they should be privy to children's private thoughts (intrusiveness). Mothers and teachers with less…

Investigated effect of classroom type (DAP versus DIP) on stress behaviors and activity participation of 102 preschool children as moderated by socioeconomic status (SES) and sex. Found twice the level of overall stress behavior in DIP classrooms, with lower SES children and males (during small motor/paper-and-pencil activities) exhibiting…

Analyzed first, second, and third graders' invented games for type, complexity, and rule knowledge; compared game-rule knowledge to classroom-rule knowledge. Found two types of rules: conduct and procedural, indicating children perceive need for rules that tell how to play and that specify appropriate behavior (conduct rules resembled classroom…

This case study recorded and analyzed, during a primary prevention program in an urban day care center, the process of emotional socialization in two 4-year-old children considered at risk for academic failure. It isolated and described influential factors in emotional socialization, described changes in social skills and emotional expression, and…

Researchers long have sought a connection between play and literacy behaviors. Most agree that play is a basis for developing literacy skills. This study investigated the use of block play in a first-grade classroom. Results showed that the students increased the number of literacy behaviors after having been exposed to the enriched block-play…

Narrates one year in the life of a fourth-grade class that moved from teacher-directed to student-initiated learning, or what is referred to as "emergent curriculum." Encourages readers to reconsider students' and teachers' roles in developing curriculum. Describes changes over time in physical environment, academic curriculum, and social…

Argues that common understanding of "caring"--characterized by gentle smiles and warm hugs--obscures complexity and intellectual challenge of work with young children. Draws on feminist moral theory, specifically the ethic of care, to emphasize its deeply ethical, philosophical, and experiential roots. Highlights, through classroom narratives, how…

Examines the mathematical sense-making of eighth-grade students as they use physical devices to learn about linear functions. Suggests the concept of transparency as an index of access to knowledge and activities rather than as an inherent feature of objects. Concludes that transparency is a process mediated by unfolding activities and users'…

Examines the problem solving characteristics, strategy selection and use, and verification actions of African-American eighth-grade students (N=24). Indicates that students displayed approaches attributed to African-American learners, specifically the regular use of holistic reasoning. Concludes that success was correlated highly with strategy…

Examines strategies used by preschool children to subdivide items and focuses on how counting and sharing relate to one another. Indicates that children exhibited alternative strategies--suggesting use of a recipient as a mental cycle-marker and an adjacent recipient strategy--with pauses between allocations suggesting a re-presentation of lots…

Explores the strategies used by prospective secondary mathematics teachers (N=13) to develop and validate functions as mathematical models of real-world situations. Uses a grounded hypothesis on strategy selection. Concludes that strategy choice was influenced by task characteristics and interactions with other student modelers. Contains 38…

Investigates possibilities for and manifestations of collaborative work with pairs of kindergarten students as they worked on tasks designed to promote early number development. Students generated four strategies, and three themes emerged from the analysis of the cooperative solutions. Contains 34 references. (Author/ASK)