Combination classes are often created out of financial necessity rather than a desire to engage students in multiage learning. Teachers assigned to these classrooms come from the general teaching pool and may not have specialized training around the intricacies of multiage teaching. A review of the literature indicates that the United States has a…

As a result of the pressures of educational reform and high-stakes assessment, some schools run the risk of foregoing active, student-centered learning activities for building test-taking skills and the memorization of discrete facts (Gredler, 1999; Jackson & Davis, 2000). Coupled with the additional pressure to fulfill the expectations of…

This report is part of a multi-year project to examine the effects of standards-based assessment reform on schools and classrooms. During the past year, the project investigated school and classroom effects of assessment reforms in the state of Kentucky, a state that has been at the forefront of the standards-based assessment movement. This report…

In multigrade instruction, children of at least a 2-year grade span and diverse ability levels are grouped in a single classroom and share experiences involving intellectual, academic, and social skills. "The Multigrade Classroom" is a seven-book series that provides an overview of current research on multigrade instruction, identifies…

This document provides a framework for the development of sustained and coordinated activities to support Kentucky teachers in learning the new roles and ways of teaching envisioned in the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. The report begins with a discussion of the context of reform, which is seen as consisting of two realities: new expectations…

This study examined the implementation of the seven critical attributes of the primary school curriculum mandated by the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in a single multi-age primary classroom. The study used a case-study approach over a 16-month period. The seven attributes observed are: (1) developmentally appropriate practices; (2)…

This empirical study was conducted to explore both the influence of assessment on teachers' classroom practice during an assessment driven educational reform, and the principle underlying assessment driven instruction, i.e., "what you test is what you get." Factors targeted at the level of assessment were performance-based or objective…

From 1990 to 2000, a qualitative study of the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was conducted in four small rural school districts in Kentucky. KERA reflects key components of what would later be termed "systemic reform": a unifying set of goals that all students must attain, a coherent system of instructional…

This paper presents results from a 1992 survey of library media specialists in southeastern Kentucky, focusing on technological resources available in library media centers and the media specialists' perceptions of their roles and the future as affected by the Kentucky Educational Reform Act. Results indicated that the four most widely available…

A study examined whether Kentucky primary teachers were adopting the changes in literacy instruction recommended in the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA/1990) which, in part, encouraged the use of whole language and integrated reading/language arts approaches and the teaching of writing as a process. The study employed direct classroom…

This study investigated beginning teachers' perceptions of, preparation for, agreement with, and implementation of Primary School Programs (PSP), one segment of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). In 1993, surveys were mailed to 630 first year primary teachers in Kentucky. The surveys asked about 15 critical attributes of PSP identified by…

In Kentucky, nongraded primary education became a reality under the mandate of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in 1990. Research has produced some anecdotal information on the degree to which schools have implemented the ungraded primary program, but there has been no research to link the implementation of the primary program to student…

In Kentucky, the administrative roles of the superintendent and the principal have received considerable attention from state-level policymakers since the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Although there are comprehensive, ongoing assessment procedures for Kentucky principals and superintendents, there are no state-level…

Teachers in Kentucky are using portfolios to determine strengths and weaknesses of individual students. Consequently, instruction is centered totally around the student. The implementation of portfolios sends the message to students that their first efforts should not be their last. Revision is part of improvement, and students are expected to…

Since the 1990-91 school year, an ongoing project has studied the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in four rural Kentucky school districts. Study methods have included over 1,200 interviews with various stakeholders, observation of over 500 classroom instruction hours, and a comprehensive review of key documents. This…