A total of 761 students (58.1% female) from selected fifth- and sixth-grade mathematics classrooms in Alabama were examined to investigate the relationships between individual learner variables (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES]) and mathematics performance. Specifically, this portion of the study examined individual learner variables…

Nausea, sweating, weak knees, and a dry mouth are all symptoms associated with the fear of standing in front of an audience. Considering the anxiety that public speaking produces, students of any age are facing a significant challenge when they speak in front of a group. While speaking is considered to be an integral part of language arts, it…

With the advent of the standards movement, most states have produced statewide tests that evaluate children's understanding of expository science text. Expository texts are designed to explain, describe, or present a logical argument. Usually, the purpose of expository texts is to present new information. This article describes a research-based…

Teachers around the world face similar issues. For example, they worry about how to provide effective instruction, they ask themselves what they can do about inadequate funding for education, they question the efficacy of standardized testing, and they wonder about their status and position within the social structure. However, each country's…

In this article, the author describes the four characteristics of effective middle schools: (1) Academic excellence; (2) Developmental responsiveness; (3) Social equity; and (4) Organizational Structure. An effective middle school should be a place of learning guided by people who have chosen to work with young adolescents, help them develop…

One of the most important functions of a teacher is to help students make important connections between the subject matters they study. Too often, the different curricular subjects, such as social studies, language arts, math, and science, are presented to students in a vacuum. Accordingly, many students leave school without ever noticing the…

As the effects of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and its ensuing mandates for compliance are felt in classrooms across the United States, the issues of high-stakes testing and rigorous benchmark paradigms are becoming a daily challenge for teachers. NCLB mandates rigorous testing for every child in grades 3-8 in reading and math. Children…

Statistics indicate that many victims of fatalities from abuse are children of teenage parents. Profiles of typical abuse perpetrators match the characteristics of many students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and place them at higher risk of acting impulsively and using violent and abusive behaviors. Teaching students parenting…

This article reports on research into learning gains made by children aged 10-12 when they studied astronomy using learning activities in a constructivist environment consolidated by access through the Internet to a scientific-grade telescope. Young people often hold naive or alternative ideas about scientific phenomena from early childhood. Since…

This article discusses the way online communications, and more precisely e-mail, can be used for English language teaching in a Primary Education classroom in Greece. The first part: (a) briefly describes the context where this particular technology will be used; (b) considers the pedagogical issues and language learning potential of using e-mail…