For years scholars have attended to either generic or content-specific teaching practices attempting to understand instructional quality and its effects on student learning. Drawing on the TIMSS 2007 and 2011 databases, this exploratory study empirically tests the hypothesis that attending to both types of practices can help better explain student…

This study examined whether instruction in genre knowledge enriches students' feedback on each other's writing, resulting in better writing quality. In total 140 sixth-grade students (age 11-13) participated in the study. Two approaches to peer response with additional instruction were compared. In one condition, students were taught specific…

This article discusses similarities and differences in government policies on literacy in the United Kingdom and the United States and the culture of mistrust that has contributed to governments taking increasing control of education. Transatlantic trends in the areas of national literacy standards, curriculum, and assessment are discussed in…

Japanese (N = 25) and U.S. fifth- to eighth-grade teachers (N = 36) participated in pre- and post-lesson interviews to assess what they thought about when constructing mathematics lessons. To understand the details of this thinking and how it might support classroom instruction, we structured interviews around a specific lesson teachers taught in…

Findings of this study support the view that open schooling neither enhances nor decreases achievement as conventionally defined and measured. However, creativity in first graders was found to be enhanced by open schooling methods. (Author/DB)

Analyzed how computation is developed in three Japanese primary-grade textbook series by focusing on differences in presentation. Found that goals are similar but the methods and materials of presentation are very different, and that a much higher level of computational facility at the end of grade three is expected of Japanese students than of…

This study identified and analyzed events that U.S. and English adolescents judged as historically significant and the criteria and reasoning used to construe events as significant. Found that students were inclined to learn from history and find ways to conceptualize historical significance. Many could assign significance to events even though…

Examined the effectiveness of a course conducted during the first two weeks of school to teach Russian first graders to cooperate with each other and their teacher. Results indicated that students in the experimental groups improved in terms of their ability to account for partners' actions, initiative, cooperative action, conflict resolution,…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study Video Study of Teaching compared teacher development systems in the U.S., Japan, and Germany. Findings indicated that many American teachers believe they are changing the way they teach while they retain traditional practices. A research and development system was proposed for improving…

Presents conceptual analysis of U.S. and Japanese early education discourse, contrasting cultural assumptions and views of self that inform each context. Finds Japan holds progressive, child-centered but not developmentalist views that promote self in terms of cultural values; the United States emphasizes the individual child defined by…