This article presents a conceptual analysis of life in preschool and public school kindergarten classrooms, and explores issues and implications related to the following question: Will children differ in the kinds of students they become based upon whether or not their first school experiences occurred in a preschool or in kindergarten? (Author/JL)

This article compares and contrasts a predominantly White preschool and a predominantly Black Head Start program to determine how education might better serve children who come from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. Research and results are discussed, and suggestions for culturally responsive education are made. (JL)

Children's joint production and maintenance of a peer culture in preschool settings is crucial to their development of a social identity. Theoreticians and researchers should consider what it is actually like to be a child to understand better how children's activities model and prepare them for the adult world. (Author/JL)

This article focuses on young children's perceptions of teachers and mothers and compares the perceptions of preschool and kindergarten children with respect to the roles of these important adults. It concludes that children's perceptions are socially constructed based on their experiences within the school setting. (Author/JL)

This article examines the abilities children exercise in a variety of record-making activities, including mapping, quantification, and music notation. The ways teachers and educational climates promote different versions of literacy are discussed. Children's conceptions of literacy are examined. (JL)

Teaching strategies used in fifth-grade classrooms which illustrate three teacher orientations--learning, work, and a lack of work or learning orientation--are described. Six interrelated strategies that support the orientation include: framing lessons; attention focus and redirection; treatment of errors; responsibility for learning and…

"Curriculum'n'instruction" is a dynamic and constructed process through which students gain access to both the social and the academic content of lessons. This article examines this process as it develops during the everyday events of the classroom and discusses the relationship between curriculum and instruction. (CB)

New conceptions of reading and writing emphasize the active role of the reader or writer in constructing meaning and the inherently social nature of reading and writing. This suggests that classrooms can be viewed as literate communities using reading and writing to accomplish classroom community goals. (MT)

This article cites various research studies on matching learning and teaching styles and discusses possible problems of this approach. Several aspects of matching learning and teaching styles are offered for consideration: the effect of teaching on learning, classroom management, and how styles affect classrooms. (DF)

This article discusses problems with the learning style-based education paradigm and recommends a six-part approach for matching learning and teaching styles. (DF)

This article examines classroom discrimination and finds that students develop biases from the group they belong in and through previous experiences. To counter such stereotypes, teachers must examine their own attitudes and those of their students. Heterogeneous group activities where students can work together are suggested. (DF)

Teachers need to be prepared to teach children who are culturally different and socially or economically disadvantaged. Personal assessment of attitudes toward student differences and data collection to provide information on individual students will help the teacher prepare an accepting classroom environment. Suggested activities for teacher use…

The personalizing of the Language Arts instructional program at the Concord High School in Wilmington, Delaware is discussed in terms of a) department organization, b) classroom organization, c) instructional materials, and d) special considerations related to individualizing instruction. (HMD)

Classroom climate has often been labeled the "hidden curriculum." The positive or negative interpersonal communication between teacher and student influences student self-concept and academic performance. Teachers should be committed to the enrichment of the curriculum through the tenets of humanism and the creation of a positive classroom…

The use of alternative instructional strategies and resources to meet the learning needs of individual students incorporates the diagnosis of student learning progress, the teaching of self-management skills, organizational supports, and family involvement into an effective educational program. (JN)