This edited book documents practices of learning-oriented language assessment through practitioner research and research syntheses. Learning-oriented language assessment refers to language assessment strategies that capitalise on learner differences and their relationships with the learning environments. In other words, learners are placed at the…

This book advances discussion and disseminates knowledge and global perspectives on what school leadership looks like, how it is enacted and under what circumstances, and when or where lessons might be portable. This book has wide appeal for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners considering school leadership and how to support it…

Presented is a brief overview of Japanese education followed by specific ideas about important considerations in the teaching of mathematics in elementary grades. Examples are given for teaching flexibility in mathematical thinking. (RH)

Reported in this conference proceedings are educational activities related to mathematics education from several countries. The conference was devoted primarily to two major topics closely connected with the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP): (1) Development of an applications-oriented mathematics curriculum for all…

Compares the cognitive representation of number of 24 American, 25 Chinese, 24 Japanese, and 40 Korean first-graders, and 20 Korean kindergartners. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children preferred to use a construction of tens and ones to show numbers, whereas English-speaking children preferred to use a collection of units. (RJC)

Based on 2 years of research, this comprehensive report of education in Japan is matched by a simultaneously-released counterpart Japanese study of education in the United States. Impressive accomplishments of the Japanese system are described. For example, nearly everyone completes a rigorous core curriculum during 9 compulsory years of…

An analysis and comparison of science education in Japan and the United States is presented. Studies in comparative science education, including the first and second International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the Japan and United States Cooperative Science Project, provide an empirical base for some of the…

Computational strategies and estimating abilities of 466 Japanese students were tested and interviews with a subsample of that group were used to compare with a theoretical model based on a sample from the United States. Results of the comparison of computational and estimating abilities are presented. (CW)

This paper was developed to describe and discuss the characteristics of educational settings and school science curriculum in Japan as compared with the United States. Three major aspects of the role of science education are presented. The first is the cultural and societal expectations placed on education. This represents external influences on…

Examines the similarities and differences in beliefs about the effective teaching of mathematics held by teachers from two different sociocultural backgrounds. Data were collected using a part of the Teacher General Classroom Process Questionnaire of the second IEA Mathematics Study. (Author)

Compared were the integrated process skills of American youngsters who studied for several years in an activity-based, materials-oriented program to a group of Japanese pupils who studied in a similar program and to an American group whose program was textbook oriented. Implications are discussed. (Author/CW)

Chinese, Japanese, and American children at grades 1 and 5 were given a battery of 10 cognitive tasks and tests of achievement in reading and mathematics. Goals were to determine (1) possible differences in cognitive abilities and (2) the possible differential relation of scores on cognitive tasks to reading by children of the three cultures.…

This paper examines art, a discipline that bears striking parallels, and differences, in the way it is practiced and valued in the United States and Japan. In Japan, art is a valued part of the elementary curriculum warranting as much time as science and social studies. In the United States, art is generally thought of as something extra to do if…

The main purposes of the seminar were to examine the present status of school mathematics problem solving; to explore classroom practice and what is known about research; to compare the situations appearing in textbook word problems; and to make plans for cross-cultural research in both countries. A paper from each country was presented during the…

This exploratory study provides a foundation for research on socialization in Japanese schools, identifying types of cooperative and competitive student behavior as seen by teachers. The first of two surveys (each using two questionnaires) asked teachers to list examples of cooperative or competitive behavior. The second, designed from the…