We describe the design of a knowledge-building environment and examine the role of knowledge-building portfolios in characterizing and scaffolding collaborative inquiry. Our goal is to examine collaborative knowledge building in the context of exploring the alignment of learning, collaboration, and assessment in computer forums. The key design…

Objective: To explore the characteristics of the spiritual beliefs among junior high school students. Method: 431 junior high school students are measured by Students' Basic Information Questionnaire (SBIQ) and Middle School Students' Spiritual Beliefs Questionnaire (MSSSBQ). Results: (1) The overall characteristics of the spiritual beliefs among…

Background: Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. This study builds on a study by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) who found that during cooperative learning teachers' verbal behaviours were more helpful to and encouraging of their students' efforts while during…

In spring 2005, the Educational Policy Institute was contracted by an anonymous, non-profit, Missouri-based organization to conduct analysis of data from a series of focus groups of 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students. The purpose of the focus groups, conducted by the Change and Innovation Agency in Jefferson City, was to examine the postsecondary…

This article presents an innovative professional development project, "Facing the Past-Transforming Our Future," developed collaboratively by the Western Cape Educational Department, the Cape Town Holocaust Centre (CTHC), and the US-based teacher professional development organization Facing History and Ourselves (FHAO). "Facing the…

Reading is an essential part of science literacy, yet teachers often face challenges in incorporating reading in science classrooms. In this article, the authors share how they brought reading back into their science classrooms. They designed four quarterly reading projects with yearlong literacy routines that they used successfully with their…

Claude Steeles' stereotype threat hypothesis posits that when there are negative stereotypes about the intellectual capacity of certain (stigmatised) groups, members of that group suffer aversive consequences; group members who are most strongly identified with the stigmatised domain in question (e.g., intellectual or academic ability) are those…

Despite the growth of a variety of alternatives to the neighborhood high school, most students in big-city school systems still attend large comprehensive high schools that serve a particular residential area. The authors contend that the extreme concentration of educational need at these schools is often overlooked by policymakers, school reform…

The high prevalence of HIV among young people in African countries underscores a pressing need for effective prevention interventions. Adapting school-based prevention programs developed in the United States for use in African schools may present an alternative to the time-consuming process of developing home-grown programs. The researchers report…

Few researchers have asked students directly about what they know and need to know regarding college and career planning. Given the critical choices made early in high school, ninth graders (n = 222) were surveyed regarding their educational and career plans and the resources they were using in their decision-making. Overall results as well as…

The present study examined the association between body dissatisfaction and adjustment, and the role physical development plays in this association, in an ethnically diverse sample of over 1100 urban, ninth grade boys and girls (M age = 14). More similarities than differences were found across ethnic groups: Caucasian, African American, Latino,…

In this study, the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) was developed with confirmatory factor analysis and cross-validated factor model. The results show that the READ has sound psychometric qualities and that it measures all the central aspects of the psychological construct of resiliency. (Contains 4 tables.)

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This article gives a description of three analyses concerning the construct learning to learn and the assessment of cross-curricular skills. First, the correspondence between learning to learn and cross-curricular skills is examined by means of a theoretical content analysis. Second, the nature of cross-curricular skills is studied through a…