The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, associations exist between students' academic success on achievement tests and the predictor variables of students' socioeconomic status, participation in an after-school program, and gender. Middlesboro Intermediate School contains a high number of students who participate in the federal…

Many teachers bring caterpillars into their class for their students to see the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. This is exciting and educational, but more can be done using Monarchs across the curriculum. This article describes an integrated butterfly unit for students in grades four to six that starts with identifying the Monarch…

Can children reason the Bayesian way? We argue that the answer to this question depends on how numbers are represented, because a representation can do part of the computation. We test, for the first time, whether Bayesian reasoning can be elicited in children by means of natural frequencies. We show that when information was presented to fourth,…

Age-related changes in children's performance on simple division problems (e.g., 6 divided by 2, 72 divided by 9) were investigated by asking children in Grades 4 through 7 to solve 32 simple division problems. Differences in performance were found across grade, with younger children performing more slowly and less accurately than older children.…

Using Cambourne's model of Natural Learning and Literacy Acquisition (1985), this paper examines one staff's professional development as they are immersed in literacy learning. This year-long qualitative study examined the changes in teachers' understanding of literacy concepts, as well as factors that contributed to or inhibited these changes.…

Behavioral descriptors were identified as variant or invariant predictors of perceived popularity in a sample of 516 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade children located in 26 majority-Black or majority-White classrooms. Athletic ability, prosocial behavior, being "cool", social withdrawal, and "personal privilege" (i.e., having a lot of expensive…

Physical education teachers enjoy the special privilege of guiding children to discover unique ways for expressing and communicating ideas, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions through movement. Creative dance lets children explore movement possibilities limited only by one's imagination. Individually and collectively, creative dance encourages…

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…

Researchers are aware that grouping students by prior knowledge may result in moderate gains in intermediate grade students' mathematics achievement. Despite this research, many teachers continue to teach the way they were taught: one curriculum for all students regardless of students' readiness. Additionally, researchers have raised concerns…

In this article, the author shares a decade's worth of experience in developing an approach to teaching math to upper-elementary and middle school students that simultaneously increases basic skills, improves problem solving, raises test scores, and sparks student interest in math. Sections include: (1) Background Of Supermath; (2) Description Of…

Since Hirschi's (1969) seminal work with delinquent youths, researchers have included school bonding and related constructs in analyses of delinquency, school dropout, student motivation, risk and resiliency, and academic achievement. In addition to school bonding, researchers have studied school engagement, school attachment, school…

Not all children cope equally well with the stresses and traumas life throws their way, and every educator recognizes that "deer in the headlights" look some children get when current events and past traumas combine to trigger a fight-or-flight stress response. No matter how safe the classroom may be in reality, trauma deactivates cognitive…