This study will examine factors that contribute to the decline in achievement scores in reading and mathematics when students transition from elementary to their first year in middle school or junior high school. It will test the hypothesis that motivation is not a function of mentors, academic support, teams, parental involvement, transition…

This article adds to the growing body of research surrounding the use of virtual manipulatives for mathematics learning. The study reported herein used five different virtual manipulatives from four different websites, all within a sixth grade unit on proportional thinking. While many studies have reported on student achievement when using virtual…

This article investigates the relationship between teachers' personal reading habits and their instructional practices. Teachers responded to a questionnaire that revealed their attitudes toward reading, the amount of time they spent reading per day and the kind of literacy practices that they used in their classrooms. Results indicate: (1) while…

This article discusses a project that placed over 97% of Mars' topography made available from NASA into an interactive 3D multi-user online learning environment beginning in 2003. In 2005 curriculum materials that were created to support middle school math and science education were developed. Research conducted at the University of North Texas…

Over 900 Texas teachers were surveyed on their perceptions of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), which at the time of the survey was Texas's high-stakes achievement test. The sample included elementary, middle, and high schools within each of four test performance levels: exemplary, recommended, acceptable, and low performing.…

In this article, the authors show how oceanography can enlighten and energize the teaching of middle- and high-school social studies on a grade-by-grade basis, and they describe "hooks" from oceanography that will heighten students' interest in various social studies topics. They base the article on their own experiences--as a…