This study examined whether fine motor skills were related to the initial scores and growth rate of mathematics achievement in American kindergartners and first graders. Participants were 244 East Asian American and 9,816 European American children from the US-based Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K). To control sampling bias, two…

In his book "To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader: Engaging Teen and Preteen Boys in Active Literacy," William Brozo suggested that many adolescent boys have become mentally and academically detached from school. While Brozo acknowledges that a solution to these problems is multifaceted, he asserts that engaging boys in literature that makes use of…

This report describes a cohort of first-grade students from the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS). Specifically, we follow the 9,176 students who were first-graders in the district in 1999-00 for seven years. We learn much about patterns of promotion and retention, mobility within BCPSS, transfer out of BCPSS, attendance, and…

A cross-sectional study of Portuguese primary school pupils' conceptions on digestion and the digestive tract was carried out before and after teaching this topic. Pupils of the prior four school years (5/6 to 9/10 year old) drew what happens to a cookie inside their body. In some cases they also wrote a short text or were interviewed. To identify…

Currently there is an international shift towards inclusive education, a means of education according to which the learner is schooled in the least restrictive environment possible, to overcome his or her challenges to learning and development. Bearing this in mind we considered the experiences of a learner with learning difficulties who transited…

The authors report 1-year follow-up data from 215 English language learners with reading difficulties who received a supplemental first grade reading intervention in the language of their core reading instruction. The researchers provided no intervention or boosters in second grade. The Spanish study revealed significant differences favoring…

This review of literature on progress monitoring was designed to examine the full array of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) in mathematics for students from preschool to secondary schools. We organized the article around two primary concerns: the approach used to develop the measures (curriculum sampling or robust indicators) and the type of…

This article analyses some of the findings of an evaluation of Project One of the "Assessment is for Learning" Development Programme in 16 Scottish primary schools and two junior high schools in which teachers developed formative assessment strategies aimed at improving teaching and learning. Drawing on data from pupils, teachers and…

The authors describe a hands-on program that they developed after their attendance at the NCTM Algebra Academy. The article explains how to use literature to capture youngsters' attention and engage them in interactive mathematical activities.

Kindergarten has undergone dramatic changes since the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002. The literature on the challenges facing kindergarten teachers as a result of NCLB focuses primarily on curricular and instructional issues; little attention has been paid to NCLB's impact on the relational aspects of kindergarten teaching,…

This pilot study evaluated the preliminary short- and middle-term impact of a nation-wide, school-based prevention initiative on antisocial behaviour of preschool and primary school pupils in Luxembourg. Seventeen preschool and reception classes (n = 183) were assigned to intervention and comparison conditions. The intervention included…

The authors advocate that every primary grade program needs a carefully planned social-emotional component. All children--those who enter first or second grade with an ability to control their emotions and make friends and those for whom these skills are more difficult--benefit from intentional teaching in this area. Some school systems adopt a…

This mixed-method study examined the effects of a school/university induction partnership on the instructional practices of two groups of beginning teachers in early elementary classrooms. Additionally, it investigated the types of support provided to beginning teachers and determined their retention rates after one year in the profession. The…

The purpose of the case study was to explore the effects of a mentor-coach initiative among second, third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers in an urban junior-secondary school in Antigua and Barbuda. The case study design was appropriate, mainly qualitative, but supported by quantitative data collection methods. Twelve participants shared in two…

Brewster Elementary, a rural K-6 school of almost 500 students, just north of Yakima, WA, could reasonably be considered a school at risk: Fully 92 percent of its students qualify for Title I funding; 83 percent use English as a second language. For eight years running, Brewster has been using the HOSTS Learning system, with funding help from the…