Students from 15 intact classes in grades 6 and 7 (N=142) from suburban schools in Perth, Australia, were used to investigate their time on task and achievement in process-oriented lessons. One finding noted is a positive relationship between achievement and student reasoning ability and engagement in planning and collecting tasks. (JN)

Talk remains by far the most used medium of instruction and classroom action. Classroom talk is typically dominated by triadic dialogue or an I-R-E (Initiate-Response-Evaluation) pattern of talk noted in the literature as consistent across grades and subjects. Studies seem to indicate that teachers utilize traditional forms of talk, even though…

Intended for use with grades six through nine, "Global Geography" is a series of ten 15-minute video programs that help students think their way through important issues and increase their understanding of world geography. The programs fit easily into normal classroom schedules and support the content of most existing course sequences.…

Two studies focused on children's reading but employed very different procedures and techniques. The first study examined the link between the levels of children's reading comprehension and the quantity of reading they did. Subjects, 198 children chosen at random from years 5, 6, and 7 of a single elementary school in Adelaide, Australia,…

A profile of an effective teacher of Aboriginal Australian students was constructed based on research on the teaching of Aboriginal students. Using the profile as a framework, this paper reports on an ethnographic study of an effective teacher in action with Aboriginal students. The study consisted of semi-participative observation of a teacher of…

This social studies curriculum guide is designed to challenge academically talented middle school students, encourage them to acquire and use critical thinking skills, and recognize the importance of global awareness. Areas of study include Latin America and Canada for grade six, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia for grade seven, and U.S.…

In 1993, the Queensland, Australia, Board of Teacher Registration established a working party to consider the preparation of teachers for working with young adolescents. This report from the working party summarizes the educational needs of young Australian adolescents, the preparation of teachers for working with these students, and the possible…

To determine the appropriateness of existing writing assessment instruments, to set directions for future assessment, and to ensure that assessment instruments are consistent with the requirements of the new English curriculum of the Northern Territory (Australia), teachers were sampled to determine how they used the booklets of moderated writing…

Questioned kindergarten children through college students to determine verbal and nonverbal behavior that "earned" significance. Findings could be categorized meaningfully in regard to who was significant, what they did or said, how this affected self-esteem, and how subjects reacted to feedback. Format was effective with groups of…

This study explored how elementary school teachers' mental images of their schools, as revealed by metaphor, were related in systematic ways to the perceptions their students had of the classroom psychosocial environment. The data were gathered during 1992 from 1,923 students and their teachers in 162 classes in grades 5-8 in Tasmania, Australia.…

This report is the second in a series of monographs in which the results of Australian student performance in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are presented. The main purpose of these reports is to describe the schools, teachers, and students who participated in TIMSS and to present student achievement results.…

Reports research examining the effects of writing activities on mathematics achievement. Results indicate that prewriting activities, such as modeling or prompts, are essential and that regular, systematic writing over an extended period can improve students' performance in, and attitude toward, mathematics. (15 references) (MDH)

This paper describes the evaluation of three curriculum models to teach technology. The three modules present technology as a design process involving problem identification and analysis; generation and evaluation of alternative solutions; planning and construction of models; and trialing, modification and evaluation. Participating pupil's…

The Multilevel Assessment Program tests for urban schools are conducted annually across Australia's Northern Territory in reading and mathematics. The program allows performance to be monitored at the system level for Years 5 and 7. Results show that, in terms of system performance on the link questions, there was no difference between 1992 and…

This report presents the results and sample items of a reading test and a mathematics test administered to Year 5 and Year 7 primary level students in 1989 in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Primary Assessment Program (PAP) monitors achievement in English and Mathematics in urban schools. All students in Years 5 and 7 are tested in…