Teachers viewed discipline as a serious problem because it directly affects the learning process. The teachers also felt that there was no one cause of discipline problems but many complex causes. Many teachers felt that some of the problems stemmed from lack of parental supervision. (Author/RM)

A study tested the hypothesis that students who were required to read a book of their choice for 15 minutes per night would have a more positive attitude toward reading than similar students who did not have that assignment. The Estes Attitude Scale for reading was given to two classes (high group and low group) of sixth graders in central…

A study investigated the source of teacher frustration concerning their students' spelling abilities and whether or not word study increases retention as opposed to a traditional approach to spelling instruction. Subjects, 16 fifth-grade students at a public school in a suburban area of central Virginia, were formed into groups based on…

Examined the impact of high-quality middle-level teacher preparation programs. Subjects were 2,139 teachers from 5 states. Middle schools with grades six through eight configurations were selected. Results showed that respondents prepared in comprehensive programs, had separate licensure, or who had taken more courses tended to give more favorable…

Some studies indicate that children exposed to acute violence can experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), showing symptoms such as avoidance and lack of concentration. Eighty-eight sixth graders in five different classes at a Central Virginia upper elementary school were observed for behavioral indicators of PTSD, including lack of…

A study investigated the reading interests of sixth-grade students in a rural Virginia county. Twenty-three children (10 girls and 13 boys) participated. The instrument used was a four-page-long reading interest survey, which contained "yes/no," rating, and open-ended questions. Results of the survey indicated that this group of students…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1994, TSA was expanded to include non-public school students. The 1994 reading assessment considered students' proficiency in situations that involved…

Surveys 315 fourth- and fifth-grade inner city and suburban children from Virginia and Ohio about their "most favorite" book, with titles categorized by literary genre. Finds little overlap with individual titles but emergence of some genre patterns--girls favoring realistic fiction and boys selecting fantasy; inner city children…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1992, the NAEP Program included an expanded TSA in fourth-grade reading. The 1992 reading assessment considered students' performance in situations that…

The U.S. Department of Education is supporting a 3-year program involving Virginia Tech's computer department and a rural public elementary school. The project seeks to determine whether immersive access to networked computing by students and their families has measurable effects on long-term student achievement. A fifth-grade classroom was…

As a student teacher who had just finished her teaching assignment at Old Dominion Middle School in central Virginia, the author was struck by differences in students' classroom and hallway behavior. Whereas students were calm and respectful inside classrooms, they pushed, cursed, and ran in hallways while teachers looked on. Wondering why…

This study examined whether 81 sixth grade students from various socioeconomic and racial backgrounds perceived any disadvantages in being taught by a team of teachers rather than by a single teacher in a self-contained classroom. Critics of team teaching assert that a self-contained classroom provides more stability, security, structure, and…

This study involves the collaboration of researchers with 24 teachers in a 3-year intervention study aimed at investigating and improving vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of fourth and fifth grade students for whom English is a second language. Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were collected on various aspects of vocabulary…

This study investigated the teacher expectancy effects (also called Pygmalion effects) on the grading of both fourth-grade spelling tests and eighth-grade essay tests by 19 teachers in central Virginia public schools. Spelling tests contained the same five misspellings, but differed in the legibility and gender of the sample. The essays varied…

This project involves the collaboration of researchers with 24 teachers in a study aimed at investigating and improving the vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension of 4th and 5th grade students for whom English is a second language. Cross sectional and longitudinal data were collected on various aspects of vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary…