The use of audio-visual aids to learning is far from new in the American educational system, but it has been given a tremendous imepetus by the war and the striking success of all branches of the Armed Forces, especially the Navy, in speeding training by their use. This small book is concerned with one of the most important phases of audio-visual…

In its six chapters, this report assesses the status of the sixth grade. The shadow study technique was employed to address three specific questions: (1) What is a sixth grader's day in school really like? (2) In what ways do the programs provided for sixth graders differ, depending on where the grade is located in the school system? and (3) How…

School reform efforts to date have not always resulted in meaningful change. This book presents findings from an ethnographic study that examined the change process in three schools undertaking systemic reform. The schools included the Hull Junior-Senior High School, a primarily white public school in a recession-battered community; the Academy at…

The primary purpose of this book is to help teachers develop new insight into the learner's experience of science learning in school settings. The book focuses on the personal experience of the learner, taking the position that learning must be understood not only as a cognitive experience but also as an emotional, personal, social, and cultural…

This book presents findings of the second phase of a study conducted by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). Specifically, the study sought to identify the educational programs and leadership practices that were used in successfully restructuring middle schools. Of 46 principals at middle schools that met the NASSP's…

This study compared New American Schools (NAS) classrooms to non-NAS classrooms in the high poverty San Antonio, Texas, school district. NAS promoted whole-school reform to address lagging achievement and lackluster school reform attempts that produced little meaningful change. The study investigated whether NAS designs extended beyond changes in…

This document is 7th in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education monograph series. The mathematical performance of (n=250) U.S. 6th-grade students from both private and public schools and (n=425) Chinese 6th-graders from both key and common schools was examined on multiple-choice tasks assessing computation and simple problem solving, and…

As theories about identity have shifted over time to viewing it as a multidimensional and ever-evolving process created by social and cultural settings, conceptions of literacy and implications for classroom practices have shifted as well. This book presents studies of students in Grades 3 to 6 at three different United States school sites located…

A book-length study described the metacognitive components of good and poor reading ability, with special reference to comprehension. Subjects were 53 Swedish students in grade 5 or 8 and were either good or poor comprehenders as defined by a combination of a reading test and teacher ratings. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews…

This book presents research undertaken as a two-year investigation of two sets of related questions about teacher understanding concerning rational numbers, quantity, and proportional reasoning and how this knowledge affects teachers' awareness of how students learn. Chapter 2 provides a conceptual framework. Chapter 3 presents detailed…

This publication was designed to assist those who are establishing or redesigning programs aimed at providing better prepared middle grades teachers. Following the prologue, which provides the background of the project, the first chapter looks at teacher education; endorsement, licensure, certification, and accreditation; and collaboration to…

Studies done in the 1960s and 1970s which sought to compare middle schools with junior high schools were ineffective. Intended to fill the frequently noted research void in the middle school movement, this monograph summarizes previous research on the effectiveness of middle level schools and presents results of a 1993 study on middle schools…

The 1990s will likely be a watershed period for middle level education, as the real challenges surrounding making "second level" changes replace the euphoria that accompanied early growth of the middle school movement. Yet, zealousness still characterizes reform efforts at the middle level. This study, the most comprehensive ever…

Resulting from an investigation of reading programs that refuse to tolerate acquiescence to the inevitability of reading failure, this book describes what works and why in adolescent literacy, through case studies and through observations gleaned from extensive literature searches and site visits. Chapters are as follows: (1) "Adolescent…

The study on which this book is based examined the development of social relationships among black and white students in a new, desegregated urban middle school. In the initial phase, information was gathered from classroom observation, interviews, and a wide variety of supplementary sources over a three-year period beginning with summer…