When school systems began to desegregate after Brown v. Board of Education, 80 Per cent of the school population was white and 20 per cent was minority. By 1996, the number of minority students had risen to approximately 35 per cent of the student population, and today it stands at nearly 40 per cent and growing. These students continue to achieve…

In spite of the recent emphasis in preservice teacher education on more and earlier field experiences, studies are challenging the contributions of full-time student teaching to professional growth. Although pragmatic findings favor the inclusion of field experience in teacher preparation programs, the importance of field experience has not been…

Describes the new dynamic found in exploring the role of discourse of discursive structures and normative practices through which teaching is figured and practiced. Develops an account that creates this new dynamic and encourages a missing conversation in the areas of emotions in teaching by discussing how sociopolitical and cultural aspects…

A review of novels and teacher textbooks from the early 1900s shows an image of teachers far more diverse than the nostalgic one held by many Americans today. Teachers were often young and poorly prepared in academics and pedagogy, and they struggled with disobedient students for control of the school. (KS)

Clear funding/achievement relationships are emerging from the recent body of production-function research. Money does matter in producing educational outcomes. Factors such as small class size and teacher experience can drive up instructional costs. Schools cannot operate efficiently with scanty resources. Equalizing quality resource inputs is a…

There have been repeated calls for educational researchers to increase their use of interpretive and naturalistic research paradigms to study, understand, and explain what happens in classrooms. A review of educational research literature, however, revealed only a few naturalistic studies of life in the classroom. Encouragingly, it appears that…

Short analytical writing exercises were designed to develop critical thinking and writing skills; stimulate creative thinking and writing; promote learning of psychological concepts; and to assess student knowledge. Design of these assignments was based on Bloom's taxonomy of multiple levels of critical thinking: recall, comprehension,…

The study of narrative is an interdisciplinary enterprise actively pursued within literary criticism, semiotics, philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, cognitive psychology, and psychiatry. Within education, narratives have found their practical application in two areas. In the curriculum field, narratives seem an obvious choice as organizing…

The project group "Preparedness for Peace" at the Malmo School of Education in Sweden studies ways of helping children and young people to deal constructively with questions of peace and war. As part of this work, experts with special interest and competence in areas related to peace education are interviewed. This publication explores…

The project group "Preparedness for Peace" of the Department of Education and Psychological Research, Malmo School of Education, Sweden, explores ways of helping children and young people deal constructively with questions of peace and war. As part of its work, the project group collects viewpoints on the role of schools in pursuit of…

An enhanced understanding of both practice and research in the social studies has been provided by researchers who presented narrative accounts and case studies of actual classroom teaching. The sort of examples of social studies teaching that emerge from narrative and other types of qualitative research are useful for constructing "fine-grained…

This review of some of the economical and educational dilemmas touching teacher education deals with the meaning of knowledge and the psychological requirements for the development of a knowledge base for teachers. Before teachers can play an innovating and flexible role in education they must first accept their roles themselves. The imbalances of…

Previous research has shown that teachers' sense of efficacy is an important presage variable associated with student achievement. Stereotypes evolving from this research include both positive and negative correlations between teacher perception of effectiveness and teaching experience. This research examines the relationship between years of…

Classroom behavior of experienced and novice teachers was studied in terms of: (1) use of student cues; (2) instructional responses to cues; and (3) teachers' instructional goals and prior knowledge. Experienced teachers used twice as many kinds of instructional actions, as well as more complex associations between cues and responses. (Author/PP)

This response to an article by Donna Kerr (Teachers College Record, Spring 1983) stresses the importance of teacher salaries as a means of attracting talented college graduates to teaching. Teacher effectiveness is greatly influenced by classroom experience. Improving preservice teacher education may have a limited effect on teacher improvement.…