The authors of this article, 4th grade and 6th grade teachers at Castle Rock Elementary School in Colorado, describe their efforts to engage their students in learning. Morgan recounts a math lesson in which he confirmed that 4th graders sometimes need extensive preparation and support to translate their impressive insights into the written word.…

This issue of CPRE Policy Briefs summarizes the findings on issues related to teacher quality in the chapter by the author in the book, "The State of Education Policy Research" (Cohen, Fuhrman, Mosher, Eds., 2007). This report also draws on discussions that took place during a summer, 2006, policy briefing on teacher labor-market issues…

It's a hot day in July. The author finds herself in a university classroom in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, listening as an Achenese elementary school teacher narrates a children's story. As the teacher breaks into song in the middle of the story, the 20 other teachers in the classroom join in. The author is awed by their talents and thinks about how…

The construction of moral decisions within a socially ambiguous situation is not exclusive to Andersen's emperor but, rather, is shared by many early childhood educators as powerful decision makers within the day care center. Suggests a cognitive model which explains the gap between these decision makers' hypothetical and actual moral knowledge.…

Describes a workshop designed to help elementary teachers understand the recent literature on the effects of divorce on children and help the children through the crisis. Indicates that secondary home economics teachers may have to deal with students who have not adjusted to divorce. (JOW)

Looks at teachers' reluctance to engage in self-assessment, and the consequences in terms of public attitudes and policy. Includes a checklist of professional behaviors. (ET)

Many people feel mathematics education in the U.S. is in need of improvement. Fennema and Franke (1992) note that teachers' knowledge (or lack thereof) is often associated with poor instruction and thus, low student achievement on instruments which measure mathematical aptitude. For this reason, universities across the country have become…

School faculties are complex social communities consisting of countless social interactions that weave the larger web of social relationships. Collective observations of 16 teachers and the author, in an Indiana elementary school over 1 year, identified several distinct forms of social encounters: affirmations are interactions that, while serving…

Although inappropriate computer experiences emphasizing things more than people are frequently introduced into elementary school classrooms by inadequately trained administrators and teachers, computers can be appropriately used to liberate or empower thinking abilities. Certainly, computers should be used for specific reasons, but…

A plea is made for the mathematics education community to support the need for elementary school mathematics specialists. Roles of such specialists in primary as well as intermediate grades are listed. (MNS)

Discusses the benefits of early field experiences to elementary education majors. (SJL)

Describes teacher-initiated activities to involve parents in their children's education. (CM)

Argues that first-grade teachers strongly influence the future successes of their students. (MP)

A brief description of the notion of patriarchy and the feminization of teaching precedes a discussion of a core of central issues that profeminist male elementary school teachers are likely to confront, involving male privilege and domination, the teacher-child relationship, advocate versus technician roles, collegialism, and the…

Argues that pension systems have indentured educators by trapping them in jobs they do not want because of vesting requirements and that teachers' unions support these systems for selfish interests. The author offers a pension reform system ("defined-contribution") as a solution. (GR)