Several recent studies have examined the impacts of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on school operations and student achievement. We complement that work by investigating the law's impacts on teachers' perceptions of their work environments and related job attitudes, including satisfaction and commitment to remain in teaching. Using four waves of the…

Describes the social attitudes and interaction of a group of nonnative teachers adjusting to life in a rural Alaskan village. Focuses on how they construct their opinions about the reality of everyday village life and considers how teachers' cultural attitudes derive from their background experiences. (KH)

Changing demographics continue to challenge professional development programs to prepare school personnel to serve a rapidly expanding diverse student body. Popular diversity professional development models are on a continuum. They range from preparing teachers to design themes and activities that are culturally relevant all the way to enabling…

Outlines two elements of the process by which computers are incorporated into the social context of the classroom: (1) teachers' interpretations of the meaning of software, and (2) teachers' and students' views regarding the new learning interactions arising from work with computers. Discusses educational advantages of computer use in the…

Describes an alternative approach to teacher professional development that involves redesigning the school environment to enhance conditions that help teachers collaboratively reflect on, question, and change underlying beliefs and assumptions that guide their teaching practice. The paper examines teachers' learning needs, limitations of…

The author reviews classroom atmospheres that are commonly found in American schools and examines implications for instruction of minority students. Topics covered include (1) teacher expectations, (2) feminization of the classroom, (3) the cooperative context, (4) attribution of success and failure, (5) caring of the teacher, and (6) democracy of…

Administrators who have been successful in recruiting minority faculty members suggest that institutions develop innovative, goal-oriented affirmative action plans, challenge entrenched campus attitudes, find new ways of seeking out qualified applicants, and prevent unwritten campus rules from hindering the process. (MSE)

Compliance, identification, internalization, and expectancy are delineated and defined as three conscious and one nonconscious reaction to social influence. Discussion centers on the implications of each reaction in terms of a classroom environment wherein teacher and students influence each other and are subject to the pressures of public…

The authors examined the views of parents and teachers regarding beginning reading instruction using the questionnaire Approaches to Beginning Reading and Reading Instruction (ABRRI). Parents also rated the importance of 9 developmental areas, including literacy, and the extent to which home and school were responsible for each. Two components…

This study reports on the findings of a questionnaire administered to teachers in American schools abroad in Guatemala, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Data is reported in case study format for both a male and female teacher in Guatemala and the Netherlands. Special attention has been devoted to the analysis of the lives of American teachers…

This report describes the New York City School Improvement Project, a program designed to help participating schools to improve their instructional effectiveness through school based planning groups that represent the schools' constituencies. The project design and procedures for determining the needs of individual schools are discussed, as are…

Many students with behavior disorders have difficulty functioning in regular classrooms and pose persistent problems for classroom teachers. Classroom teachers are often reluctant or unable to deal with disruptive behavior. Research highlights the importance of considering classroom variables such as teacher attitudes and classroom environment in…

For learning to take place the following dimensions, constituting a set of conditions, must be present: (1) a willing learner; (2) a willing teacher; (3) content; and (4) a suitable setting. There is a dialectical relationship among these variables. Applies this argument to find reasons why adult learners have difficulties. (JS)

This paper addresses the role of the classroom in bringing students of different backgrounds together and the role of the teacher in creating an atmosphere in which students not only get along well with each other, but also develop respect and appreciation that they carry with them outside of school. There is a need to create an atmosphere of…

Resentment toward Asians on college campuses springs from many sources, including trade-war concerns, language barriers, the "model-minority" myth, and other stereotypes. Advocacy groups and student organizations are attempting to combat bias with activism. (MSE)