This study examined schools which had successfully blended gifted education programs into middle school environments in order to provide outstanding services to gifted middle grades students, and sought to determine the factors that made this successful blending possible. Five sites were visited from a variety of settings and schools that used…

Teacher supply and demand are critical policy areas for planning, program funding, and teacher training. Shortages of minority teachers are especially acute, as are shortages in special education. To inform policy decisions at all levels of government, the National Center for Education Statistics collected data during school year 1987-88 through…

The purpose of this study was to survey the affective and cognitive progress of three classes of pre-first grade transitional students. An introduction discusses the issue of social promotion, or the promotion of a student regardless of the student's degree of mastery of the previous level, as opposed to grade retention. In an extensive literature…

The unprecedented influx of new settlers into Canada since 1962 has compounded the problems of minority student assessment and placement. This paper discusses the underlying issues involved in assessment and placement of minority students, then reviews related problems. Until the 1950s, Canada's school system, like that of Great Britain and the…

An in-depth investigation of the inner components of cooperative learning methodologies was made, concentrating on five basic research questions. These were: (1) Do teacher's focusing questions and interaction with students during cooperative learning facilitate students' critical thinking skills? (2) In what ways do cooperative learning groups…

Conceptualizing militant behavior as a strategic choice involving collective action and occurring within a specific organizational context, this paper examines the impact of various organizational factors on elementary and secondary school teachers' willingness to engage in militant behavior. Teachers in 83 New York districts were surveyed as to…

This article describes a means of evaluating early years classrooms from the perspective of the child's experience. Nine key themes, such as motivation and independence, are identified as representing significant aspects of a high-quality environment for learning. The manner in which these manifest themselves in relation to the three elements of…

In June 1989, third, sixth, and ninth graders in Alberta (Canada) were administered standardized tests in English, Social Studies, and Science, respectively. This report presents results of these tests at each grade level and by gender, with comparative data from 1985. Data for 31,998 third graders (English), 29,918 sixth graders (social studies),…

Factors promoting or detracting from the effectiveness of collaborative projects between colleges and schools were investigated. Of concern were three projects undertaken collaboratively between a four-year state college in Massachusetts and the local public schools during a 2-year period. The In-service Project provided opportunities for teachers…

A study investigated a decline in student achievement and related issues that was associated with a drop of 1.60 points on the mean achievement scores of 9th graders attending high school in Kosrae, Micronesia on the Secondary Level English Proficiency test. Research questions included the following: (1) What knowledge and skills are emphasized at…

Gender differences in achievement were studied in five academic areas: (1) vocabulary; (2) language usage; (3) reading; (4) mathematics problem solving; and (5) using sources of information. Standardized achievement test scores for a sample of 3,002 students (1,642 females and 1,360 males) who were tested in each of 10 consecutive years, grades 3…

This study was undertaken to further document content validity and to provide evidence of construct validity of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) Core Battery, using an alternative strategy. This strategy involved identifying the important job functions and professional knowledge areas of teachers. A multi-method approach was used to…

Investigating a family intervention approach coordinating psychiatric social work services and development planning by day care center staff, a short-term longitudinal study was made of children and their families from entry into preschool day care through participation in kindergarten and primary grades. Of the 105 preschool children studied, 60…

In open-ended interviews, students characterized their teachers as: mean, hard, easy, good, strict, fun, or nice. Analyses of later student interviews suggested that, when these seventh-grade students conceptualize their teachers, they attend to four major foci: (1) academic work students are expected to complete; (2) teachers' instructional…

Information about the Delaware Educational Assessment Program and the performance of Delaware public school students during 1986-87 as measured by a nationally-normed standardized achievement test are presented. The presentation is designed for use by the educational community and the general public. Program features include: (1) statewide…