Three mathematics teachers and 10 of their ninth grade students were observed and interviewed during a 6-week period. One teacher claimed that her main challenge--implementing a student-centered curriculum--was her doubt that students would make the right connections without her explanations. Another teacher struggled with the dynamics of…

A study investigated the effects of a prior knowledge activation strategy on students' ability to successfully engage in the ongoing comprehension of extended text. Data were elicited from 79 ninth graders who were enrolled in a required social studies class in an urban high school in the Southeast. Equal numbers of high and low readers were…

Lessons from a ninth-grade course which integrates social studies skills development and economic concept teaching are outlined. An overview describes the content of the year-long course and the skill objectives. Course content is divided into three sections: a basic introduction to economics, student interest topics such as the economics of crime…

This study examined how instruction that encourages critical thinking about what has been read can lead to incorporated knowledge that can be retrieved and applied to other related settings. Case-based learning (an instructional method long used with graduate business, law, and medical students) is one method that can be used to foster critical…

A study questions recent findings that adolescents spend more time viewing television than listening to music. It is argued that questions about what constitutes music listening and music media, about adequate scales to measure time spent with television and music media, and the age range from which recent samples have been drawn, have led…

Though item bias statistics are widely recommended for use in test development and analysis, problems arise in their interpretation. This research evaluates logistic test models and computer simulation methods for providing a frame of reference for interpreting item bias statistics. Specifically, the intent was to produce simulated sampling…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors responsible for the perceived decline in attitudes toward science observed in an intervention study designed to enhance scientific literacy. The literacy study focuses on a new freshman course in an urban Catholic high school. Negative attitudes toward science were found to be related to the demand…

This paper describes how a researcher developed task and four different data collection instruments provide evidence for the identification of various affordances of a technology-rich teaching and learning environment (TRTLE) that were perceived and/or enacted by Year 9 students in their solution of a linear function task utilising a graphing…

This case study investigated factors that increased verbal interaction for students in group work in a ninth grade, content-based, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class. Out of 11 tasks assigned to the students during the semester, four language-based and four genre-based tasks were analyzed. At the end of the study, the nature of verbal…

This paper examines how conceptions regarding the legitimate purposes and day-to-day course of science influence students' evaluations of science in the popular media. The students involved in this project attend a secondary all-girls school. Their concept of science focused on practical, life-enhancing goals pursued through the complex,…

Since the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991 the issues of citizenship for non-Latvians and civic participation for all the people of Latvia have become acute. The paper provides statistical data on Latvia and states that, politically, Latvia is a parliamentary system of representative democracy that is directly accountable to the…

This study evaluated a career education program for 141 ninth grade students at Kemper County High School in rural Mississippi in an effort to reduce the dropout rate and increase career awareness. A mental health counselor gave students monthly instruction on career issues necessary for vocational life after high school graduation. A local…

Self-concept to performance congruence was assessed for academically-able ninth graders (54 females, 49 males) in both math and verbal content domains. Overall, the majority of these able learners fell outside the congruent range. Analyses revealed similar congruence patterns for females and males, in both subject areas. These findings suggest…

Linking teacher treatment to student impact is not as straightforward as it may seem initially. The difficulties in measuring the impact on students are illustrated in this discussion of the Ohio Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI). Since the inception of the SSI, the external evaluators had planned to use data from the state's proficiency tests…

Previous research has demonstrated an association between locus of control in adolescence and a successful transition to adulthood. Having an external locus of control has been implicated as an important factor in adolescent behaviors such as teenage pregnancy and delinquency, and has been found to be negatively related to school achievement. This…