Studies have shown that teacher quality is the single greatest factor affecting student achievement. However, it is not simply enough to recruit highly qualified candidates and place them into the schools where they are needed the most; the United States needs a system to support and retain these teachers. This essay posits that school districts…

In this article, the author discusses the meaning and importance of high grades and high achievement in terms of giftedness. She offers some reasons to tell children about the importance of school achievement. She suggests that good grades are no guarantee of eventual adult success, whether that is defined as a high income or a rewarding,…

In the May/June issue of "Change", US Undersecretary of Education Martha J. Kanter described President Barack Obama's plan for recapturing the position of the best-educated country in the world by 2020. She spelled out the formula for meeting the President's ambitious goal: increasing postsecondary access, improving the quality of a…

Students with disabilities should not only be members of general education classrooms, but must also be able to learn meaningful skills in those settings, not just socialize with peers. This article reviews effective teaching methods and their contextual fit with the working of a general education classroom. The response to intervention (RtI)…

Of all challenges facing open-door community colleges, none is more important than the need to renew and improve teaching quality in order to accommodate increasingly diversified student populations. Several policies have been particularly helpful to open-door institutions in improving student retention and achievement, including the following:…

A fair amount is known about what first-generation students need to succeed, but some mysteries remain. The author's research provides some insight on why certain students make it and others do not. (GCP)

Sportscasters, in conjunction with educators and others, could form a unique partnership aimed at encouraging young people to stay in school and prepare for the future. (MLH)

The ongoing moral panic surrounding adolescent boys continues to cause concern, proving pivotal in popular discourses centring on the "problem of youth". Drawing on ethnographic data from a large co-educational secondary school, this paper illustrates how school outcomes are adversely affected by working class boys' investments in peer…

Classroom assessments fall into three categories--summative, diagnostic, and formative. Summative assessment occurs at the end of a unit or course of study and is therefore an insufficient tool to maximize student learning. Diagnostic and formative assessments, on the other hand, offer descriptive feedback along the way. In light of these…

Offers data on Catholic schools' inability to win academic competitions. Examines reasons Catholic schools have not emphasized high-level training for gifted and talented students. Contends that ideas such as goal-orientation and self-actualization are appropriate for today's Catholic school. (DMM)

Many minority students face problems when attending community colleges. Adjustment to college life requires skills and knowledge for understanding the higher education system that minority students often lack. Minority students could benefit by being involved in decisions affecting them; an orientation to higher education is essential. (JOW)

This essay argues that academic achievement for gifted students should be viewed in the context of the life of the spirt--life guided by a desire to realize oneself; find and live a vocation; and embody great virtues, such as generosity and love of life. (Author/DB)

Children of Indian descent have won first place in five of the last seven years of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and this year they made up 30 of the 273 contestants, a proportion many times larger than their 0.66% of the population. These achievements were possible because some Indian parents can become obsessive when it comes to the…

Exposes and analyzes the damage done to school effectiveness by erroneous reasoning that arises from contamination by the fallacy of bifurcation, a fallacy that insists that educators must choose between an academic-achievement orientation and an expressive, social, and cultural orientation. Concern for both areas will generate a synergistic…

Self-management theory proposes that an individual organize activities around a set of goals that are carefully considered. These goals can help students develop a positive self-concept which in turn correlates with higher achievement. Primary grade teachers generally have ways in which to help learners see themselves as worthy, while in the…