This research investigated some determinants of classroom environment in Australian Catholic high schools. The Catholic School Classroom Environment Questionnaire (CSCEQ) was used to assess 7 dimensions of the classroom psychosocial environment: student affiliation, interactions, cooperation, task orientation, order and organization,…

The purpose of this action research paper is to disseminate the results of a 2-month study which focuses on how a student's first language (L1) reading comprehension skills affect the same skills in their second language (L2). The subjects of the study are sixth grade girls, ranging in age from 11 to 13 years old. They attend a private bilingual…

While the national debates over the accreditation of Catholic schools remain an essential element of understanding Catholic education during the early 20th century, this study examines how individuals, groups, and institutions grappled with the perceived need for standardization and increased articulation of schools. In particular, it examines the…

What can Montessorians learn from teaching in a war-torn country, and what can they hope to share with others in the process? These questions were much on the author's mind when she went to Sri Lanka in the summer of 2003. This article contains excerpts from e-mails the author sent home, chronicling her experience teaching two high school English…

Considers the differences between single-sex and coeducational schools and between all-boys' and all-girls' schools with respect to academic achievement and social/psychological environment. (DMM)

Using data from the High School and Beyond survey, compares junior and senior year performance and other variables in Catholic single sex, Catholic coed, and public schools. Finds Catholic school students are urged to take more academically demanding courses; this accounts for public/Catholic differences in achievement and university attendance.…

This paper presents a case study of the school culture in a secondary school in Mauritius. It analyses how the school culture has an impact on the effectiveness of an educational organisation. The literature on school culture is reviewed and discussed. The education system in the Mauritian context is described; and its advantages and drawbacks…

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study investigating the dynamic operation of students' multiple motivational goals among the senior year cohort of a Catholic secondary boys school in Sydney, Australia. The study found that the relative salience of students' multiple goals, as well as the changing state of their ongoing academic…

Describes the moral environment of an inner-city Catholic high school serving African American boys, examining how everyday patterns of interaction and unusual events combine to shape the school's ethos. The analysis discloses how daily conduct inside classrooms funds the larger school environment, highlighting how the school's adults encourage a…

Most commentators think of leadership as individually focused, a preference which reflects historical understandings and usage. With the example of a co-principalship, this article shows how focused leadership is at odds with the reality of distributed work practice. The article reports research at College A, a Catholic all-girls' secondary school…

Studies suggest that historically Australian Catholic schools have existed not only to reproduce Catholic traditions, but also to advance the children of the Irish working classes socially. Data collected at the highly academically oriented Christian Brothers College (CBD), Newburyport, support the idea of educating for upward mobility as a means…

Results from a comparison of single-sex and coeducational Catholic secondary schools using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 suggest that single-sex Catholic high schools are not especially favorable academic settings, and that any advantages of the schools only benefited boys. Pre-enrollment differences may explain…

Describes the efforts of Cornelia Peacock Connelly to establish Roman Catholic teacher training schools and schools for poor, working girls in England. Questions whether or not religious education within a specific tradition can be liberating or merely socialization. Concludes that both liberation and socialization were the result of her efforts.…

This paper is a report of a year-long school-based study in Singapore that investigated the effects of the use of cooperative learning in elementary social studies classrooms on social studies achievement, attitude towards the subject, and classroom climate. Results indicated that lower ability pupils benefited the most from the use of cooperative…

Identifies characteristics of good (Australian) senior secondary schools, defined as those providing postschool options for students. The most successful schools were the larger independent girls' schools with predominantly transformational leadership practices that promoted positive teacher perceptions of school organization and of students'…