With increased pressures on school districts to enhance student achievement, administrators are implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) as one method to improve student performance (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, Hord, 1997, Thompson, Gregg, & Niska, 2004). Educators working within a PLC experience a shared ideology, supportive…

The author describes the formation of a citizens' group in Clarkesville, Tennessee, to educate the town's youth about the health risks of drug use. This group developed a curriculum entitled "I'm Special" designed to teach self-esteem and decision-making skills to fourth graders, to enable them to deal with peer pressure to try or use…

Evaluation of Lenoir City, Tennessee pilot program using 14 retirees to tutor fourth and seventh graders one-to-one in reading using Laubach Reading Method indicated that fourth graders were more positive about the program; Laubach materials were too easy; and pre- and posttutoring California Achievement Test scores did not support reading…

Researchers followed up on fourth graders from Project STAR, a reduced class size experiment. Using norm and criterion-referenced achievement tests and teacher ratings of student effort, initiative, and behavior, they found significant small class carry-over effects on every achievement measure and significant participation differences in small…

The 1998 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) state level reading assessment measured fourth- and eighth-grade students' reading proficiency in situations that involved reading for three purposes: reading for literary experience, reading to gain information, and reading to perform a task (grade 8 only). This report describes the…

This report provides selected results from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for Tennessee's public-school students at grades 4 and 8. Since 1992, reading has been assessed in four different years at the state level (at grade 4 in 1992 and 1994, and at both grades 4 and 8 in 1998 and 2002). Tennessee participated in all…

In 1979, East Tennessee educators developed an elementary school guidance curriculum guide for grades four-six. A 1980 questionnaire indicated that teachers using the guide are capable of carrying out a program of classroom guidance activities when they are provided with a suitable program, and that the results are positive. (LC)

Objectives of the SPICE (School Programs in Career Education) curriculum guides are concerned with the areas of self-concept, dignity of work, constant change in the world of work, and relevance of school to work. The career education curriculum in the volume presents units which may be taught as separate subjects, incorporated into all areas of…

Objectives of the SPICE (School Programs in Career Education) curriculum guides are concerned with the areas of self-concept, dignity of work, change in the world of work, and relevance of school to work. The career education curriculum in the volume presents units which may be taught as separate subjects, incorporated into all areas of the…

As part of the language arts curriculum framework developed in accordance with "Rules, Regulations, and Minimum Standards" of the Tennessee State Board of Education, this reading curriculum guide of the Basic Skills First Program is designed to identify the minimum reading skills for fourth grade students. After brief explanations of the…

Between 1985 and 1989, the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project studied the effect of class size on student achievement in Tennessee schools. The study examined: (1) small classes of 15 students per teacher; (2) regular classes of 24 students per teacher; and (3) regular classes with a teacher's aide. The sample included students from…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in the United States know and can do in various academic subjects. The 1996 NAEP in mathematics assessed the current level of mathematical achievement as a mechanism for informing education reform. In 1996, 44…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment which, for the first time in the NAEP's history, made voluntary state-by-state assessments. This 1992 mathematics report marks the first attempt of the National Center for Education Statistics to shift to standards-based reporting of National…