Laptop computers and Type II applications can provide powerful tools for elementary classrooms, especially if they are combined with authentic instruction. This article provides information and lessons learned from a laptop initiative in an urban elementary school. The goal of the initiative was to develop lesson plans and document techniques that…

Describes how 3rd grade students' photographs were used to assess the influence of hands-on science instruction within an urban classroom. The photos and individual interviews were used to assess: (1) what the students perceived was included and involved with science; (2) how the students connected their school science experiences to their daily…

Studies effective inquiry tasks through transforming content, scientific thinking, and resources featured in scientists' authentic practices. Investigates how 59 inner-city 6th grade students performed in real-time forecasting situations involving fronts and pressure systems. Results show that real-world situations that closely mapped onto…

Describes four innercity families and the ways in which they use print in their daily lives. Finds wide variation in the degrees to which print permeates the lives of innercity children, in both the extent to which family members use print and the types of print being written and read. (SR)

This program takes advantage of the mastery learning strategies, fits the Chicago reading curriculum, and keeps in mind the "facts of life" of urban education. (Author/IRT)

Presents the results of a Title I program serving severely deprived children who have been identified as having reading difficulties. (RB)

Describes the characteristics of three magnet elementary schools which have successfully attracted nonminority students to locations in minority neighborhoods. (Author/MK)

The language skills of 27 learning-disabled (LD), 27 behaviorally disordered (BD), and 26 normal achieving (NA) 6- to 9-year-old inner city children were compared. Although significant differences were found between the NA group and both special education groups, no significant differences were found between the LD and BD groups. (Author/DB)

Examines the state of science education in an urban elementary school in detail. Triangulates observations made from the perspectives of a science education specialist, an educational psychologist, and an expert elementary teacher to provide a set of perspectives from which elementary science instruction could be examined. (Author/SAH)

Defends improvisational drama as a means of promoting creative problem solving and describes the author's experience as a creative dramatics teacher at an inner-city school. (DD)

Developed by educators in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, public schools, this book shows ways to engage students in high quality work, reveal information about students that cannot be seen through standardized tests, and help students become responsible for their own academic growth. The Assessment Portfolios described are used in 21 Milwaukee schools…

A Boston (Massachusetts) school that is a symbol of the 1960s vision of a community resource still functions, despite financial problems and a changed community. (Author/MLF)

Describes a study of classroom interaction by Jules Henry, a noted anthropologist. (DD)

Suggests ideas for a teaching unit designed to help children learn about recreation, business and industry and shopping centers in urban areas. (CM)

Describes the Viva Kids! Program, in an inner-city elementary school in Florida, in which students create and produce their own opera, engendering great enthusiasm and giving students a new sense of responsibility. (SR)