This article is focused on identifying the current issues in elementary education in the United States. In each of these issues, elementary educators are at the crossroads looking for solutions and directions. Based on the review of literature, the authors pinpoint the upcoming challenges elementary school educators will be facing in the future.…

This article examines how formal school leaders are positioned in their school's instructional networks based on an analysis of data from all 30 elementary schools in one mid-sized urban school district. Premised on the assumption that advice and information are key building blocks for knowledge development, we analyzed the instructional advice…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 findings highlighted concerns about reading literacy teaching quality in South African primary schools (Howie et al., 2007). In response, the national Department of Education (DoE, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2008d) has emphasised instructional practice improvement. However, little…

This article explores the case of a Vietnamese teacher whose conception of teaching changed greatly following a short but intensive series of lessons based on the Japanese experiences with atomic bombs. The following three issues are considered: 1) what types of efforts teachers should make to increase the depth of their lessons, on the basis of…

Community schools and other approaches to Alternative Primary Education or APE have increased access to primary education for underserved populations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as a major goal of the Education for All (EFA) movement. In Zambia, a country where an estimated 20 percent of the basic education enrollment now attends community…

American educators and researchers have spent decades attempting to determine the most effective middle level school configuration. Although various models have been conceptualized in order to resolve one of our most extensive educational reform movements, a recent nationwide increase in K-8 schools suggest interested parties have accepted the K-8…

This work, part of the Spanish government's National I + D Plan 2004/07, entitled "Observatics: the implementation of free software in ICT centres in Andalusia: an analysis of its effect on the teaching-learning process", aims to describe the most recent impact of online communication technologies on education in Andalusia (Spain),…

Written responses from teachers in 12 elementary schools located in six school districts in three states provided data for this exploratory report. Four instruments provided the basis for the questionnaires: job satisfaction, pupil control ideology, reference group orientation, and leadership. Few interpretations are offered on the results of…

In this paper, we present data from an evaluation of the educational impact of a school breakfast program implemented in rural schools in Peru. The results showed positive effects on school attendance and dropout rates, and a differential effect of the breakfast program on multiple-grade and full-grade schools. Particularly in multiple-grade…

A study of 1127 classes of 7-, 9-, and 11-year-old children in English schools was conducted to obtain information about the organization of schools, the range of work done by children, their performance on certain tests, and the degree to which children's work is matched to their abilities. (Author/MLF)

An Illinois school district decided, on an experimental basis, to drop junior high schools and go back to a K-8 organization. In the first year of a three-year experiment, average student learning growth in all subjects was 11 months at the K-7 buildings compared to six months at the junior high school. (MLF)

Describes a district's reorganization of 2 K-5 schools into 1 for all K-2 grades and 1 for all 3-5 grades for economic reasons. The principal of the 3-5 facility views better focus and certain innovative initiatives (involving coverage of special topics, a whole-language reading program, and a sequential-research-skills approach) as advantages.…

In a study of the mainstreaming practices of a large urban school district, schedules of 844 mildly handicapped elementary students were examined. Schedule appropriateness was defined by three factors: assignments of handicapped students to a fixed group of regular students, to a grade-appropriate group, and for the full sequence of scheduled…

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN HAS BEEN STUDIED IN TERMS OF A CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM BY A CITY-WIDE EDUCATOR'S COMMITTEE FORMED WITHIN THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM AND THE RESULTS ARE PRESENTED. PARTICIPANTS HAVE RECEIVED THE OPERATION OF THIS PROGRAM WITHIN THEIR OWN SPHERE OF RESPONSIBILITY. THE PHILOSOPHY,…