This report evaluates the Kansas City (MO) School District's 1991 summer school program, which provided remedial, developmental, and enrichment learning opportunities for students. Sections of the report evaluate the elementary, middle, and senior high summer school programs. Each of these sections includes: (1) a description of the program; (2)…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program to improve student motivation through the use of cooperative learning and multiple intelligences. The targeted population consisted of students in fourth, sixth, and tenth grade in a consolidated school district located in a rural area in the Midwest. The problems of low academic…

Characteristics related to help-seeking (perceived competence, motivational orientation, attitudes and beliefs, and age) were examined for 177 children in grades 3, 5, and 7. By grade seven, positive and negative attitudes were influential. Developmental and individual difference factors are discussed in connection with help-seeking and academic…

Six classroom research-based instructional projects funded under Chapter 2 are described, and their outcomes are summarized. The projects each used computer hardware and software in the classroom setting. The projects and their salient points include: (1) the Science Technology Project, in which 48 teachers and 2,847 students in 18 schools used…

This report describes the efforts of three urban school districts participating in the Urban Schools Science and Mathematics Program (USSAMP) to enhance mathematics and science education in the middle grades and to prepare more African-American, Latino, and female students for career opportunities in technology and science. In Atlanta (Georgia),…

This article presents an overview of online learning, particularly for elementary- and secondary-school students. Online learning has much to offer certain students under the right circumstances. However, questions remain about policies regarding online learning and the suitability of the approach for younger students. (Contains 6 online…

The students who have the most difficulty reaching accountability standards in Wake County Public Schools are those with more than one of the following characteristics: recipients of free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and/or students with limited English proficiency. The Evaluation and Research Department identified…

A social skills training program for improving student behavior in art and music classes and in unstructured situations was developed and implemented during the second quarter of the 1993-1994 school year in two schools in Elgin, Illinois. The targeted classes included grades six through eight at St. Laurence School (part of the Rockford Catholic…

The James Irvine Foundation launched the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative in 1999 with the goal of improving the academic achievement of children in the lowest-performing schools in five California cities. In 2004, CORAL adopted a more targeted approach toward reaching this goal by integrating a regular…

Considerable attention has been given recently to how children educate each other and how to maximize the cognitive benefits of peer learning. Based on papers presented at a 1996 symposium on Cognitive Skills and Learning with Peers, this book focuses on peer learning. Part 1 presents implications of Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories. Part 2…

Using large-scale surveys from nine states, the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP) estimates that 8% of American children under the age of 12 years experience hunger each year. CCHIP operationalizes child hunger as multiple experiences of parent-reported food insufficiency due to constrained resources. The current study…

Sixth-grade students (n=53) were paired homogeneously and heterogeneously by ability to determine the effect of LOGO on the transfer of knowledge in geometry. Low-ability students benefited from heterogeneous grouping, whereas the impact on average- and high-ability students was not clear. (Contains 21 references.) (MDH)

Focus groups at four middle schools examined the health topic areas of most concern to young adolescents, noted interrelationships among health issues, and gathered opinions on how to improve classroom health instruction. Sex, drugs, and violence were students' main health concerns. Students had numerous suggestions for improving classroom…

Accountability for students with disabilities who receive special education services is now a result of policy requirements in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Together these pieces of federal legislation require that students participate in statewide…

An important component of sound middle school education is a commitment to providing coordinated advising and counseling services in the school setting. This handbook describes how middle school professionals can develop small group advisory support for each student. Known variously as home-base, advisor-advisee, or teacher advisory (TA) programs,…