In this article, we focus on the interaction in a Year 5 classroom where students fill in a "self-evaluation form" as a preparation for a forthcoming discussion on progress aiming at the production of an Individual Developmental Plan. Drawing on the theoretical concepts of fabrications and performativity, we understand this as an…

To investigate the potential effects of the "Fourth Grade Reading Guarantee," an Ohio policy that mandates that students will not be promoted to grade 5 unless they reach a given score on the Ohio Proficiency Test (OPT) in reading at grade 4, a series of studies was performed in the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 school years. The extent of…

Presents the views of a fifth grade teacher that students from low-income families should learn to appreciate mathematics for its relevance in their lives and that application and critical thinking are the most prominent features of mathematics learning affected by California's efforts to change mathematics teaching. (BB)

A strategy that has surfaced as a means of promoting success in the classroom is that of automatic retesting for all children whose scores are unsatisfactory on any administered test. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the automatic retesting of every student not scoring above a certain point on unit tests is actually…

Reports on a 3-year study of approximately 100 students through grades 4, 5, and 6 on the impact of a variety of second-language learning options among English-speaking children in francophone Canada. Finds that those options that use early, French-only environments were most effective. (CFR)

This case study depicts a "traditional" fifth grade teacher's approach to implementing the California Mathematics Curriculum Framework. This teacher's beliefs and knowledge and their interplay with the state curriculum directives, his accountability to his students, and his commitment to their success are examined, with emphasis on the…

The success of alternative assessments such as the Vermont Assessment Program (VAP) is heavily dependent on the involvement and commitment of teachers. This paper focuses on the implementation of the writing portfolio component of the VAP in the classrooms of four teachers who have different knowledge and beliefs about teaching and assessment. The…

The Threshold Project examined the nature of the language and learning difficulties that black Standard Three (Std 3, or grade 5) children in South Africa experience when they change from their mother tongue to English as a medium of instruction and learning, a policy known as "delayed immersion." This report focuses on the first major…

This report describes West Virginia's Basic Skills/Computer Education (BS/CE) program and connects its features to gains in student test scores that are practically and statistically significant. The program consists of three components: (1) software that focuses on the state's basic skills goals in reading, language arts, and mathematics; (2)…

The Threshold Project, a 3-year project that followed a 1985 pilot study, examined the nature of the language and learning difficulties that black Standard Three (Std 3, or grade 5) children in South Africa experience when they change from their mother tongue of Sepedi to English as a medium of instruction and learning, a policy known as…