Changes in our world have made it more difficult for children to find protected, exciting places to play and interesting, satisfactory things to play with. This edited volume, resulting from the collaboration of Bank Street College (New York, New York), Erikson Institute (Chicago, Illinois), Pacific Oaks College (Pasadena, California), and…

This study describes the first-year implementation of a professional development school (PDS) program in an elementary school and reports the extent to which participation in the PDS program influenced teachers' (N=32) perceptions regarding teacher empowerment along four dimensions (mentoring self-efficacy, teaching self-efficacy, professional…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been used in medical education and has been extended to the preparation of educational administrators. PBL should improve education at the elementary and secondary levels because it can be a vehicle for integrating curriculum, constructing alternative assessments, accommodating instruction for longer blocks of…

This paper examines a range of studies done on the "Geometric Supposer" software and its use since the mid-1980s. It describes how the "Geometric Supposer" is a response to the call for reform by the mathematics community to create classroom environments that allow students to construct their own knowledge. This approach to…

This study followed six "culturally aware" elementary school teachers through student teaching and their first two years of teaching to look at how their life experiences as minority people affected their classroom practices. The study was a qualitative inquiry based on reciprocal and interactive relationships. The approach was…

Representing a work in progress, this paper presents the theoretical framework for a longitudinal case study involving the implementation of cooperative learning strategies in an ethnically diverse urban middle school. The effects that cooperative learning has on the curriculum as perceived by teachers are also to be examined during the 3-year…

This conference proceedings of off-campus library services includes 30 papers covering the following topics: extracting the hidden potential of course syllabi; obstacles to user education for off-campus students; using Hypercard in an off-campus library environment; satisfying accreditation requirements in lean times; the library's role in…

The first implementation year is reported of a Classical Greek magnet program at Leroy "Satchel" Paige Classical Greek Academy (PCGA), an elementary school in Kansas City, Missouri. This formative evaluation covers five areas: student demographics, program implementation, perceptions of and attitudes toward the program, achievement…

As part of a 3-year study to identify emerging issues and trends in technology for special education, this paper addresses the complex issues of school reform and its relationship to educational technology. School restructuring is discussed in terms of instructional improvement, relationship to the Regular Education Initiative, and the increased…

This two-volume document provides the proceedings of a conference on the psychology of mathematics education. Plenary session themes were "Diversity and Equity," (with papers by Gilah Leder; Walter Secada; and Ubiratan D'Ambrosio), "Teacher Education," (with a paper by Thomas Cooney), and "Technology" (with papers by…

A study was conducted to identify those behaviors and practices of Texas secondary school teachers that perpetuate gender bias and stereotyping. A panel of 26 experts identified, selected, and prioritized sex bias and stereotyping issues prevalent in Texas through a two-round Delphi procedure. Together with information gathered from historical…

This paper describes some aspects of a collaborative project between elementary school teachers and university faculty in anthropology, bilingual education, and mathematics education. The project goal is to develop classroom-teaching experiences that make use of the resources and experiences of students and their families. Most of the students…

A group of three conference papers, all addressing effective instructional programs, is presented in this document. The first paper, entitled "The Organization--A Viable Instrument for Progress" (Barbara Sizemore), addresses the subject of high-achieving, predominantly black elementary schools. Routines in these schools not present in…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 22 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the role of the paraprofessional in the high school classroom; (2) the effectiveness of a staff development program in reading; (3) perceived characteristics…

A project was conducted to identify the occupational curriculum elements needed by vocational home economics education teachers in Texas and to develop a plan for implementing these elements into teacher education programs in the State. To determine exactly which skills need to be taught to individuals preparing to teach vocational home economics…