The ways in which teachers' cognitions about classroom practice vary with the developmental level of the children they teach and the subject matter taught were studied through interviews with 40 teachers. Participants were 8 teachers of kindergarten and grade 1, 10 teachers of grade 2, 11 teachers of grade 3, and 11 teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6.…

The results are presented of an "Alcohol Education Traffic Safety Program" for students in kindergarten through grade 6, which was piloted in 20 Chicago (Illinois) public schools during April, May and June of 1987. Research indicates that the younger children are when they begin abusing alcohol, the higher the probability that they will…

The purpose of this follow-up study was to determine whether elementary school students who completed full-day/ everyday kindergarten in 1979 and 1980 exhibited any long term benefits. Data were collected from standardized tests, report cards, questionnaires, and interviews. Participants were third- and fourth-grade students (enrolled in the…

The California School for the Deaf (CSD) conducted a study to familiarize students and faculty with available programs at Lawrence Hall of Science and to see if the instruction and teaching philosophy used to introduce the programs was adequate for students with impaired hearing. The pilot study was positive, so objectives were formed to adapt…

This report outlines the results from the Nebraska's Reading First initiative. Three thousand six hundred students from Kindergarten to Third grade were included in the project. Results indicated significant growth across all demographic groups. Student performance in the earlier grades has shown great promise for the following years. Growth in…

This study examined cross-cultural differences in European American teachers' explanations for the causes of school problems among African American, European American, and Hispanic American 5- to 11-year-olds. Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using an attribution theory framework. For European American children, teachers tended to…

Noting that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of West Indian immigrants to the United States, this paper discusses factors affecting the acculturation of Jamaican immigrant children in the American educational system, highlighting factors relating to poor performance of these immigrant children. The paper first provides an…

This book describes complex issues involved in an elementary Professional Development School (PDS) partnership. Section one presents contextual information on the nature of the PDS phenomenon. It includes three chapters: (1) "Introduction and PDS as a Reform Initiative"; (2) "Methodology of the Case Study"; and (3)…

First Steps is a program instituted by the Western Australia Ministry of Education to improve the literacy and numeracy of primary school students, particularly those at risk of academic failure. First Steps is organized around reading, writing, spelling, and oral language; children's skills are organized along developmental continua. This study,…

Predominantly black elementary and secondary school students (N=33), their parents, and their tutors completed surveys to determine their perceptions of a church-sponsored after-school tutoring program. Results showed significant differences between students and parents and students and tutors on some items, though in general all three groups were…

Supportive learning activities were implemented in a multiple-baseline time series design across four fifth-grade classrooms to evaluate the effects of a cooperative teaching alternative (supportive learning) on teaching behavior, the behavior and grades of general and special education students, and the opinions of general education teachers.…

Reports a study that examined headteachers' perspectives on England's 1993 teacher boycott of government-imposed standard assessment tasks (SATs) for elementary students together with teachers' attitudes toward the tasks, their management, and the boycott. Findings confirmed that, by 1993, resistance to national testing at that age was firmly…

Describes a difficult sixth grade girl who spent her elementary school years fighting to feel happy. The article focuses on a teacher's efforts to raise the child's self-esteem by examining her home life then taking appropriate steps to encourage success (e.g., tutoring younger students). (SM)

The present study used a family systems approach to examine harsh parenting, maternal depressed affect, and marital quality in relation to children's externalising behaviour problems in a sample of 158 Hong Kong primary school children. At two time points, peers and teachers provided ratings of children's externalising behaviours, and mothers…

In order to examine trends in educational reform in Kentucky, two studies of student portfolio evaluations as perceived by Kentucky teachers were described and compared. Under the Kentucky Educational Reform Act, student portfolios can serve as a basis for official evaluation of school performance. The first study, conducted in the fall and spring…