Studies racial and ethnic differences in mathematics achievement for elementary school students in a large suburban school system in the Washington (DC) metropolitan area. Results with more than 5,000 students show minority students performing at a lower level than majority students. Issues of teacher attitudes, teaching methods, and the role of…

Discusses the effect of inservice and preservice education emphasizing the educational needs of limited-English- proficient students, examining a study of the effects of English language proficiency on teachers' assessment of students' understanding. Results indicated that despite inservice education, teachers did not accommodate students' needs…

In 2007, the Texas Legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot program, which provides $8 million in funding to support rural districts in implementing technology-based supplemental education programs. In order to be eligible for funding, districts must have…

This book explores the educational needs of Muslim children. Based on 6 years of research into the educational needs of Muslim children, the discussion highlights the perceptions of both Muslim and non-Muslim teachers. Beginning with an historical overview of Muslim communities in Britain, Chapter 1 addresses issues concerning statistics and…

This report provides an end-of-year summative evaluation of the STEPS (Striving Toward Excellence in the Performance of Students) program, which was first implemented in elementary schools in 1983-84. The program, which is based on research on effective schools, focuses on school improvement efforts in six areas: (1) aligning instruction with…

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 follow-up study examined the role of affective variables in predicting academic achievement among middle school students. In a previous study, C. A. Sink, J. E. Barnett, and J. E. Hixon (1991) found moderate to strong correlations among self-perceived competence scores, teachers' ratings of student competence, and Grade 6 achievement. To…

A discussion of issues in third-language instruction and language teacher training focuses on the situation in Finland, where a second and third language is required of all students and it is possible to study as many as six languages in addition to the native language. The Finnish school system is explained, noting that second and third languages…

This paper presents the results of a comparison of data from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) 4th (n=179) and 8th (n=143) grade student and teacher samples to the data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 4th and 8th grade student and teacher samples. This is part of a larger study of mathematics education in…

Project Accelerated Curriculum Classes Emphasizing Learning (ACCEL) was implemented by the Newark School District (New Jersey) in the 1989-90 school year in response to the ineffective practice of retaining underachieving students. The innovative approach of accelerated learning was made available to retained sixth and seventh grade students.…

Education reform mandates that teachers be able to function competently in multicultural classrooms. This paper describes a culturally aware teaching model designed to address the problems and needs of rural at-risk students. The major goal of the model is to empower students through acceptance, understanding, respect, and appreciation of both the…

This practicum involved the development of a pre-referral intervention approach to increase support for elementary and middle school students with learning problems through the use of Pupil Assistance Committees which designed and monitored strategies for educating students with learning problems in the regular classroom. Pupil Assistance…

This report on Compensatory Education (CE) provides a description of instructional services in basic skills and assesses educational development through the presentation of extensive data. Findings are based on data collected on 81,450 elementary school students enrolled in fifty representative schools during 1976-77 school year, and questionnaire…

Schools use a variety of ways to group students for instruction; most prevalent in middle level schools seems to be ability grouping. Arguments once considered persuasive for ability grouping are losing influence given evidence that the practice results in few achievement benefits and several negative effects. This Digest discusses attitudes…

This report summarizes AISD's activities supporting accelerated reading and math instruction for students in grades kindergarten through 4 during the 2003-2004 school year.