Researchers attempting to identify factors that affect the participation of Mexican American females in science courses and careers studied cultural, social, and educational factors affecting 2,442 Arizona secondary school students. Questionnaire responses and interviews with the students and their teachers, counselors, and parents revealed that…

This study was designed to describe the signs that influence the literacy learning activities of kindergarten children as expressed in their writing performances and processes. A naturalistic inquiry was made of 24 kindergarten children to determine (1) observable differences in children's writing performances according to developmental…

The purpose of this essay is to uncover the factors which have so greatly affected the educational and social aspect of the Puerto Rican's life in the New York metropolitan area. It is concluded that school systems are obviously not going to foster disorder or encourage criticism. The initiative is up to the community. The Puerto Rican community…

An evaluation is made of the technological, analytical, social, and political forces which operate on the public schools and influence their disposition toward the utilization of technology. Three chapters are devoted to delineating the manner and extent to which technology, accountability, and behaviorist learning theory interact. The potential…

This study investigated how gender-related perceptions and actions influenced junior and senior high school students' constructions of reality in curriculum-in-action physical education. Observations and interviews indicated that most students both reproduced and resisted gender-patterned life configurations in physical education classes…

Outlines power relationships that exist in the schools of a small-scale, Zuni (New Mexico) community. Describes complex set of insider-outsider relationships, analyzes their effects, and provides support for McDermott's notion of collusion. Highlights complexities teachers face in providing culturally responsive pedagogy in a small-scale,…

Despite heated debate over detracking, little research exists on how the reform plays out in the classroom. This article, based on a year-long interpretive study of a detracked ninth-grade program at a diverse urban high school, focuses on the encounter between the "official" practices of the detracked classrooms under study and the…

This article enters an ongoing discussion about the usefulness of different theories and different research designs in the analysis of classroom writing. Starting with questions about how students interpret the norms of writing and their own selves in school writing, it demonstrates the relevance of an ecological theory of writing,…

This paper argues that constructivism is a needed educational reform that will succeed only when three types of readiness are in place: teacher, curricular, and societal. The failure of constructivism and other reform movements can be attributed to the fact that these three forms of readiness were never in alignment. The author contends that…

This paper reports on a study of the perceptions of 10 teachers as they sought to gain acceptance for curriculum practices considered to be child-responsive. The teachers worked with 5- and 6-year-old children in schools where some perceived their child-responsive practices as innovative, introducing practices which differed from those already…

This essay explores the roots and implications of stance, which helps examine the daily practice of educating new teachers. Stance is about the positioning involved in teaching. It depends on a postmodern view of reality as being situational and interpreted, rather than fixed and predefined. In literacy education, a reader's relationship to text…

This pamphlet includes several program transcripts on educational research from the National Public Radio series, Options in Education. Dr. Harold Hodgkinson, former Director of the National Institute of Education, and Noel Epstein, Education Editor of the Washington Post, discuss "The Quality of Media Reporting on Education" and whether…

A large number of factors are considered in their role in second language learning. Individual factors include language aptitude, personality, attitudes and motivation, and the role of the speaker's native language. Teacher factors involve the method of instruction, the sex of the teacher, and a teacher's training and competence, while…

Being an effective teacher is the result of many circumstances. Teachers are expected to teach according to society's expectations, which includes promoting moral values. Teaching style combines what individual teachers believe about teaching and learning and how they apply the philosophy in the classroom. The paper examines good teacher…

External environments of 1,284 Canadian teachers from urban (n=600), suburban (n=234), and rural (n=450) schools were assessed using a version of the School Environment Constraint Instrument. External constraints confronting teachers ranged from moderate to low. The impact on classroom instruction must be considered to understand teachers'…