Developed in response to numerous requests from curriculum specialists and classroom teachers, this booklet addresses student assessment in written composition. Its purpose is: (1) to assist teachers in constructing writing prompts which correspond to the TEAMS (Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills) writing objectives and measurement…

Mastery Learning and Student Team Learning are two widely used instructional methods designed to confront the problem of student diversity in group-paced instruction. This study evaluated Mastery Learning, Student Team Learning, and a combination, in 43 inner-city math nine classes over a full school year. Results indicated greater achievement on…

A BROAD INTERPRETATION OF HOME ECONOMICS IS PRESENTED. THIS MAKES POSSIBLE THE ADAPTATION OF MATERIALS TO VARIOUS SITUATIONS AND PREPARES YOUNG PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS FOR A SATISFYING HOME LIFE. THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY IS TO INTEGRATE HUMAN AND MATERIAL RESOURCES AND TO FOCUS THEM ON FAMILY LIVING. THE ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES SUGGESTED…

The effectiveness of the Kates method of teaching composition, which involves regular, sequential writing assignments and teacher/student conferences, was investigated using an experimental group of 142 ninth-grade students in six classes and a control group of 78 students in two classes. The experimental classes wrote approximately 14 essays in…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of pre-reading guides would effect better comprehension in the reading of short stories by ninth grade public school students. Four pre-reading guide sheets were prepared and validated for use in this study for each of the following stories: "The Interlopers" by Saki, "The Necklace" by…

THIS COURSE WAS DEVELOPED AS PART OF AN INTEGRATED AND SEQUENTIAL, HIGH SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM FOR ABLE STUDENTS (UPPER 25 PERCENT). THE COURSE CONSISTS OF 9 UNITS OF STUDY, EACH UNIT CONTAINING A BRIEF STATEMENT OF A POLITICAL ISSUE AND SEVERAL READINGS ON THAT ISSUE. SOME ISSUES COVERED ARE (1) POLITICAL SYSTEMS OF PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES,…

If learners are to engage in science inquiry, they need significant support, or scaffolding, to help them mindfully do the cognitive science tasks that are just out of their reach. One approach for supporting learners is to design computational tools that incorporate scaffolding features to make new practices accessible and visible so learners can…

The strengths and weaknesses of using ethnographic research to investigate equity in a study of a grade 9 class that used a dynamic geometry program with laptop computers will be presented. It will be argued that research approaches that involve "windows on practice" provide understanding of not only who is advantaged and disadvantaged in…

A consumer education course, offered to ninth-graders in a predominantly Mexican American community, is briefly described. (RM)

In this study we investigated the impact of a teacher's interpretive authority on the content and conduct of discussions of poetry in two ninth-grade classes. Three authority conditions were examined: a condition in which the teacher taught a poem he had written, a condition in which the teacher taught a poem he had taught many times previously,…

This study examines the nature and process of ninth grade students' conceptual change regarding their mental model of dissolution and diffusion as a result of instructions using the Dual Situated Learning Model (DSLM). The dual situated learning events of this model are designed according to the students' ontological viewpoint of the science…

Species identification tasks are generally accepted as fundamental aspects of biodiversity education. Our educational training unit, therefore, focused on identification skills by introducing stuffed specimens in combination with identification books and preparation booklets. We limited the number of bird species to six. 492 secondary school…

The low level of fitness in junior-high school students is an area of great concern. An important, but misunderstood, part of the physical education curriculum is the development of aerobic fitness. What is the best way to go about developing aerobic fitness? Four groups of primarily Caucasian (79.9%) Grade 8 and 9 students (n = 144), attending a…

Aspects of Aboriginal cultural knowledge/perspectives were integrated into the Grade 9 social studies curriculum of a high school in a western Canadian city to appraise the impact on academic achievement, class attendance, and school retention among specific groups of Aboriginal students. The results suggest cautious optimism about increasing…

The students, faculty, and administration at the Maine Township East High School engaged in an ongoing curricular innovation program during the 1993-94 academic year, investigating the notions of teacher teaming, interdisciplinary instruction, and the use of computer technology in the delivery of a core education in biology, world cultures,…