This article examines the effects of school organizational and educational climate, and a teacher's sense of efficacy, on general education teachers' attitudes toward inclusion of students with special needs. The sample included 139 teachers from 17 elementary schools in the Northern District of Israel. The results of Pearson correlation and…

This article reports on the findings of a study looking at the role of the school-based mentor in developing the competence of trainee teachers in relation to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the classroom. One key factor in determining the contribution of the mentor appears to be the level of confidence in his/her…

The relevance of intelligence testing for schools within one district, the Sacramento (California) school district and the state of California is explored, and applications of intelligence theory in district schools and classrooms are discussed. Intelligence, for purposes of this discussion, is the aggregate capacity of each student's…

The goal of this research was to determine the effectiveness of a middle school science curriculum designed to inspire students to think about science through studying the patterns of humans. The curriculum focuses on human behavior, evolution, ecology, and performance and is based on the notion that pattern recognition is highly correlated with…

This paper is an analysis of a project that involved African American middle school students in a drama program that was based on their lives and the stories of their community. Students were trained in performance skills, participated in the development of a script, and then performed the script in local schools. The 10 student participants, 5…

Instruments used in a study by M. B. Kinzie and M. A. Delacourt (1991), the Attitude towards Computer Technologies (ACT) and the Self-efficacy for Computer Technologies (SCT), assess preservice teachers' perceived usefulness of and comfort level with specific computer technologies. This study uses a population confirmed to be similar to that used…

Numerous theories have attempted to explain possible factors relating to an individual's propensity for engaging or failing to engage in preventative health behaviors. The Health Locus of Control (HLOC) is now considered to be an important variable for understanding an individual's likelihood for following health promoting behaviors. This paper…

The study described in this report investigated the effects of field-based reflective practice on preservice teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Subjects in the study were 24 senior elementary majors participating in a 4-week field experience. Twelve students were assigned to the experimental school and 12 were assigned to two control schools. Each…

The effects of strategy fading and progress feedback on children's achievement outcomes were investigated. Forty-four fifth graders with reading-skills deficiencies from 2 elementary schools received instruction on locating main ideas. Children were taught and verbalized a strategy, and some faded the verbalizations to inner speech. Half of the…

This study was conducted to examine changes in the self-perceived efficacy of teacher education majors who were surveyed first as student teachers in 1992 and again as first-year teachers in 1993. The instrument used was a survey of 30 items related to the Mississippi Teacher Assessment Instrument competencies and indicators. Thirteen of the…

This investigation examined the relationship between personal efficacy ratings of preservice teachers seeking licensure in the area of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and performance ratings by their practicum supervisors. Forty-five teachers completing the Emotional Behavioral Disorders practicum at the University of Minnesota were asked…

This paper describes a national 3-year project, the Empowered School District Project, which was implemented in nine school districts to empower school participants. This paper focuses on the efforts to empower students by helping them become independent, lifelong learners. The project was implemented in nine schools--five elementary and four high…

This study was conducted to examine the influences of prior school experience on student teachers' thinking. It includes descriptions of students' prior school experiences and an intervention in which students were asked to reflect on and re-evaluate those experiences. Beliefs about education, learning, self worth, abilities, and the development…

Currently available measures of self-efficacy described in educational and psychological research literature were cataloged and reviewed after a literature search. To identify and locate these measures, searches of "Psychological Abstracts" and the ERIC system were conducted using self-efficacy and related keywords. Results of the…

The development and validation of two instruments which measure attitudes and self-efficacy of teacher education students and practicing teachers toward computer use are described. One instrument--Attitudes toward Computer Technologies (ACT)--assesses perceived usefulness of and comfort/anxiety with computer technologies. The second…