Considerable research has been done relating measures of teacher personality or attitudes to classroom behaviors, pupil achievement, and pupil attitudes. The major purpose of these studies has been to identify patterns of classroom behaviors, attitudes, concerns, and conceptual processes which characterize teachers. Fifty-one junior high teachers…

Desegregation of the schools in the Berkeley Unified School District has taken place in two stages, each stage reflecting years of political struggles and endless meetings. In 1968, the 12 elementary schools were divided into K-3 and 4-6 schools in four residential zones with approximately 3500 elementary children who live beyond walking distance…

This paper contains the three sets of interviews (the Children's Interview, the Parent's Interview, and the Teacher's Interview) used to describe and evaluate the classroom learning environments in the New School's Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) during 1971-72. The purpose of these interviews is to systematically study variations in the…

The Problem Panel Project is an instructor-developed, one-semester course in contemporary problems. Based on the inquiry approach, the course is structured for independent research and group work and requires no traditionally-structured daily lesson plans. The course is divided into six procedural points. First, students decide which contemporary…

This report describes an observational study of one family-grouped classroom, a system in which elementary school children remain with the same teacher for two or more years. The class was composed of junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten, and grade 1 pupils. Each child was observed over a period of one year. A detailed observation schedule,…

The 111th Street School is successfully educating black students K-6 in inner-city Los Angeles. The key to the program's success is a form of organization designed to functionally support an ungraded system of learning centers devoted to attainment of specific educational objectives. Two Directories, this for the classroom teacher and a separate…

It is useful to think of teachers and students in primary classrooms as a family, where flexibility and meeting individual needs are essential. These "families" should represent all primary age groups. This guide describes how to implement multi-age and multi-ability primary programs in Kentucky schools based on the requirements of the…

This paper explores both the benefits and the difficulties of using the Project Approach in part-time early childhood education programs. Teachers of 3 different types of part-time programs share their experiences 1 year after taking a one-credit course in the Project Approach. The teachers' responses are organized by topic as follows: (1)…

Multilevel foreign language classes are viewed as a challenge that can be met by a careful consideration of wise materials and equipment selection, group dynamics, individualized instruction, and curricular reorganization. (JB)

Describes an American fourth grade classroom from the perspective of a doctoral student from the People's Republic of China. Notes greater equality among student, teacher, and textbook in the American classroom than in the hierarchical Chinese educational system. Observes that, in their writing efforts, the American students display both…

Reports on a three-year ethnographic study of the visual arts curriculum in three elementary schools. Finds three distinct orientations: (1) the rote, teacher-centered orientation; (2) the open-ended, student-centered orientation; and (3) the higher order, cognitive orientation. (CFR)

The principal of one urban New Jersey middle school chose to deal with a long history of student behavior and discipline problems by making every class single sex. The change helped curb classroom distractions, reduced discipline problems, and restored a sense of order. (SM)

An elementary school teacher describes her experiences with language minority students and presents her strategies for teaching the whole class effectively while meeting individual needs. The article offers five suggestions for adjusting teaching to reach all students at once. (SM)

Strategies are presented for developing a sense of ownership in learning, for use with students from culturally diverse backgrounds who have mild to moderate disabilities. The strategies include structuring a physical environment conducive to ownership; encouraging student ownership in classroom management; and encouraging ownership in academics.…

Describes the underlying philosophical and cultural changes associated with classroom organizational changes in one eighth-grade teacher's attempts to implement National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards. Observations and interviews indicated that there were two distinct cultures ("book world" and organic or…