Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), standardized test scores are the indicator used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student achievement. Each state is responsible for constructing an accountability system, attaching consequences--or stakes--for student performance. The theory of action implied by this…

Community School District 23 (CSD 23) in Region 5 of the New York City public schools serves students who reside in central Brooklyn. The district enrolls approximately 12,800 students in grades K-8 in 18 schools. Scholastic READ 180 is one of several reading interventions that the district is using to improve student performance. The staff of…

The "Connecting With Others" curriculum for grades 6 through 8 will help students learn to be sensitive to differences, resolve conflicts without resorting to violence, and learn tolerance and acceptance of others. Includes 40 lessons divided into eight skill areas: Awareness of Self and Others, Responsibility, Communication, Cooperation…

Contrasts two approaches to achieving depth in an 8th grade U.S. history class. One presents a detailed and chronological approach, the other a discipline-based matrix structure with chronological and regional evolutions as a backdrop. Favors stressing major principles and generalizations while focusing in depth on prototypical examples. (MJP)

Predictors of adolescent behavior that could reduce the risk of their contracting HIV were studied with 230 8th graders, 106 11th and 12th graders, and 156 college students. Regression analyses suggest that the best predictor of some risky behavior is attitude toward risky behavior, while predictors of other behaviors vary by sample group. (SLD)

Expands the parameters of "parental involvement" in educational research regarding its effect on academic achievement. Includes talking with children about school-related activities and helping with homework in the new definition. Integrating these findings challenges the belief that lower-income parents are less involved with their…

Introduces the Parent Writing Folder Review assessment strategy for eighth-grade children's writing, whereby parents discuss the student's writing with them and complete a written evaluation. Describes how evaluation of parents' reflections about children's writing found that they indicated growth in children's writing, identified areas for…

Academic risk taking--the selection of schoollike tasks ranging in difficulty and probability of success--was examined for 602 students in grades 4, 6, and 8 in Taiwan. Results of a self-report measure of tolerance for failure and a risk-taking task are discussed concerning self-enhancement versus self-assessment goals, metacognitive skills, and…

Item responses of 2,380 mathematically talented junior high school students (1,437 males and 943 females) were studied to determine gender differences, using the mathematical sections of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M). Girls excelled on miscellaneous items and data sufficiency items but performed less well on algebra items than boys. (SLD)

Depicts an eighth grade unit utilizing the production of a newspaper to teach U.S. history, 1787 to 1791, in a combined social studies and language arts class at Malcolm Price Laboratory School (Iowa). Two teachers used both large- and small-group instruction to focus on the development of the U.S. Constitution. (LS)

Examined responses to rejection by four rejected junior high school boys in seventh and eighth grades through interviews and observations. Found high categorical stability for those who were rejected; most were unable to alter their status. Reported on one student who managed to change status through extraordinary responses, by negating the…

An eighth-grade teacher implemented several Total Quality Management methods in his social studies (civics) class in the middle of the academic school year. Using diagrams, he taught students ways to organize their work, generate ideas, and solve problems. Using student involvement, he developed ways to help students solve their homework problem.…

A total of 196 Latino bilingual students in grades 4, 6, and 8 were asked to give the Spanish equivalent for English words, some of which had derivational and inflectional suffixes. The results indicated that the students' ability to translate cognates increased with age above and beyond any increase in their vocabulary knowledge in Spanish and…

Describes the Hendersonville Accelerated Reading Program (H.A.R.P.), in which students in two schools were motivated to read and write through cooperative development of a database of book reviews and the opportunity to read aloud to elementary school students. Student and teacher reactions and program outcomes are discussed. (NRP)

A study with 28 fourth graders, 30 eighth graders, and 30 college students demonstrates that the relationship between knowledge of the requirements of a globally coherent essay and the ability to produce such an essay generally remains statistically significant when the effect of grade level is removed. (SLD)