New teaching methods and curricula that show promise in their ability to provide limited English proficient (LEP) students with a good education in both science and English are discussed and illustrated. Discriminatory practice has led to the clustering of LEP students into low ability tracks without consideration of their actual abilities and…

The assessment and placement of language minority students remain among the most serious problems facing schools today. As of 1990, 14 percent of the school-aged population in the United States comes from language minority backgrounds. Significant numbers of these students are not being properly identified by educators. Assessment procedures in a…

This publication, the result of a series of conferences held between April and October 1989, is a guide to assessing the competence of prospective art teachers in the California public schools. The guide was developed as part of a state-wide response to legislated entry and exit standards for teachers in elementary and secondary schools. An…

The experience of the Canadian provinces with large-scale testing programs is reviewed to suggest answers to questions currently discussed in the United States regarding the proposed national system of achievement testing. In the Canadian provinces, tests are linked to provincial curricula. Standards and assessments are not set by experts with no…

This review examines African American students' access to science and mathematics education, their status and achievement in these fields, factors influencing achievement, and strategies to address the current situation. African Americans are highly underrepresented in the scientific and technical fields. This situation should be corrected because…

The book contains 19 papers from the journal, "Focus on Exceptional Children," that discuss new perspectives and practices in educating students with mild disabilities. The first half of the book is titled "New Perspectives" and includes the following articles: "Beyond the Regular Education Initiative/Inclusion and the Resource Room Controversy"…

The 1992 achievement tests for the Alberta (Canada) public schools show what students in grades 3, 6, and 9 can do in social studies, language arts, and mathematics, respectively. Results are reported in terms of curriculum standards, achievement standards, and assessment standards. In June 1992, there were 41,696 students in grade 3, 37,837 in…

The science discourse of young children is a means by which children can pose and try to answer difficult questions about their world. This paper describes through excerpts from transcripts of audiotapes and fieldnotes of science talks, how young children talk about science, and how they use metaphors and analogies to develop theories about…

The debate about what constitutes good teaching in the industrialized countries of the world tends to be carried over into the developing world without examining ways in which social and cultural contexts of the originating countries differ from those of the receiving ones. This study explores differences in perceptions of elementary education…

Tools used in scaling proficiency scores from the Second International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) are described. The second IAEP study, conducted in 1991, was an international comparative study of the mathematics and science skills of samples of 9- and 13-year-old students from 20 countries. This paper focuses on part of the second…

This resource guide is intended to aid in the development of physical education programs to meet the motor, social, and recreational needs of students with disabilities. Two brief chapters on legislation review federal regulations, Iowa law, and Iowa rules for special education and special education administration. Next, the four steps in…

The guide is designed to help educators design math curricula to meet the needs of students of English as a Second Language (ESL) with limited or interrupted schooling in mathematics. It provides techniques for integrating mathematics and language teaching, especially through cooperative learning experiences, makes suggestions for inservice…

Intended for middle school instructors or teacher education students in middle school methods courses, this guide provides a practical, concise, criterion-referenced, performance-based mastery learning model for effective teaching. The guide is organized around four components: why the rationale to support the components that follow; what the…

Problems in students completing homework may be related to lack of parental involvement and support, student attitudes and priorities, and the assigning of inappropriate and irrelevant homework. This action research project implemented and examined the effectiveness of increased communication with parents regarding homework, cooperative learning…

Three surveys were used to ascertain the attitudes, beliefs, and preparation of in-service teachers, pre-service teachers, and student teachers regarding the uses and integration of technology into the classroom and curriculum in elementary, middle, and high schools in four school districts in San Antonio (Texas). Results of these surveys were…