While community colleges excel at expanding postsecondary enrollments, these institutions often struggle to help students succeed. A chorus of school leaders and policymakers increasingly agree that broad-based, comprehensive organizational change is needed to drastically improve community college student success and equity. The Guided Pathways…

This study evaluates a performance-based instructional coaching model intended to improve teacher pedagogy and classroom organization for educating diverse student populations. Elementary teachers (N = 21) participated in a 30-h workshop and seven individual coaching sessions across an academic year. The coaching model promoted use of the…

The term "interactive" appears in two distinct strands of educational research discourse: one concerning pedagogy and the other concerning new technologies in education. As new technology increasingly pervades most classrooms in the UK, it seems likely that it would be fruitful to explore, both theoretically and empirically, links…

Background/Context: A common perspective found in the literature on classroom activity structures hypothesizes that a whole-class mode of instruction is linked with increased problems of achievement motivation for low-achieving students. If whole-class methods of instruction (e.g., recitation-style question-and-answer sessions) are rich in…

A large proportion of teachers throughout the world teach in multigrade classrooms, or classes with more than one grade level. It is reliably predicted that the number of multigrade classes will increase in the future. This paper addresses the issue of teacher education for multigrade. The main thesis of this paper is that the professional…

Asks whether the common practice that has been termed "Circle Time" and its variations are a useful classroom practice. Analyzes the ways teachers employ circle time. Critiques the practice of circle time. Argues that the quality of learning is dependent on the quality of reflection by teachers concerning their practice, not on gimmicks.…

High school teaching practices have resisted change since 1900 and remain essentially teacher centered. This stability may be explained by: (1) the deterministic influence of classroom organizational structures; (2) innate conservatism in teaching; (3) teachers' enduring beliefs about educational goals; and (4) society's economic structure which…

The use of alternative instructional strategies and resources to meet the learning needs of individual students incorporates the diagnosis of student learning progress, the teaching of self-management skills, organizational supports, and family involvement into an effective educational program. (JN)

People know that coaching for verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests can improve scores, although gains can be modest. Nevertheless, scores on retaking such tests can remain stable or even decrease following coaching. People do not know if such findings apply to coaching for tests of attainment. However, research into formative assessment shows…

This paper provides an orientation to learning centers for middle school teachers. A description is given of the characteristics of a learning center and the kinds of student activities that can best be conducted in an area set apart for individual or small group projects. Benefits from using learning centers, are cited, such as added variety to…

Analyzes a case of a struggling student writer who was not helped by good classroom techniques. Proposes that for educators to help struggling writers, they need to focus on both the student and the activity system within which the student works. Concludes that educators need to take account of: teachers' and children's ideas; organization for…

Cooperative group learning involves organizing students in small heterogeneous groups to work on academic assignments. This paper reports a staff development project to implement cooperative group learning for 417 general education middle school and junior high school students, including 41 special education students. To impart cooperative…

This is an evaluation report on a Title I non-public schools reading skills program that served students in grades 4-8 in New York City in 1979-1980. The program's goal was to provide individualized diagnostic prescriptive reading and writing skills instruction for severely disabled readers. Section one of the evaluation provides a description of…

This report presents an overview of the history of the Junior High Classroom Organization Study, designed to answer questions concerning effective instruction in junior high school English and mathematics classes. Nineteen trained observers were sent to 52 classrooms in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. Observers kept written records…

Alternatives to the current system of graded classes and ability grouping are examined that would allow teachers to balance individual student needs with practical considerations in instructional delivery. In addition to reviewing the alternatives, the research that has examined these approaches is reviewed and synthesized. The three alternative…