This article offers three interrelated arguments for the adoption of a cultural approach to the study of learning. It then presents some early analyses of data from a case study of one learning site, concerned with the assessment of learning in the workplace. These analyses show how the shape of the learning site--for example, the nature of…

Objective: To evaluate a school-based early intervention program for the reduction of anxious symptoms in at-risk children from low socioeconomic status neighborhoods. Method: A total of 425 children (8-11 years old) from nine schools in low socioeconomic status areas were screened to identify children with high-level anxious symptoms. Ninety-one…

The study investigates strategies and contexts for supporting the literacy development of young, augmented speakers, whose difficulties in literacy learning are not explained by their levels of cognition alone. Indeed, quantitative and qualitative differences exist in their literacy experiences at home and school. In this study, four primary…

By 2025, 22 percent of the U.S. college-age population will be Latino, a level already reached in four states: California, Florida, New York, and Texas. Meeting the country's future human capital and workforce needs make it imperative to improve outcomes for Latino students today. As public attention is focused on current achievement gaps,…

Introduction: The Maui Hawaii Educational consortium (the Maui School District and Maui Community College) sought scientifically based evidence for the effectiveness of the Cognitive Tutor (CT) Algebra I Curriculum to inform adoption decisions. Decision makers were particularly interested in whether the use of the CT program affects achievement of…

Children from non-English-speaking homes are doubly disadvantaged when learning English in school. They enter school with less prior knowledge of English sounds, word meanings, and sentence structure, and they get little or no reinforcement of their learning outside of the classroom. This article compares the classroom standard practice of…

Jeb Bush campaigned for Governor on a clear and bracing set of education reforms in 1998. Having won office, he immediately pursued a dual track strategy of education reform: standards and accountability for public schools, choice options for dissatisfied parents. Florida lawmakers followed these reforms with additional measures, including…

The current study explored the association between a large-scale federally funded preschool intervention and the social and emotional development of participants. Data were drawn from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS) and included 1,378 primarily African American youth who participated in the CLS and had scores for two or more identifiable…

Creighton University, a private Jesuit institution in the Midwest, included a Health Professions Partnership Initiative (HPPI) to increase the pool of qualified underrepresented minority applicants by identifying students early and encouraging their progress through elementary and middle school, high school, college, and professional schools.…

Communicative tasks are defined as activities in which meaning is primary, there is a goal which needs to be worked toward, there is a real world relationship and the interaction among students is the means for achieving the task outcome. However, it was assumed that adopting communicative tasks alone is not adequate as it leads the learner to…

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) collects data on a nationally representative sample of Head Start programs, classrooms, teachers, parents, and children examining the quality and effects of Head Start. Three waves of data collection have occurred: in 1997, 2000, and 2003. Information presented in this publication is…

The kindergarten year is quite unlike preschool and not like first grade, either. What should teaching practice look like for this critical year? This book offers a vivid picture of kindergarten children, perceptive discussion of the current kindergarten context and policy issues, and clear guidelines for teaching and assessing kindergartners.…

In 2006, states will add almost one billion additional education tax dollars to their budgets as politicians in more than twenty states consider moving toward a Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) system. Although a spirited debate has taken place over the advantages to children of a pre-K education, there has been little or no debate on how, rather…

This study was designed, in part, to clarify some of the issues that surround including English language learners in states' large-scale assessment programs. More specifically, the authors gathered practical information at the local school level to understand these students' large-scale assessment experiences from a variety of perspectives, to…

Rural areas in both developed and developing countries are being increasingly marginalized through structural changes. Furthermore, the disinvestment in state-provided supports and services means that rural people are left to their own devices to cope with these changes. Numerous authors argue that the most effective way of dealing with these…