Two resources to help students conduct research are the new CD-ROM versions of the Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2000 (for strong readers, grades 5-8) and the Year 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (for strong readers, grades 3 and up). By supplementing traditional text-based information with specialized features (e.g., virtual tours and video…

Describes the timely and useful information about education in the United States found in "The Condition of Education" and points out some key pieces of information that are missing. The most glaring omission is information about instructional practices, and a second omission is in the area of teacher knowledge. (SLD)

The Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER) project includes training elementary and secondary teachers. This training component, Ecology Explorers (EE), prepares teachers in grades 4 through 12 to teach about ecological principles and processes. The EE pedagogy employs scientific inquiry and data collection protocols.…

One of the most beneficial uses for technology in the science classroom is data manipulation. During labs and other learning experiences, students can quickly put the data they collect into spreadsheets or databases. Then they can make comparisons, create graphs, draw conclusions, sort the data in new ways, and, ultimately, give their data…

While helping high school students develop statistical thinking, teachers need to engage them in all phases of investigative cycle. Students should master some of the nonmathematical elements of the cycle involved in identifying a problem, creating a plan of attack and gathering necessary data.

The Delphi technique permits the collection of rich evaluation data. Benefits of using the Delphi include the collection of data that is generated by participants with minimal leading by researchers, an iterative process that demonstrates to participants how their ideas and opinions are being utilized in the research process, and a planned…

This note provides an analysis of the determinants of educational outcomes at age 16, and of subsequent pathways as school pupils transit toward the labour market. There is some evidence that examination results tend to be better where nondidactic teaching methods are used, but there is little evidence to suggest that teaching method has an…

The article presents empirical evidence for the effectiveness and efficiency of a modified version of Trochim's (1989a, b) concept mapping approach to define the characteristics of an adaptive learning environment. The effectiveness and the efficiency of the method are attributed to the support that it provides in terms of elicitation, sharing,…

In 2010-11, the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) framework was piloted in six districts, a teacher network, and a network of schools. In most cases, school districts applied for and received grants to implement LDC; in others, regional intermediaries served as the grantee and as primary organizer of the work; and, in still others, national…

The paper discusses an experiment in which regression analysis was used to examine predictors of information retention following a college economics course. It was hypothesized that students taught in small classes with self-instructional materials would place a higher value on basic economic concepts and retain these concepts longer than students…

The booklet describes the local history component of an interdisciplinary high school course on American Studies. The program involves students over a three-year period in collecting, recording, organizing, interpreting, and disseminating the history, culture, and tradition of Scituate, Rhode Island. The booklet is presented in six chapters.…

One third of this report on the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory's Cooperative Urban Teacher Education (CUTE) Program is a description of background information including origins, evolution, organization, structure, and formulation of the concepts used. CUTE is designed to improve urban teaching through helping the teacher to…

Scholars have provided numerous critical analyses of the structural causes of poverty. Unfortunately, many teachers are still led to believe, via best selling books and mainstream discourse, that behaviors, neighborhoods, and families determine educational outcomes. This "culture of poverty" theory must be disproved; educators need to be…

The authors present an analysis of portfolio entries submitted by candidates seeking certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the area of Early Adolescence/Mathematics. Analyses of mathematical features revealed that the tasks used in instruction included a range of mathematics topics but were not consistently…

A study was conducted to investigate the teaching methods valued and used by faculty in Arkansas public higher education institutions at the freshman and sophomore levels. The participants were 336 teachers who responded to a 21 item survey distributed to college teachers in Arkansas. The study sought to collect relevant demographic data and to…