At the end of the 1992-93 school year, Dutch schools finished their preparations for a new core curriculum for the first stage of secondary education. One of the problems teachers faced in implementing this curriculum was the problem of class heterogeneity. How teachers dealt with heterogeneity was studied through an examination of the use of…

To improve and activate the vocabulary of EFL learners, an alternative to common advice in trying to use them in speech can be invited. As two quite different methodologies in writing pedagogy are process and product writing, it is of concern to find which holds more promise for the vocabulary improvement. Product writing pedagogy encompasses…

This paper synthesizes the three substantive reports on ability grouping described in TM 000 501-503. It lists the characteristics of ability grouping as practised in American school systems. Extensive conclusions and recommendations, generally unfavorable to ability grouping are given. Alternative educational strategies for improvement of…

"Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition" is a program that successfully teaches reading, writing, and language arts in heterogeneous intermediate classes containing mainstreamed special education and remedial reading students, by combining mixed-ability cooperative learning teams and same-ability reading groups. (Author/JDD)

The learning needs of blind and visually impaired children can be categorized into three groups: (1) needs met by adapting the curriculum; (2) needs met by changing the instructional methodology; and (3) developmental and educational needs unique to these students. (Author/CB)

The author reviews the past few years of experience gained in English schools of mixed-ability teaching in science and makes some personal interpretations of the lessons to be learned from that experience. It is hoped that some of these issues will be of relevance to other countries. (Author/SK)

This study examined whether graphic organizer instruction would facilitate comprehension, recall, and information transfer, and how much explicit instruction was necessary for independent generation of graphic organizers. Fifth graders read social studies information with or without graphic organizers and explicit instruction. Explicitness and…

Maintains that elementary teachers acknowledge that the concept of a homogeneous classroom is a myth. Discusses key teacher behaviors for diverse classrooms. Presents a model lesson and extension activities designed to help students understand and appreciate cultural diversity. (CFR)

To investigate teaching techniques with trainable mentally retarded children, 29 day classes were visited twice; 100-minute observation periods were recorded on tape at each visit. Eight major areas of teaching methods were found: feeling tone, guidance and reinforcement, individual and group control, involvement of children in lesson, motivation,…

Many students, and a particularly high proportion of females, do not study mathematics beyond minimum high school requirements. Research indicates that segregation of mathematics classes may help reduce the incidence of female students dropping out of that subject. To improve female students' attitudes toward mathematics and to increase the…

To improve female students' attitudes toward mathematics and to increase the enrollment of females in upper level mathematics courses, students enrolled in grade 10, 11, and 12 at A. Y. Jackson Secondary School were placed in sex-segregated math classes. This study focused on four main areas: attitudes, achievement, enrollment, and perceptions of…

This paper tracks the changes in beliefs and dispositions regarding the teaching of writing of a cohort group of prospective secondary teachers during their graduate year of teacher preparation. Changes in the prospective teachers' beliefs regarding the knowledge they need to teach and the ways in which learners who differ in race, social class,…

Resegregation is the process by which students are separated into racially or ethnically isolated groups within desegregated schools. Resegregation may result from the traditional practice of sorting students into apparently homogeneous groups through ability grouping and tracking and through student selection for compensatory education, special…

This paper describes a teaching method, presently in the experimental stage, that advocates the use of a programed instruction model in the language laboratory, with students working in homogeneous groups of three. The author describes the technical construction and operation of the language laboratory which allows three students to work together…

Most research on small group learning has focused on achievement, but few studies have systematically investigated the effects of group processes on achievement, or the influences of individual aptitudes and group composition on group processes. To investigate the relationship between student aptitudes, group process, and achievement in…