Israeli 12th graders studying English as a Second Language benefit from writers' workshops where they compose written portfolios and learn to express themselves fluently in writing. Students write with paper and pen or work via the Internet. They write on selected issues and send letters and articles to various online and print journals and…

The present paper presents a detailed thematic review of chemical bonding studies. To achieve this, a matrix is developed to summarize and present the findings by focusing on insights derived from the related studies. The matrix incorporates the following themes: needs, aims, methods of exploring students' conceptions, general knowledge claims,…

For decades, researchers examined the "achievement gap" between minority and nonminority students. This singular definition of "achievement gap" ignores important within-group differences. This article uses National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) data to examine within-group differences and compares those across Latino, African American,…

This paper reports on two questions from a survey of year 11 and 12 girls' perceptions of the two advanced computing subjects available within Education Queensland (EQ). The two subjects are Information Processing Technology (IPT) and Information Technology Systems (ITS). Similar to trends in other western countries, the Queensland experience…

No Child Left Behind legislation makes it clear that outside evaluators determine what gets taught in the classroom. It is important to ensure they measure what truly counts in school. This fact is poignantly and sadly true for the under funded, poorly resourced, "low performing" schools that may be hammered by administration accountants…

In early May 2002, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released a study of U.S. history achievement among fourth, eight, and twelfth graders, finding that nearly 60 percent of high school senior test-takers failed to demonstrate basic knowledge of U.S. history. Although the hand-wringing has begun about what "must be done" to…

Among the principal assumptions that have governed enrollment management in community colleges for the past two decades is that the community college sector serves a distinctly older population than do other sectors of the post-secondary system. When the noted community college researcher, Arthur Cohen of the University of California-Los Angeles,…

The framework and specifications for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment were developed in 1991-92 and field tested in 1993. The assessment was postponed, however, and will be administered in 1996. The framework calls for performance-based tasks that probe students' abilities to use materials to make…

This resource document is designed to assist teachers in implementing the "History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve." The purpose of these models is to support implementation of the "Framework" at the local level. In addition to serving as a resource for teachers and…

People worry about dropouts because they believe that leaving high school before graduation is detrimental, both to the individual and to society. This view does not include students' view of the situation, and in order to clarify students' perceptions of at-risk factors, qualitative data on high school seniors were collected. The central question…

This document summarizes the results of a national survey that tested 4th, 8th, and 12th graders' ability to analyze geographic data in a variety of formats; explain complex geographic phenomena and processes; and show knowledge of relationships between human and geographic events. The survey tested three content dimensions: space and place,…

This report is a first look at the results of the 1994 NAEP geography assessment. It presents national findings of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students' overall performance on the NAEP geography scale, and summary data for the major demographic subpopulations in the United States. Results are reported on a 500-point NAEP scale, used to show…

This paper is a personal interpretation of how two half-year daily teaching assignments in grade 12 physics influenced the career of a science teacher educator at Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada). The teacher educator felt that this experience helped him speak to his preservice teachers more realistically and convincingly about the…

Designed to improve student achievement in the English language arts by engaging students in literacy standards, this draft document presents content standards and benchmarks that will help prepare North Dakota students for new complexities of work and social life. The document begins with a preface, a list of basic assumptions, and definitions of…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "The Nation's Report Card," is a congressionally mandated survey of educational achievement of American students in a variety of curriculum areas and of changes in that achievement across time. Part 1 of this report consists of the results of NAEP's 1990 national…