The classroom practices discussed in "Effective Second Language Writing" reflect various trends and methodologies; however, the underlying theme in this volume of the Classroom Practice Series is the need for clear and meaningful communication between ESL writers and their readers. While approaches differ, two core beliefs are constant: ESL…

Assessment reform has been on the educational agenda of many countries for at least two decades. In this article - which begins by charting what lies behind the calls for a paradigm shift in assessment and what is being proposed instead - classroom assessment is explored in detail in relation to its links with teacher and student assessment, as…

This article explores the role which the social context of learning plays in the development of learner strategies. It is based on longitudinal foreign language classroom research in state comprehensive schools in the UK. It is built on the premise that the development of learner strategies is linked to the type of learning context in which they…

This article reports on a distinctive form of continuing professional development that emerged from a classroom-based collaborative research project between university researchers and teachers of French. We shall argue that one of the outcomes of this particular form of collaboration is a relatively unexplored, yet potentially important, approach…

As a result of frequently hearing students comment that the language used in mathematics is "like hearing a foreign language," the author investigated this perception by studying a ninth-grade mathematics classroom. Using transcriptions of classroom discussions and semistructured interviews with students, her findings suggest that students…

The goal of this study is to explore new tools for analyzing scientific sense-making in out-of-school settings. Although such measures are now common in science classroom research, dialogically based methodological approaches are relatively new to informal learning research. Such out-of-classroom settings have more recently become a breeding…

This article provides an initial exploration of the impact of teachers' involvement with classroom-based research projects on their professional learning. Interviews with classroom teachers are used to explore their experiences of working with Graham Nuthall and his research teams, who focused on finding out how students' interactions with…

Good storytellers possess polished presentation skills, own a fundamental tool for understanding the world, and are well prepared to learn to read and write, all of which are important in school. This study systematically documented and analyzed the implementation of a storytelling program in a preschool classroom at a cooperative day care center…

Since the mid 1980's increasing research has been conducted on the relationship that exists between student attitude toward science and science achievement. While many are focusing on investigating this relationship, this study focused on assuring that measurement of attitude changes of diverse groups in America is done with valid and reliable…

This paper examines the teacher research process from two points of view: that of a university-based researcher and that of a school-based classroom researcher. Speaking from the experience of engaging in research from both perspectives, the paper presents six reflections on teacher research that describe the special nature of inquiry as conducted…

Classroom research involves a number of techniques for careful and systematic observation of the process of teaching and learning. Its primary purpose is not to seek generalizations about teaching and learning, but to discover specific localized "truths" for a particular classroom. It involves classroom assessment, consisting of…

Physics is a fundamental science course and can be valuable to all students, however, enrollment at the high school level is low. This study tries to identify factors that influence high school student enrollment and achievement. Raw data was obtained from the New York State Education Department on magnetic tapes with over 300,000 records…

The Book Club Project of the Center for the Learning and Teaching of Elementary Subjects is a 3-year line of research exploring the intersection of literature-based reading instruction and the role of student-led response groups. This work is in response to a current trend of creating authentic literacy opportunities in classrooms, reading…

In an effort to clarify some of the problems educators have in understanding children's play behavior, a half-hour-long episode of two 4-year-old girls playing with newsprint, paints, and brushes at an easel is described. The episode showed how ephemeral yet recognizable play can be. The idea of countours is used to describe play behavior in its…

An ethnographic study examined the interdependence and synergism of multiple symbol systems of first grade writers. Subjects, four first grade students, were followed as they engaged in playful literacy--composing with blocks, clay, shadow puppets, tissue paper collage, drawing, and written and spoken words. "Thick description" was used…