The term "transgender" is used by people whose gender identity or expression falls outside the boundaries of traditional gender expectations. In educational systems, transgender issues are becoming increasingly relevant as both students and staff "come out" as transgender, and as young people explore non-normative gender expression. In comparison…

This paper examines the origins of the entrance of black and white Southern women into the teaching profession after the Civil War focusing on their social, familial, and racial origins; marital and childbearing status; educational preparation; and how their lives converged or diverged due to the positions they occupied in their communities as…

This digest includes several articles relating to perceived gender differences among early adolescents. "Middle School Voices on Gender Identity" (Cynthia Mee) describes a study in which 2,000 middle school students in grades five through eight were interviewed with a 52-item open-ended questionnaire. Three statements from the questionnaire were…

A content analysis was conducted of three educational research journals published by the American Educational Research Association to review the quantitative and qualitative techniques used in educational research. All articles appearing in these three journals from 1988 through 1995 (total n=1,715) were considered. Research methods were…

This paper places Kentucky's accountability program in the national context, and then describes how educators in four rural Kentucky school districts reacted to the program in the initial years of its implementation. The information is drawn from a qualitative study of the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) in these four…

A study described metaphorical writing for engaging Mexican American students in productive emergent literacy activities. During a 2-year qualitative study of a bilingual first-grade classroom, data was collected through an ethnography of communication framework that focused on metaphorical student writing and reading and included interviews and…

This is one component of an in-depth, longitudinal case study investigating the deliberate attempt to infuse a science multicultural perspective throughout an elementary teacher education program at a major research university. Intending teachers' perspectives of being inducted into a profession overtly signifying its commitment to multicultural…

A qualitative study examined experiences between mentors and youth apprentices from the standpoint of situated cognition theory. The youth apprenticeship program studied was located in a rural southeastern community. High school youth apprentices worked with adult mentors and management personnel in selected businesses in the fields of business…

This paper uses a qualitative case study approach to discuss the training of special education teachers in mathematics instruction. The case focuses on a remedial mathematics intervention based on social competence theory with an adolescent with cerebral palsy. Two student teachers attempted to encourage mathematics instruction which focused on…

A study investigated how a second language (L2) learner's writing skills develop in a second-language context. The three research questions addressed the effect of: (1) first-language (L1) literacy skills, (2) L2 proficiency, and (3) the instructional context on L2 writing. Subjects were 70 university French students. Data were drawn from 300…

Portfolio assessment was investigated as a method of evaluating elementary school students' competence in writing. The study comprised an empirical study of the utility and meaningfulness of using a holistic/analytic scoring rubric to score students' portfolios and a qualitative analysis of scoring approaches drawing on raters' critiques of the…

Nationally many middle-level schools are changing from a traditional junior high school structure (grades 7-9) to middle schools (grades 6-8). A case study examined the impact of middle school organizational changes that occurred as a large North Carolina school system converted from junior high schools to middle schools on science teachers and…

The periodic review and development of public library standards are undertaken by the Kansas State Library to best serve the public interest by insuring the quality of the state's public libraries. Standards are defined for the structure and governance of libraries. Service objectives and standards for automation and technology are defined.…

This paper describes a study of the connections between beliefs about mathematics, autonomy, and knowledge structures in mathematics. Assumptions underlying the study were (1) that students' beliefs and knowledge are constructs of the individual and play a dynamic role in the learning and doing of mathematics; and (2) that autonomy theoretically…

This report concerns a qualitative study on African-American leadership effectiveness as perceived and defined by African-American student leaders at the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque). Six African-American student leaders (three males and three females) participated in-depth interviews. The interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed.…