The strong association established between attention skills and school performance has led to increased research in understanding the development of children's attentional processes. How attention develops during early childhood is crucial to understanding partly why children enter school with varying readiness skills. This Snapshot highlights the…

To accomplish desired results and to support more effective funding decisions, program planning, and policies, First 5 Ventura County adopted a results-based accountability (RBA) framework in its April 2000 strategic plan. This RBA framework uses regular, periodic and strategic data collection and analysis to inform a process of continuous…

Introducing children to well written and beautifully illustrated books will help build basic skills while providing for the aesthetic need for beauty and pleasure. This lesson is designed as an integrated literature and visual arts lesson, revolving around the story book, "Owl Moon," written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John…

Intended for parents of children ages 2 to 10 years, this videotape offers parents alternative strategies to yelling, threatening, and putting down for dealing with children's challenging behaviors. The 35-minute video features scenarios of four common, challenging behaviors: (1) when children are very active; (2) when they get angry; (3) when…

Fables and trickster stories are short narratives that use animal characters with human features to convey folk wisdom and to help people understand human nature and human behavior. These stories were originally passed down through oral tradition and were eventually written down. These lesson plans are intended for students in grades 3-5 and…

In the school year 2000-2001 students in Grade 10 took the Graduation Exit Examination for the 21st Century (GEE 21) Language Arts and Mathematics tests for the first time. For GEE 21, student scores are reported in terms of five achievement levels: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Approaching Basic, and Unsatisfactory. This booklet is part of a…

The curriculum projects in this collection represent the culmination of a Fulbright-Hays summer seminar for educators which took place in China in 2001. The collection contains 16 curriculum projects: "Notes on Giving a Presentation to a Parents Group, School Board or Other Public Audience Regarding Modern China" (David Bilka);…

Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two main types of eating disorders. Eating disorders frequently co-occur with…

This paper explores the benefits of the design elements of public anonymity and private accountability in classroom Knowledge Sharing Systems (KSS). The major findings of this study indicate that classroom KSS have the potential to allow for greater equity of input, reduce academic anxiety, increase teachers knowledge of student understanding …

Intended for teachers of grades 2-6, this book offers methods to help students become lifelong readers. The book's instructions include emphasizing respect for the readers' choices of books and their own unique response to the literature. Information is intended to promote thoughtful analysis of what has been read and to validate readers'…

This paper presents descriptions of the 10 best young adult novels (and teaching suggestions) appropriate for studying the Holocaust in the middle school. Each description begins with a summary and "hook" that can be used with students, and then ends with discussion for the teacher about reading abilities and applications in the…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies (NELS) program is a long-term effort that now encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades, the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The NELS program studies the educational, vocational, and personal development of students at various grade levels, and the personal, familial, social,…

The Bookmark Standard Setting Procedure (Lewis, Mitzel, and Green, 1996) is an item-response-theory-based standard setting method that has been widely implemented by state testing programs. The primary purposes of this study were to: (1) estimate standard errors for cutscores that result from Bookmark standard settings under a generalizability…

Family sources of stress and conflict are critical variables in the well-being of adolescents. This paper assesses the relationship of coping resources to negative emotions produced by parental conflict after controlling for social desirability; age; financial resources; and measures of parental attachment and family functioning. Undergraduate…

This multimedia program (a CD-ROM and a teacher's guide) features reading comprehension activities to encourage students to read for meaning. It includes exercises for 100 intermediate level books that are commonly available in classrooms or libraries. The program provides 20 "island destinations" that contain activities that assess comprehension,…