Analyzes the teacher-child talk during art activities conducted by two Australian and two Asian teachers in four Australian child care centers. Discovers differences in the use of the evaluative subcategories repeat and rephrase. Includes transcript samples of the conversations. (MJP)

Reports findings of intensive, semistructured interviews with 11 confidants to persons with AIDS (PWAs). AIDS has a devastating impact on the social support networks of those most closely involved with PWAs. Numerous changes were observed in the confidants' supportive resources, network structure, and functioning. (Author/FC)

Asserts the necessity of developing a U.S. audience educated to appreciate classical music. Discusses a number of innovative programs across the country designed to increase audience participation and appreciation. Proposes implementing outreach and education courses in professional music schools. (MJP)

Describes the benefits of including music in early childhood education programs, including teaching children about sounds, the elements of music, and cultural diversity. Provides a list of folk songs suitable for early childhood classrooms to support teachers' use of singing and moving. (EV)

Investigates how classroom traits (interaction norms, emotional climate) and students' traits (comprehension, confidence) impact on students' participation in class. Multiple regression analysis of survey data suggests that faculty members may play a much less direct role than previously assumed. (MJP)

Maintains that reunification allowed teacher unions of the former West Germany to move into the former East Germany, filling a structural void left by the dissolution of the Communist Party. Specifically examines the reactions of newly elected teacher union leaders from the former East Germany to subsequent events in the education and political…

Recent findings on differential item functioning (DIF) for minority examinees (Asian Americans, Hispanics, and Blacks) taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are presented, and the standardization approach to assessing DIF is described. Item characteristics related to DIF that generalize across ethnic groups are discussed. (SLD)

Classroom interactions by two Black female second-grade teachers were observed to determine whether these teachers differed in their responses to students who showed Strong (high) versus Weak (low) Black and Nonstandard English usage. The teachers' level of knowledge of Black English was reflected in the success of their interactions. (TJH)

Describes four lessons for "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr, developed by teachers in the Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP), Hawaii. Observes the links between the two basic activities, reading journals and small group discussions, as well as students' growth in thinking about and responding to the…

Examines social influences on the reading processes of four adolescent readers, as well as the relationship between social-cognition and these readers' responses to short stories. Suggests that competence, pragmatics, and volition are intricately related to the likelihood that readers will bring social-cognitive processes to bear on reading. (SR)

Gender differences were examined in 182 freshman college students who had completed a packet of questionnaires and inventories to address the impact of separation from parents and to test relevance of self-in-relation theory. Differences indicated that women reported establishing more of all kinds of support. Other results are reported. (JBJ)

Describes strategies used to improve students' reading achievement in a New York elementary school: Hire the best teachers; train office staff members to support teachers; assign teachers based on needs; observe teachers in reading; design a staff development program; develop a reading action plan; use the existing research; involve students and…

Addresses the question of whether it is possible for early years teachers to achieve understanding and appreciation of children's behavior and development without having insights into their own behavior and family backgrounds. Suggests that teachers must recognize the importance of their own backgrounds in how they look at children, teaching, and…

In interviews with 74 adolescents, high-income adolescents reported fewer misbehaviors and more behaviors which were playful, whereas misbehaviors of low-income youth stemmed mainly from anger. Low-income adolescents reported a greater number and variety of penalties that seemed both disproportionate to offenses and humiliating in nature.…

Presents the reactions of a mathematics educator and a mathematician to a seven-year-old student's response for finding square numbers. Reflects on the mathematician's focus on the mathematics of the problem and the mathematics educator's focus on the student's systematic way of working, and discusses the common focus of student creativity. (MDH)