Poway City USD has designed a middle school program to facilitate transition from the elementary grades. Several classroom organizations are available to entering sixth-graders: self-contained, multiage, and team teaching. Most are in the self-contained Basic Education program, moving into departmentalized teaching in grades 7 and 8. (SJL)

Results of a study relating student teacher success to the effectiveness of the cooperating teacher, to grade level placement, to race of the student teacher, and to previous teaching experience are presented. Perceptions of outstanding student teachers as to what classroom management practices were effective for them are also examined. (JMF)

Worksheets are included that use triangular shapes designed to provide practice for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of rational numbers. (MP)

Investigated public librarians' interactions with patrons seeking geographic information with a sense-making (timeline) survey. Digital geographic data collection and information systems were utilized less in public libraries, and users had more complex needs than perceived. Explores implications for altering reference interviews and makes…

Explored measuring psychic entropy (loss of motivation, unfocused attention, passivity, bad moods) in junior and senior high school students (N=22) and noted predictability of gender and grade using Psychic Entropy Measure for Adolescents. Found results did not support hypotheses that girls experience greater psychic entropy than boys or that…

Results of a study of 298 students (grades 3, 5, and 7) enrolled in Catholic and public schools suggest that school-related curiosity decreases as a function of grade level in both school settings. The grade level effect appeared stronger in the Catholic school. No significant gender effect was noted. (IAH)

A group of six articles describes activities for art, music, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Each article includes library media skills objectives, curriculum objectives, grade levels, resources, instructional roles, activity and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up. (AEF)

Presents a study that analyzed errors made by randomly chosen fourth grade students (25 of 57) while using the division algorithm and investigated the effect of remediation on identified systematic errors. Results affirm that error pattern diagnosis and directed remediation lead to new learning and long-term retention. (MDH)

Presents a basis of a history framework for program development in civics in Canadian schools. Identifies elements of government that are associated with civics and selects historical events through which to study these elements. Discusses the history of thought, history as a science, constitutional history, the government, leaders, and national…

Traces the transformation of Subsaharan Africa during the last 35 years. Contends that the domino effect hastened decolonization and increased polarization within South Africa. Argues that modernization is taking place only in South Africa's core and that the geopolitical framework appears stable but may collapse from within. (NL)

Attitudes of 251 black students (133 fourth graders and 118 eighth graders) concerning mathematics were examined and compared by grade level, gender, and academic achievement with the attitudes of other students in their schools. Results show that higher-achieving black eighth graders have poorer attitudes toward mathematics than other students.…

Provides an overview of CD-ROMs for use in elementary and secondary school libraries. Highlights include advantages of CD-ROM; availability by grade level and by curriculum areas; costs; formats; trends; evaluating and selecting titles; 20 recommended titles; and CD-ROM distributors. (two references) (LRW)

The item-response-theory-based (IRT) rule-space model was used to diagnose student knowledge about how exponents behave in multiplication and division in a sample of 431 tenth-grade students. Implications for using feedback from the rule-space model in instruction and assessment are discussed. (SLD)

Comparative trend analysis shows striking improvements in all major societal indicators as electricity becomes available to developing nations. Discusses the linking of electrical grids between countries and across continents and the ramifications for standards of living, sustainable development, and world peace. (PVD)

Deplores inconsistencies between the realities of today's technologically driven, information-age world and the static, constraining boxes in which state-initiated, accountability- focused reforms hold American education. We must reconceptualize schooling, curriculum content, time, grade levels, and achievement to allow more informal,…