Describes a study that investigated the effects of learner control and program control, and lean and full modes of instructional programs, on the achievement, use of options, time on task, and attitudes of high-ability and low-ability students from grades 9 and 10 during computer-assisted instruction. (LRW)

Examines the function of schooling as constituted in the interactional sequences of routine testing events. Demonstrates that classroom testing represents a critical activity through which the grouping of students is accomplished. Suggests that the differentiation of both homogeneous and heterogeneous school populations is a necessary by-product…

Examines three possible mechanisms for the effects of first-grade reading group placement. Finds that first-grade ability-group placement can have persistent effects on children's achievement in school for several years and may shape expectations of the children by parents and teachers. (CFR)

Discussion of cognitive process research on writing focuses on a study of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade middle school students that tested a generative-evaluative model of composition. Treatments for experimental and control groups of ability-grouped students are described, and results are analyzed. (58 references) (LRW)

Summarizes research on middle level schools and students that contributes to ongoing debates concerning grade span, school size, grouping of students, departmentalization, curriculum, instruction, advisory groups, interdisciplinary teaming, school-transition activities, extra-help programs, and student evaluation practices in the middle grades.…

Describes a study that examined whether engaging elementary school students in hypermedia authoring would promote their creative thinking. Highlights include Logo programming language; the Torrance Tests of Creativity Thinking; performance assessment; interviews and observations; ability levels; collaborative versus individual learning; and…

Articulates the idea that a track is a type of social position in students' relations with particular teachers and course work. Uses students' profiles of course work in high school to derive eight curricular positions associated with status characteristics and students' attitudes. Includes statistical analysis that links variables to achievement.…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Equity Center has identified several disturbing trends, including renewed physical separation, cultural biases, lower teacher expectations, and ability grouping, resulting in inequitable policies and practices and unsatisfactory student achievement. Seven key ameliorative components, including access…

This report describes a project to improve achievement among 24 grade 11 basic U.S. history students in a growing, middle class, suburban community in northern Illinois. Students are assigned to basic classes due to reading test scores. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students entered the course with poor attitudes toward school,…

On the surface, educational tracking may seem like a useful tool for allowing students to work at their own pace, and to avoid discouraging competition, but abuses of the tracking idea have arisen through biased placement practices that have denied equal access to education for minority students. The articles in this issue explore a number of…

This book presents a collection of essays by education researchers and practitioners about issues of educational equity and excellence. The authors examine the problem of failure in schools and describe the various curricular and structural factors that block access to an equal and quality education for all students. Chapters are entitled: (1)…

This study investigated attitudes of educators from both the middle school movement and gifted education, by means of a survey of 400 members of relevant professional organizations. The survey focused on six interest clusters: (1) grouping strategies, (2) identification issues, (3) curriculum modifications, (4) teacher preparation, (5) program…

Educational reform efforts to date in the United States have not been germane or responsive to the social problems of African American children. The reform efforts advanced to date have only been exercises in tinkering around the educational edges. Our educational focus, the origin of which is outlined, must shift in at least two major ways.…

The attitudes of students in ungraded primary and fourth grade classes toward educational-reform changes implemented in their classrooms were studied in Kentucky, using a sample of 53 students from the primary grades and 47 students from the fourth grade. Multi-age, multi-ability grouping, as experienced by these primary students, is a feature of…

In the second year of a project investigating the ability of secondary school teachers to identify high-ability students, two questions were addressed: what student characteristics influenced teachers' judgments, and why checklists appeared to have little impact on teachers' judgments. A structured approach was developed to study student…