Examines how results of research on the brain and learning can be applied to the education of middle level students. Considers neural, experimental, and reflective intelligence and the importance of emotion in learning. Suggests ways to use natural curiosity to enhance learning by introducing engaging problems and reflecting on the problem-solving…

Presents the Integrated Thematic Instruction Model for translating brain research into practical applications in the classroom and school. Describes the specific neurotransmitters involved in learning. Discusses the key role of emotion and the importance of prior experience in the learning process. Recommends the types of sensory input needed for…

Using a critical model of reader response to literature in diverse urban secondary classrooms is important. The model helps teachers encourage diverse readers to generate their own text so they can engage with text that is more interesting than the traditional canon and become more willing and able to respond. Samples of diverse urban students'…

Rubric-related and rubric-unrelated features used by teacher raters to assign scores to constructed response items for mathematics and reading assessment were studied by looking at 1000 papers from Kansas seventh and tenth graders. Results validated the influence of correctness of answer in both mathematics and reading holistic scores. (SLD)

Contributes to scholarship on the transcultural impact of media systems (and draws on media effects, political economy, and cultural studies research) by applying the soil erosion metaphor to transcultural impact of television. Discusses four processes associated with this model: cultural abrasion, cultural deflation, cultural deposition, and…

This qualitative exploratory study investigated what teachers and second graders learned when student questions were the nucleus of literature discussions. Data showed that students were eager to pose questions that addressed what they needed and wanted to understand about literature and life and that teachers have a tendency to impose their own…

Explores the reader response patterns and intergenerational dialogue produced by five high school/university student pairs reading and reacting to a young adult multicultural novel, Gary Soto's "Buried Onions." Concludes that participants offered multiple perspectives, maintained mutual respect for each other's interpretations, and revealed the…

Investigated the effectiveness of analyzing drawings of 8- to 12-year-old children as a method of understanding the effects of living and coping with ongoing civic unrest. Compared drawings by white and black South African children with those of children from Belfast, Ireland. Found cross-national differences in stress, emotion, adjustment, and…

Investigates the possibilities that a reader response approach offered strong female characters to four middle school girls reading and talking about two young adult novels. Examines issues involved in negotiating meaning in such literature discussions, including real talk, "inappropriate" talk, preferences in group talk, and privileged talk.…

Analyzes effects of using carefully assisted case studies to prepare preservice teachers to be more knowledgeable and skilled in supporting children's response to literature. Finds that, over time, preservice teachers' question types shifted in amount and content, moving from teacher dominance to child-teacher dialogue. Notes teachers became more…

Summarizes this special issue on how children develop emotional and social strengths, as well as difficulties. Highlights three areas of focus among the seven articles: (1) the relation of emotional competence to social competence; (2) the socialization of emotional competence; and (3) attachment as the foundation. (SD)

Examined the moderating role of individual differences in negative emotionality in the relations of behavioral and attentional regulation to externalizing problem behaviors. Found that at two ages behavioral dysregulation predicted externalizing behavior problems for children both high and low in negative emotionality, whereas prediction of…

Uses latent variable modeling to examine the relationship between male gender role conflict (MGRC), depression, and negative attitudes toward seeking counseling services in male college students. Identifies two components of MGRC : restriction-related MGRC, which predicted 25% of the variance in help-seeking attitudes, and achievement-related…

This paper summarizes basic research on response effort in diverse applied areas including deceleration of aberrant behavior, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, oral habits, littering, and problem solving. The paper concludes that response effort as an independent variable has potent effects, and research exploring the applied benefits of…

Examines the strategies used in answering a computerized multiple-choice test where all questions on a semantic topic were grouped together or randomly distributed. Findings indicate that students grouped by performance on the test used different strategies in completing the test due to distinct cognitive processes between the groups. (AEF)