How students' ability group assignments affect their attention spans is examined. Data were gathered from videotaped lessons of first-grade reading groups. Assignment to a low-ability group had a strong negative effect on student attentiveness, suggesting that classroom factors are important in shaping student behavior. (Author/IS)

Discusses issues arising from school desegregation, such as (1) inequality in discipline administered to minority students; (2) disparities in placement and tracking of minority students; (3) displacement of teachers and administrators during desegregation; and (4) loss of jobs among minorities due to enrollment declines and loss of financial…

Gifted children need help to realize their contributions to self and society. Too often their talents go unrecognized and their needs unmet. Many Americans hesitate to encourage intellectual or creative talents, but don't complain if students are separated for remedial reading or varsity athletics. (Author/MLW)

Longitudinal data on over 2,000 students, beginning in seventh grade, were used to examine mobility patterns among instructional tracks over students' high school careers. Results indicate considerably more track mobility than is typically assumed. Most track changes occurred in the later grades and were related to gender, race, and family income.…

Discusses problems with student tracking. Although supporters consider tracking the best way for teachers to handle classroom diversity, many minorities say that it condemns their children to an inferior education. Studies show that heterogeneous classes benefit all students if the teachers adopt flexible instructional methods to handle the…

Describes a program developed in Chino Valley (Arizona) schools that integrates computer technology into the curriculum to support heterogeneous grouping of students while providing special assistance for at-risk students. Highlights include the instructional management system, the role of teachers and support staff, and the role of the computer…

Describes experiences of the Research Group on Education (RGE) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education in using limited computer resources when teaching informatics. Topics discussed include group projects; the use of Logo; ability grouping; and out-of-class activities, including publishing a pupils' magazine. (13…

By any measure--student achievement, social development, or democratic values--ability grouping and tracking practices are indefensible and unsupported by research. Tracking allows schools to practice in-school segregation and perpetuate unequal opportunities and unequal socialization within classrooms. Jonathan Kozol's investigation shows how…

Ability grouping persists because few practical, financially feasible, and politically palatable alternatives have been explored. Built to accommodate a team of 6 teachers and 135 to 150 students, 1 Virginia middle school's parallel block scheduling plan exchanges tracking for a practical method of working with heterogeneous groups of students.…

Explores social acceptance of inequality in U.S. education. Views the legitimation of inequality primarily as a product of early stratification in education, such as tracking, and cumulative reinforcement in a cultural context of contests as equality of opportunity. Early levels of schooling are organized as a series of contests. (SLD)

Reviews recent research on cooperative computer-based instruction (CBI) and discusses findings related to achievement levels and ability, patterns of study, social interchange, motivation and attitudes, and gender differences. Guidelines for the implementation of cooperative CBI are presented, and implications for software designers are suggested.…

Presents a case study of one school district engaged in a reform designed to reduce ability grouping, noting teachers' and parents' role in undermining equity-minded change. The detracking was prompted by a federal court order as part of a larger desegregation case. Wealthy white parents were disproportionately heard by district policymakers,…

Attitudes towards "setting," a form of student grouping by ability, were studied in four Scottish primary schools. A slight majority of students and a slight minority of teachers preferred set classes. Positive aspects of sets included smaller classes and independent learning in lower-ability sets, and positive class atmospheres.…

Discusses five lasting 20th-century education reforms: ability grouping, testing, district/school consolidation, vocational education, and specialization. The future seems aimed at personalized instruction, smaller schools, less differentiation between academic and vocational education, greater trust in local governance units, and philosophic…

Describes strategies one elementary school used to improve the reading and writing skills of a group of low-performing second-grade students, including scaffolding, modeling, needs-based instruction, book-rich environment, cross-age reading, books shared with family members, and student motivation. (PKP)