This study chronicles the responses of middle school students to their teachers' efforts to re-engage them in school. Working with two teachers and their team of 42 eighth graders selected as at-risk of failure, researchers interviewed participants, observed interactions, and gathered data from students' first semester of high school. Teachers…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) (In)formative Assessments: New Tests and Activities Can Help Teachers Guide Student Learning (Robert Rothman); (2) Recent Research on the Achievement Gap: How Lifestyle…

This article contributes to an evidence base suggesting that PE offers particular advantages for promoting improved behaviour. The research design involved using statistical approaches to investigate the behaviour of 4 male pupils, aged 15 year old, all of whom were statemented for EBD in mainstream classes. Assessments were made of both Pre- and…

A model assignment was designed and tested to enhance special education teacher candidates' skills and understanding in order to improve student learning. The model includes university and school-site activities that develop teacher candidates' awareness of the relationship between on-task learning time and student achievement. Teacher candidates…

For the past five years, our students have been passing less and less time preparing for lectures and exams. To encourage them to do more exercises, a pedagogical activity was offered outside the classroom. With the goal of making students more active during the problem-solving process, an innovative online environment, Sphinx, was developed.…

Productive engagement is a potential pathway to health for older adults, but this relationship varies by race. This study examines the relationship of productive engagement to the health and observed health disparities of older African American and white adults. Productive activities include formal and irregular paid employment, caregiving,…

This study examines the effects of using response cost in combination with positive reinforcement procedures in helping two second grade students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder maintain their attention in the classroom. This involved the loss of reinforcers/points contingent upon inappropriate behavior in the classroom, in addition…

Studies comparing computer-assisted instruction with traditional print were reviewed in order to determine what researchers have discovered about using computers in reading. The research findings were then compared and integrated through using the following five categories: interaction, attitude, instructional control, time on task, and…

In response to legislative mandate intended to curb a national trend toward students taking longer than the traditional two- and four-year time frame to complete educational degrees, the Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges conducted a study of factors in this trend; options for encouraging students to carry full credit loads; and…

This policy brief was written to provide the North Carolina State Board of Education with a summary of research on enhancing effective instructional time. The impetus for extending school time appears to stem from two primary sources: international comparisons, and research on the relationship between time and learning. Research findings indicate…

A description is given of the Classroom Organization and Management Program, designed to help teachers in grades 1-9 and staff developers improve their overall instructional and behavioral management skills through planning, implementing, and maintaining effective classroom practices. It also seeks to improve student task engagement and reduction…

This literature review briefly lists the findings of studies on effective schools. The findings are organized under the following categories (which correspond to the Indicator of Quality Schools Assessment instrument categories): curricular congruence, assessment, leadership of the principal, high expectations, school wide norms, school climate,…

The study examined how adding students with learning disabilities (LD) to regular education classrooms changed the behavior of nonhandicapped students and their teachers. Initial observations were of mainstream classes containing no learning-disabled students. Observations were again conducted after LD students had been mainstreamed for 8 months.…

Research on the influence of instructional time on student achievement has focused on the concept of academic learning time and its major components--allocated time, engaged time, and level of difficulty. This report reviews three studies that concur that increasing allocated time, in itself, has little influence on student achievement. Walberg…

A study examined (1) whether students whose teachers possess a higher level of professional development exhibit greater time-on-task in reading than students whose teachers exhibit a lower level of professional development, and (2) if any specific aspects of teachers' professional development were related to a significantly greater amount of…