This paper on multiage classrooms provides first steps toward a systemic understanding of the defining qualities of multiage classrooms and, from teachers' perspectives, the benefits of such classrooms for students, teachers, and parents. The multiage classroom movement in elementary schools is viewed as not just restructuring, but also as the…

This paper reports on a project aimed at improving academic achievement at a predominantly Latino elementary school in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Project activities were guided by a school change model that helped provide a coherent, sustained focus over a period of several years. The model suggests four elements that can be used to…

This curriculum guide for vocational education teachers and school guidance counselors focuses on changing attitudes toward integrating basic skills instruction into their work. Introductory materials include a project overview, mission and goals of the curriculum, belief statements, curriculum format, information on preparation and time issues,…

This study explored beliefs, self-reported practices, and professional development needs of three mainstream classroom teachers with language-minority students. Case histories of the teachers were composed from transcripts of interviews, classroom observation, and entries from teacher and observer journals. Analysis reveals that: (1) teacher…

Instruction should emphasize generic skills as much as it does occupational or domain-specific skills. Generic skills enable people to: (1) cooperate and communicate for group problem solving; (2) identify and define problems in complex environments; (3) seek, acquire, and synthesize new information; and (4) adapt to changes in the problem-solving…

This discussion of identification and instructional needs of minority gifted or talented (G/T) children in the multiethnic classroom looks at a variety of issues, including teacher expectations, native or dominant language and its effect on the results of assessment, acculturation and attitudes toward mainstream society, and learning styles. Eight…

This study examines how becoming a parent affects the lives of young men and women during the 7-year period following their graduation from high school. The study is based on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS), a large panel study of over 22,000 high school seniors who were the subjects of four…

Two fifth grade classrooms representing the extremes of classrooms where students perceived high and low differential teacher treatment were studied to obtain a more in-depth picture of the nature of classrooms that are expected to have contrasting effects on students' expectations and self-evaluations, and to begin to explore a model of classroom…

As new technologies become less expensive, provide greater access to various forms of multimedia, and are integrated into all aspects of everyday life, online learning environments are becoming more prevalent. Online education, as experienced through course management systems, is being heralded as meeting the needs of students' lifestyles by…

The child's conceptual field is expanded from his world of the classroom and family to the school as a whole in this teacher's guide to a bilingual social studies unit. Instructional and assessment activities for kits 9 through 12, each requiring up to three weeks, are contained in this Spanish-English guide. For each activity, its focus,…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

Randolph County Vocational Technical Center, Elkins, West Virginia, received a grant in 1997 for a project that was part of the High Schools That Work (HSTW) initiative to improve academic skills of career-bound students. The superintendent and faculty knew that improving achievement meant reaching out to the three home high schools to bring them…

This report describes an evaluation study of the Houston Annenberg Challenge, which was a school reform initiative designed to improve the quality of Houston's diverse urban schools by promoting an academically rich and purposeful education for all students. The study examined academic achievement, comparing Annenberg schools with other schools in…

This study sought to better understand the academic and social aspirations of undergraduate women in Guam and Japan. A survey question examined whether significant differences existed between Guamanian and Japanese undergraduate women in status aspirations and occupational ethics and in their life course selection. The questionnaire's five…

Based on sociological studies, advocates greater spiritual/intellectual development of agricultural-institute students in the USSR. Contends students who return to rural areas as agricultural specialists need training to become civic-minded intellectuals to revitalize rural culture and spark economic development. (CH)