Discusses components of children's motivation to read and learn. Presents several factors that influence student goal orientation and foster interest. Suggests that teachers emphasize learning goals instead of performance goals, ensure that children have the competence to carry out chosen literacy activities, and provide support for social…

Discusses influence of school context on effective schooling, based on observations at four Australian high schools. Generic school improvement characteristics and processes assume different meanings in practice; these meanings are shaped by school's response to particular circumstances and environmental challenges. Response has implications for…

Examines the relationship between two Chapter I teachers' reader-based beliefs about reading and their instructional decision making that took place as they planned instruction and during actual teaching episodes. Finds that participants' beliefs affected their decision making but that other factors also influenced their instructional practices.…

Studies the currently influential theories about the nature and development of the child. Questions whether these theories usefully inform educational work with specific children in particular locations. Considers how these theories affect writing instruction for children and criticizes their effects on real children. (HB)

Addresses the public presence of communication study on university campuses. Argues that communication researchers lack a clear vision about the field, which is fractured into subfields intent on internal debates rather than the public responsibility of its scholars. Suggests that communication scholars offer inchoate curricula for communication…

Cognitive science lessons that should be applied to workplace learning include the following: (1) learning is embedded in individual experiences; (2) learning is most effective in context; (3) collaboration enhances learning; (4) learners continuously create knowledge; and (5) learners need to recognize and question tacit assumptions. (SK)

Science education is not exempt from the general criticism that research has had little effect on classroom practice. Argues that teachers do not reject research about practice, they ignore it. Contains 46 references. (DDR)

The five articles of this sourcebook, organized around the five-component framework for evaluation described by W. Shadish, T. Cook, and L. Leviton (1991), present a new theory of realist evaluation that captures the sensemaking contributions of postpositivism and the sensitivity to values from the constructivist traditions. (SLD)

Asserts that the work of early childhood educators in most European countries has been informed by theory and research underpinned by developmental psychology, and that the recent questioning of this discipline is healthy. Calls on early childhood educators to problematize assumptions derived from developmental psychology and search for new…

Presents a format for assisting educators in translating educational research into classroom interventions. Steps include identifying the problem, seeking a variety of sources, reviewing information, selecting primary sources, distinguishing between theory and opinion, reviewing the parts of a research article, and translating the research into…

Describes how the author, a broadcasting educator, worked as a summer intern at a professional TV station in order to keep his instruction current, and to keep up on the latest stylistic and technological changes in the business. Discusses the benefits of doing so, and notes some useful information learned. (SR)

Administrators must research diverse scheduling alternatives and their effects and requirements. Successfully modifying school time boils down to a six-step recipe: believing in improvement-directed change, involving all key stakeholders, selecting the appropriate schedule, developing clear expectations, bridging the theory-practice gap, and…

Ordinary, daily teaching experiences form the essence of teachers' practice. Using a guide to reflect on those experiences, either individually or with colleagues, is a step toward self-improvement. The Guided Reflection Protocol helps teachers examine what happened, why it happened, possible meanings, and implications for practice. (MLH)

Explores the relationship between subject matter and secondary science teacher identity, or sense of self. Develops a multidimensional model of identity and discusses the role of subject matter in the teachers' descriptions of who they are. Contains 30 references. (DDR)

Focuses on the educational theories and practices of John Dewey and their reception in England between 1895 and 1939. Adopting Quentin Skinner's approach to the definition of influence, prevailing accounts of Dewey's impact on the English educational system are found to be misleading. Presents an alternative account which minimizes Dewey's role.…