The most effective teachers have the fewest discipline problems. Instead of enlisting professional discipline gurus, principals should heed proponents of effective teaching and mastery learning. When the learning is meaningful, the motivation is provided, and the teaching is appropriate, behavior problems seldom occur. Includes seven references.…

Reports on a study designed to determine whether academic achievement of students taught in the cooperative group mastery mode would be different from the achievement of students who learn in an individualized method and to determine whether gains or losses would be seen in nonacademic outcomes such as social relations, self-esteem, and classroom…

An interview with the director of the recently established International Center on Outcome-Based Restructuring explains that outcome-based education focuses on defining, pursuing, and ensuring success with the same high-level outcomes for all students. (MLF)

One source of differences between the highest and lowest achieving children is the degree of self-regulated learning that occurs. High achievers engage in goal setting, planning, questioning, and other behaviors. By observing how children approach tasks and resisting the urge to "think for" less self-directed learners, teachers can help…

Learning is not a spectator sport but requires active learners who integrate new experiences into existing cognitive structures. Principals can help students develop self-responsibility by initiating discussions on this topic, identifying and sharing multiple learning resources for student use, and modeling uses of assignments based on mastery…

Discusses three trends in teacher education: mastery learning; strategic teaching; and narrative awakening, analyzing them by deconstructing their discourse and looking for inner contradictions. The article explains how mass educational concepts, even positive ones, can stifle individual growth, responsibility, and difference, and it discusses the…

Presents a computerized bridging course in mathematics that was developed as part of an academic support program. Discusses the didactical approach of the system--criterion-referenced or mastery learning--in which student progress depends strictly on proven mastery of the concepts. (Author/ASK)

Background: There is evidence that an entity view of ability (where ability is viewed as a fixed entity that cannot be changed) is linked with social comparison goals and poor performance. On the other hand, an incremental view of ability (where ability is viewed as an acquirable skill) is linked with a mastery goal orientation and positive…

Applying concepts from lower grades, the author applies whole-group differentiation concepts to middle and high school, showing teachers how it is possible to differentiate within the whole-group setting in which many educators are comfortable. By allowing everyone to participate in the same activities at different levels of complexity or mastery,…

A single-subject reversal design with counterbalanced phases across two classrooms was used to measure the effects of peer tutoring on the retention and generalization of spelling words in two third-grade general education classrooms. The results revealed that the mean pretest-posttest gain scores during all the peer tutoring phases of the two…

When a teacher plans instruction, he has in mind some prototypical students or group: someone like himself or some group similar to his in ability. With this conception of the prototypical students or group, he teaches only one-third of students to reach a level of achievement. At the end of semester, most teachers give their grades, generally…

This study looked at 30 primary aged children between 10 and 11 years old who were visiting the Eden Project, Cornwall and participating in workshops led and designed by the Eden Education Officers. The study attempted to directly test the effects of the Education Officers' workshops on children's learning. Personal meaning mapping, a…

For 10 years or more, teachers at the City Colleges of Chicago have used mastery learning, a teaching technique that focuses on the use of a corrective/feedback process to improve student learning. Early studies of mastery learning at the colleges comparing student grades in mastery learning classes to control classes in which these techniques…

The effect of mastery learning procedures on achievement and students' attributions for learning outcomes was studied with undergraduates enrolled in a general education course at a large state university. Most of the students were juniors and all had met selective admission requirements. It was hypothesized that mastery learning would result in…

This paper describes an exploratory study designed to investigate the relation between selected teacher perceptions past research has shown to be shared by highly effective teachers, and teacher attitudes toward the implementation of new instructional practices. Data were gathered through a questionnaire administered to 120 elementary and…