A year-long ethnographic case study was conducted primarily to investigate the developmental nature of children's spontaneous grouping activities in an elementary school setting. Participant observation and related methods were conducted for two days a week (on average) in a small, traditional parochial school located in a lower-class integrated…

This is an evaluation of a Title VII Bilingual Program conducted at a New York City High School in 1979-80. The report contains information on the program goals and objectives, the school site, and the student characteristics. Aspects of the instructional component discussed include programming, mainstreaming, and program funding.…

This paper presents a study of the organization of 60 junior school classrooms in Great Britain. The study was conducted to examine changes occurring as a result of the move towards comprehensive secondary education in Britain and as a result of the recommendations of the Plowden Committee for more individualized instruction at the primary level.…

Considerable research has been done relating measures of teacher personality or attitudes to classroom behaviors, pupil achievement, and pupil attitudes. The major purpose of these studies has been to identify patterns of classroom behaviors, attitudes, concerns, and conceptual processes which characterize teachers. Fifty-one junior high teachers…

Desegregation of the schools in the Berkeley Unified School District has taken place in two stages, each stage reflecting years of political struggles and endless meetings. In 1968, the 12 elementary schools were divided into K-3 and 4-6 schools in four residential zones with approximately 3500 elementary children who live beyond walking distance…

This paper contains the three sets of interviews (the Children's Interview, the Parent's Interview, and the Teacher's Interview) used to describe and evaluate the classroom learning environments in the New School's Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) during 1971-72. The purpose of these interviews is to systematically study variations in the…

The Problem Panel Project is an instructor-developed, one-semester course in contemporary problems. Based on the inquiry approach, the course is structured for independent research and group work and requires no traditionally-structured daily lesson plans. The course is divided into six procedural points. First, students decide which contemporary…

This report describes an observational study of one family-grouped classroom, a system in which elementary school children remain with the same teacher for two or more years. The class was composed of junior kindergarten, senior kindergarten, and grade 1 pupils. Each child was observed over a period of one year. A detailed observation schedule,…

The 111th Street School is successfully educating black students K-6 in inner-city Los Angeles. The key to the program's success is a form of organization designed to functionally support an ungraded system of learning centers devoted to attainment of specific educational objectives. Two Directories, this for the classroom teacher and a separate…

It is useful to think of teachers and students in primary classrooms as a family, where flexibility and meeting individual needs are essential. These "families" should represent all primary age groups. This guide describes how to implement multi-age and multi-ability primary programs in Kentucky schools based on the requirements of the…

This paper explores both the benefits and the difficulties of using the Project Approach in part-time early childhood education programs. Teachers of 3 different types of part-time programs share their experiences 1 year after taking a one-credit course in the Project Approach. The teachers' responses are organized by topic as follows: (1)…

Multilevel foreign language classes are viewed as a challenge that can be met by a careful consideration of wise materials and equipment selection, group dynamics, individualized instruction, and curricular reorganization. (JB)

Describes an American fourth grade classroom from the perspective of a doctoral student from the People's Republic of China. Notes greater equality among student, teacher, and textbook in the American classroom than in the hierarchical Chinese educational system. Observes that, in their writing efforts, the American students display both…

Reports on a three-year ethnographic study of the visual arts curriculum in three elementary schools. Finds three distinct orientations: (1) the rote, teacher-centered orientation; (2) the open-ended, student-centered orientation; and (3) the higher order, cognitive orientation. (CFR)

The principal of one urban New Jersey middle school chose to deal with a long history of student behavior and discipline problems by making every class single sex. The change helped curb classroom distractions, reduced discipline problems, and restored a sense of order. (SM)