Inference, or decision making, is seen in curriculum documents as the final step in a statistical investigation. For a formal statistical enquiry this may be associated with sophisticated tests involving probability distributions. For young students without the mathematical background to perform such tests, it is still possible to draw informal inferences based on data of various sorts, for example by comparing two graphical representations. In doing so it is important to be able to state the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Inferences, Probability, Prediction, Decision Making, Statistical Analysis,...
This research focuses on teacher instructional and curricular practices in gifted students' experiences in Islamic schools in the United States. Surveys were administered at private, full-time Islamic elementary schools to determine the extent to which differentiation practices for meeting the needs of gifted students and the integration of Islamic values were employed. Findings suggest that Islamic schools in the United States have limited programs for gifted students. A majority of teachers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Educational Strategies, Academically Gifted, Individualized Instruction, Teaching...
Seeking information about preconceived notions of the educational needs of children who are gifted, we asked 285 undergraduates in prerequisite classes for teacher education to complete questionnaires. Topics addressed included the need for special services for children who are gifted, perceptions of forms of service delivery in elementary schools, and egalitarian versus elitist issues in gifted education. Preferences among our respondents fell in favor of services carried out in general...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Misconceptions, Educational Needs, Elementary School Students, Academically Gifted,...
This study used a systems perspective to determine whether differences exist between classrooms of expert (n=35) and novice (n=35) teachers on the cohesion, communication, and flexibility dimensions of the Classroom Systems Observation Scale (CSOS). A 50-minute observation using the CSOS was conducted in elementary school classrooms in New York State. The study found classrooms of expert teachers had statistically higher levels of classroom communication and flexibility than classrooms of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Experience, Classroom Communication, Classroom Environment, Beginning...
This study examined activities used during elementary school math and reading instruction. Teachers reported their use of cooperative, competitive, and individual activities in math and reading, their subjective evaluations of teaching each subject, and their level of focus on promoting students' interests. Analyses indicated that teachers used more competitive activities in math than reading. Additionally, individual math activities increased across grades whereas individual reading activities...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teaching Methods, Reading Instruction, Learning Activities, Class Activities,...
In this article, I offer a reading of the psychoanalytic concept of identification, with specific attention to its meaning in the context of children's historical learning. In educational contexts, it is not identification but historical empathy that teachers and researchers typically regard as holding pedagogical status. Using examples from my visit to "Historica's" 2004 Heritage Fair, I argue that identification is important for the way it marks the young subject's ambivalent entry...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Identification (Psychology), History Instruction, Consciousness Raising, Cultural...
Parents of children in a large primary school in New South Wales were asked questions related to their attitudes towards and beliefs about composite (multigrade) classes. Parental concerns about composite classes are commonly reported as negative and this study confirmed this concern. Issues identified as causing concern for parents were a belief that some grades and some children are more suited than others to being part of a composite class, position in the class (younger or older grade),...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Parent Attitudes, Role Models, Multigraded Classes, Elementary...
A partnership project was developed in which parents volunteered to support teachers in training years 1-3 children in computer skills at a primary school in a small, low socio-economic community. This article identifies the ways teachers and the "tutors" (as the volunteers were called) understood the value of the project. "Being a teacher" and "being a volunteer" were structured by different forms of social engagement, which in turn influenced the ways individuals...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Volunteers, Partnerships in Education, Computer Literacy, Elementary School Students,...
This study investigated teachers' knowledge of, and capacity to identify resilience, in 92 primary school children in Far North Queensland. It was found that although teachers' knowledge of resilience was apparently strong, and they reported a significant level of confidence in their ability to assist children in building resilience, their capacity to identify levels of resilience in their students was lacking. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research. (Contains 3 tables.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Teachers, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Knowledge Level, Children,...
The results of a survey on teachers' perceptions regarding Florida's test-based accountability program raised serious doubts about whether testing has precipitated positive outcomes in upper-elementary students' learning. Nearly all of the 708 Florida upper-elementary teachers who completed the survey reported that testing had a negative effect or no effect on student learning in reading, writing, and mathematics. Factors associated with students' decrease in learning are discussed and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Testing, Accountability, Teacher Surveys, Teacher Attitudes, Outcomes of Education,...
When students learn about history in elementary schools across the United States, they take tests and write essays explaining what happened in the past. It is not clear, however, that students necessarily "think about" history. Yet if students know dates and names, but not the meanings of events or how those events connect to other events, they have only learned a small portion of the story. Teachers, therefore, need to help students think about history. To think about history is to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, United States History, Teacher Role, Grade 5, Historians, Elementary School Students,...
This study evaluated the viability of using a self-report instrument to assess separately the positive form and negative form of perfectionism among 317 Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong. These students tended to endorse positive perfectionism more than negative perfectionism. Positive and negative perfectionism were also found to relate differentially to life satisfaction and positive affect, as well as negative affect--the three components of subjective well-being. Although positive and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Academically Gifted, Life Satisfaction, Self Efficacy, Foreign Countries, Personality...
A Chinese version of the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale was developed to find out the subjective PSSM of Mainland immigrant and local Hong Kong students. Five schools participated with 295 boys and 252 girls from Primary years 4, 5, and 6 taking part. Among those, 264 students were local Hong Kong students, while 283 were Mainland immigrant students who claimed that they had lived in Hong Kong for 7 years or less. The Chinese version of the PSSM scale was found to be...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Measures (Individuals), Immigrants, Chinese, School Psychology,...
This study introduces three growth modeling techniques: latent growth modeling (LGM), hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), and longitudinal profile analysis via multidimensional scaling (LPAMS). It compares the multilevel growth parameter estimates and potential predictor effects obtained using LGM, HLM, and LPAMS. The purpose of this multilevel growth analysis is to alert applied researchers to selected analytical issues that are required for consideration in decisions to apply one of these...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Multidimensional Scaling, Academic Achievement, Structural Equation Models, Causal...
This study implemented a multiplication program based on systematic practice, aimed at improving children's recall of basic multiplication facts. Four Year 5 classes were recruited to participate in the study. Two classes practised multiplication facts using pencil and paper worksheets and another two classes practised on computers. Eleven practice sessions (each of 15 minutes duration) were conducted over a four week period. Both groups increased their recall of basic multiplication facts and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Mathematics Instruction, Multiplication, Mathematics Skills, Recall (Psychology),...
This article summarizes an interview-based investigation of Puerto Rican circular migrant students (CMSs) between Puerto Rico and the Northeastern United States. The goals of the study were (1) to identify the perceptions of Puerto Rican CMSs related to the reasons for migration (M) and circular migration (CM), and (2) to identify their perceptions of how CM affects their social and academic lives. The study was binational in scope, involving CMSs from Puerto Rico as well as from the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Migrants, Migration, Puerto Ricans, Interviews, Middle School Students, Elementary...
We conducted an experimental analysis of children's relative problem-completion rates across two workstations under conditions of equal (Experiment 1) and unequal (Experiment 2) problem difficulty. Results were described using the generalized matching equation and were evaluated for degree of schedule versus stimulus control. Experiment 1 involved a symmetrical choice arrangement in which the children could earn points exchangeable for rewards contingent on correct math problem completion....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Behavior, Elementary School Students, Assignments, Workstations, Rewards,...
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a tobacco education curriculum in increasing knowledge about tobacco, attitudes toward tobacco use, and intentions to use tobacco among elementary school children. A two-stage cluster sample was used to select a representative sample of 97 schools. Forty-nine schools were in the evaluation group and 48 schools were in the comparison group. One thousand seven hundred and forty-six third grade students participated in the study. The results indicate a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Smoking, Scores, Program Effectiveness, Prevention,...
This paper argues the importance of examining the collective dimension of masculinities in the early school years through a description of a study into children's (young males') peer group relations. Specifically, the paper attends to the significance of the peer group in shaping behaviour, and in particular exaggerated "masculine" behaviours, and illuminates the inadequacies of conventional teacher practices that individualise and pathologise group behaviours. The nature and dynamics...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Peer Groups, Males, Masculinity, Student Behavior, Elementary School Students, Peer...
This study is set in an elementary school located in a rural, Appalachian area and considers the reasons that teachers attribute to student success on state writing assessments as well as to what reasons they attribute their students' lack of success in moving beyond an average ranking. In considering these reasons, patterns emerge in the data that prove intriguing. For example, one pattern indicates that teachers link the lack of student success to aspects beyond their control. These aspects...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Family Life, Academic Achievement, Teaching Methods, Rural Schools, Elementary School...
This study examines the attitudes of 1008 students from rural New Mexico in elementary and middle schools from ages 9 through 14. A large decrease in science attitudes between the ages of 11 and 12 years, corresponding with the move from elementary to middle school was observed. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, Middle School Students, Elementary School Students, Attitude Change, Student...
This study investigated the relationship between family history, sedentary behaviors, and childhood risk for type 2 diabetes. Participants were 480 students attending schools on or near an American Indian reservation. Data were collected through survey and BMI measurement. Children who frequently watched television or played video games did not significantly differ in BMI compared to peers. However, children with a parental history of diabetes had significantly higher BMIs than children...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Risk, Video Games, American Indians, Diabetes, Genetics, Surveys, Body Weight,...
Statistics from a number of surveys indicate there is a high rate of economic and financial illiteracy in the United States. Several other studies have pointed out that problems related to the widespread lack of economic and financial understanding have serious consequences on the future economic well-being of many citizens. Financial and economic illiteracy may be traced to a lack of schooling in basic economic and financial principles. This article discusses an evaluation of achievement...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Decision Making, Money Management, Illiteracy, Surveys, Well Being, Achievement...
The current study is a replication of the author's unpublished dissertation conducted almost twenty years previously in a public school in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Census 2000 indicated a growing cultural diversity in populations entering the Scranton area, however, it continued to show strong evidence of White Ethnic groups. As with the original study, the purpose of the replicated study was to determine White Ethnic children's need for multiethnic education as it was perceived by their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Ethnicity, Public Schools, Multicultural Education, Cultural Pluralism, White...
Although the field of gifted education generally recognizes the foundational work of Lewis Terman, rarely does one stop to examine the details of his longitudinal study and their connection to present-day gifted education. This article reexamines the beginnings of Terman's longitudinal study with a focus on elementary-school-aged children. Although the longitudinal study of gifted children was a defining feature of Terman's career, so too, was his work with intelligence tests. However, a strict...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Intelligence Quotient, Academically Gifted, Intelligence...
This study explored the differences in the rated social skills of elementary-aged students at-risk for emotional/behavioural disorders (E/BD) based on severity of academic difficulties. Teachers nominated students at-risk for E/BD who were classified into four groups of academic difficulty based on the Wide Range Achievement Test-3. Students, parents, and teachers completed the Social Skills Rating System. Teachers' ratings indicated that academic strengths did not significantly affect...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Achievement Tests, Academic Achievement, Teacher Attitudes, Correlation, Self...
Classroom talk is regarded as essential in engaging and developing student understandings in the domain of mathematics. The processes of classroom talk may occur in quite different ways, ways that shape particular opportunities for learning mathematics. Little is known about how the talk produced in innovative approaches to education mediates the teaching/learning process and promotes student engagement in the practices of mathematics. Situated within a larger study that employed multiple forms...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Classroom Communication, Mathematics Instruction, Teaching Methods, Discussion...
Elementary students perceive scientists in stereotypical ways. This study examined the influence of historical, nonfiction trade books on children's images of scientists. Of the 13 self-contained third grade classrooms (n = 156), six randomly assigned teachers were instructed to read one trade book each week for six weeks to supplement their modular/kit-based instruction (n = 72). The other seven classrooms received only modular/kit-based instruction (n = 84). In the evaluation of their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Childrens Literature, Nonfiction, Books, Grade 3, Elementary School Students, Student...
The integration of mathematics and science is a recommended pedagogical strategy made by major reform-based documents. The goal is to enhance learner understandings by recognizing the relationships between the two disciplines. Documented attempts to systematically enact this initiative in teacher preparation remain uncommon. As a result, an elementary science methods course instructor in collaboration with two mathematics education researchers conducted a practitioner-research study that...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Science, Methods Courses, Preservice Teacher Education,...
Although there is a considerable emphasis on inquiry-based, active learning in standards documents, curriculum documents, and textbooks, there exists a great deal of debate regarding the effectiveness of specific curricular and instructional approaches, including kit-based instruction. This study examines the efficacy of science kits in improving content knowledge. The method used involved treatment and comparison groups composed of 2,299 elementary school students in third, fourth, and fifth...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Textbooks, Active Learning, Teaching Methods, Elementary...
In this paper, I describe the action research I conducted in my third-grade science classrooms over the course of two years. In order to gain an understanding of my third-grade students' ideas about animal adaptations and how the teaching of a unit on crayfish influenced these ideas, I used clinical interviews, observations, and written assessments. I did this research while working as a science resource teacher in a suburban elementary school. The first year, I piloted the unit myself and then...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Animals, Action Research, Science Curriculum, Concept Formation, Grade 3, Elementary...
The purpose of this study is to explore elementary students' views of (NOS) to see how well they align with national reform recommendations (AAAS, 1993; NRC, 1996). Using an open-ended questionnaire coupled with one-on-one interviews of fourth-grade students conducted at the end of the school year, the researchers explored students' understandings of the distinction between observation and inference, the creative and imaginative nature of science, and the tentative yet reliable nature of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Scientific Principles, Researchers, Elementary School Students, Student Attitudes,...
Methods courses in teacher education programs have made a transition in the last years toward field-based experiences as part of the preparation for teaching science in the elementary school. However, little conclusive evidence exists as to any desirable influence field experiences are having on science teaching attitudes and learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the process, discuss the effectiveness and impacts, and highlight the implications of an extended field...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Methods Courses, Field Experience...
Teachers are often unaware that bilingual students often switch between their languages when doing mathematics. Little research has been undertaken into this phenomenon. Results are reported here from a study of language switching by sixteen Year 4/5 Iranian bilingual students as they solved mathematical problems in an interview situation. Reasons given for switching between English and their L1 language (Persian or Farsi) were the difficulty of the problem, familiarity with particular numbers...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Immigrants, Grade 4, Grade 5, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students,...
This article focuses on a group of elementary students and their mathematics experiences in two classes. The two classes featured mathematics lessons that were organised in contrasting ways. The purpose of this article is to examine students' views of their experiences in these different mathematics classes. Through a focus on identity and competence, the analysis presents insights in relation to how students make sense and talk about what competence entailed in the different classes of which...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Attitudes, Mathematics Instruction, Elementary School Students, Elementary...
This study compares 3rd-grade elementary students' gain and retention of science vocabulary over time in two different classes--"connected science instruction" versus "direct instruction." Data analysis yielded that students who received connected science instruction showed less gain in science knowledge in the short term compared to students who received direct instruction. On the other hand, the growth curve demonstrated a lower rate of loss of science knowledge among...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Grade 3, Elementary School Students, Retention...
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a case study approach on students' achievement and attitudes towards viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protista. Fifth-grade students (N = 88) from two different classes were involved in the study. One intact class was assigned as the experimental group, whereas the other intact class was assigned as the comparison group. The comparison group students received their instruction by traditional teaching, whereas the experimental group...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Biological Sciences, Grade 5, Case Method (Teaching Technique), Elementary School...
This study describes the improvement in 20 sixth grades students' reasoning abilities in the context of structured or semi-structured inquiries conducted during an after-school science club. The findings shed light on the improvement in student reasoning and on the specific areas of student difficulties. Overall reasoning skills showed more or less continuous improvement; whereas, the warrants changed in a non-linear pattern--like waves--with crests of improvement and troughs of setbacks. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Concept Formation, Elementary School Students, Grade 6, Thinking Skills, After School...
This Ugandan-based study examined how visual modes of communication provide insights into girls' perceptions of literacy, and open broader dialogues on literacy, women, and development. Twenty-nine primary school girls used drawing and 15 secondary school girls used photography to depict local literacy practices in relation to their own lives and experiences. The images they captured provide a window on the interface between local and global literacy practices, and the "freedoms"...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Photography, Females, Visual Perception, Rural Areas, Foreign Countries,...
It is not unusual for an instructional model or approach to be misinterpreted in practice. Madeline Hunter bemoaned the way her Mastery Teaching approach was reduced to a seven step lesson plan. Although the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model of sheltered instruction for English language learners (ELLs) was developed fairly recently (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2000), it has already been reported implemented in unintended ways. The SIOP Model is an instructional framework...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Science, English (Second Language), Teaching Methods, Lesson Plans,...
In this article, the authors present a case study of preservice teachers engaged in service-learning in an after-school program while concurrently enrolled in science and language arts methods courses. Two interdisciplinary education faculty worked collaboratively to connect language arts and science methods content with service-learning experiences. Preservice teachers provided a service to elementary school students by developing and teaching integrated, inquiry-based lessons. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teachers, Methods Courses, Language Arts, After School Programs, Service...
Although rates of childhood obesity among the general population are alarmingly high, they are higher still in ethnic minority and low-income communities. The disparities pose a major challenge for policymakers and practitioners planning strategies for obesity prevention. In this article Shiriki Kumanyika and Sonya Grier summarize differences in childhood obesity prevalence by race and ethnicity and by socioeconomic status. They show how various environmental factors can have larger effects on...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Neighborhoods, Television Viewing, Obesity, Physical Activities, Income, Prevention,...
Contemporary American culture has taken on protecting children from the consequences of their own actions so much that parents are raising children for whom being responsible for one's own actions and one's own work is anathema to "good parenting." Unlike the culture of the past, many parents spend hours on end with their children under the guise of "helping them" with their homework. Many parents complain about the time spent doing homework with their children, and the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Homework, Federal Legislation, Academic Persistence, Academic Achievement, Student...
Background: Increasing physical activity in youth is a recommended approach to curbing the childhood obesity epidemic. One way to help increase children's daily activity is to promote active transportation to and from school (ATS). Purpose: The purpose of this case study was to explore parental perception of, and participation in, ATS initiatives. Methods: This study is part of a larger project on ATS initiatives conducted by the Physical Activity Policy Research Network. Sixty-nine key...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Community Benefits, Obesity, School Activities, Health Education, Physical...
With the recent proliferation of college service-learning programs and tutoring programs, college students have more opportunities to serve as tutors in elementary schools than ever before. A number of reports have appeared in the research literature describing tutoring programs that could serve as models for tutoring initiatives. Based on this research, the authors developed a service-learning tutoring program for their undergraduate prospective teachers designed to provide support for them in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Program Effectiveness, Tutors, Elementary School...
Professional Development Schools (PDS) have become a widely used vehicle for the educational and professional development of both preservice and in-service teachers. Three key stakeholders are generally identified in the research about PDS--preservice teachers, experienced teachers, and K-12 students. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of preservice teachers on the students in their assigned practicum classrooms. An experimental design was used to study the student...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Student Teachers, Teacher Influence, Professional Development Schools, Outcomes of...
The purpose of the study is to examine teachers' perceptions of the Open Court language program. Open Court is published by McGraw Hill and has been approved by the "No Child Left Behind Act" as an appropriate research-based reading program. The Open Court program was adopted as part of the efforts to provide all elementary school students in California the English Language competence needed to succeed academically and socially. This study specifically attempts to examine teacher...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Federal Legislation, Reading Programs, Program...
This qualitative study examines how Hmong parents and professional staff at one elementary school perceive home-school relations and how they construct racial and ethnic identities of Hmong children. The study was conducted at a Midwestern elementary school where the Hmong student population is over 50% and where five Hmong staff members are employed (3 teachers, 2 aide/translators). Findings indicate differing opinions among parents and school staff in the areas of understanding Hmong culture,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Family School Relationship, Hmong People, Asian Americans, Ethnicity, Racial...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the smoking habits of Greek elementary school students, their attitudes towards smoking, and their perceptions of the health consequences of tobacco use. Data were obtained from 1,092 elementary school students who completed a 24-item questionnaire designed for this study. Results indicated more older students smoked than younger ones and boys significantly outnumbering girls. Most of the students believed that people smoke for pleasure and...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Student Attitudes, Smoking, Negative Attitudes, Health...
This paper describes a health education program entitled "Young Consumer" project, financed by the European Union and implemented by the Cyprus Consumer Association between March and June 2004. The aim of the project was to promote a healthy lifestyle among a group of Cypriot primary school pupils (11-12 years old). Participants were asked to create video "advertisements" to promote healthy lifestyles. The advertisements challenged stereotypical perceptions of "healthy...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Health Education, Health Promotion, Foreign Countries, Life Style, Health Behavior,...