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This study was an investigation of the effects of a Family Mathematics Workshop on African American students' mathematics achievement and parent-child interaction with mathematics homework. A one way analysis of variance and the SPSS for MS Windows release 6.1 were used to test the null hypothesis. The study is based on Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres which proposes that when the school and family unite in a partnership for children, their overlapping spheres of influence foster a positive attitude about mathematics at home that helps children learn mathematics at school. The researcher found no significant difference between the posttest scores of the controlled and experimental groups. Further, there was no significant difference found in parent/child interaction of the experimental group with mathematics homework before and after the workshop. However, positive responses indicated an increase in the number of times per week parents played mathematics games with their children; the degree of parents' understanding of the lessons and assignments presented in their children's present mathematics textbook; and the degree of confidence parents' have in their ability to help their children with mathematics homework. The conclusions drawn from the findings are that parental involvement in the educational process indicates positive impacts on students' achievement. This five session four-hour Family Mathematics study may have been too short to assess the impact of the Family Mathematics approach on these variables. A long term study is needed to assess the impact of the program on students' achievement. This study was also limited by having a sample size of only 20 fifth grade students in both the experimental and control groups.

<p> The dimensions of literacy development are deep and complex, marked by developmental stages, adult perceptions, and the varying needs of learners. Today&rsquo;s young adolescents benefit from literacy instruction that provides engaging and relevant instructional methods for authentic purposes and audiences beyond the academic assignment. This case study investigated authentic adolescent literacy within a suburban middle school learning environment. It explains how teacher mindset beliefs, literacy program models, professional learning, and the structures within a middle school influence the implementation of an authentic literacy program. This case study employed the concept of intellectual authenticity using the standards of authentic work as described by Newmann (1991) to consider the existence of authentic work within English language arts classrooms that were implementing a student-centered, process model approach for reading and writing instruction. It considered the existence of pillars of practice that support adult learning (Drago-Severson, 2004, 2009) to understand what adult learning structures supported literacy program implementation. Using data obtained from semi-structured interviews, observations, and an analysis of artifacts, this qualitative case study explored the connection between educator beliefs, literacy program models, adult learning supports, and structural variables of a middle school environment to inform a better understanding of the development of authentic literacy in young adolescents.</p>

This multiple case study examined one start-up and one conversion charter school in California. Eighty hours of classroom observations and thirteen teacher interviews were the basis for this descriptive comparative study. The research was guided by the following questions: (1) Do classrooms and school structures in these two charter schools appear different than traditional public schools; (2) Have teachers' methodologies changed since coming to teach at the charter school; (3) What are the similarities and differences between these two charter schools; and (4) Has teachers' autonomy changed since coming to a charter school? This study found that in comparison to teachers' previous position, (1) Teachers had not changed how they taught; and (2) Most teachers had the same amount of classroom autonomy. Additionally: (3) Teachers felt their primary motivation for innovating within their classroom was themselves, their time, and their energy; (4) Teachers did not think teaching in a charter school affected their innovativeness; (5) Teachers did not mention autonomy as a factor influencing their classroom innovativeness; (6) Teachers believed they had more autonomy regarding hiring and budgeting decisions; (7) There were no significant differences in the innovativeness between the teachers of the start-up or conversion schools; the conversion school had the most and the least innovative teachers; (8) The start-up charter school was slightly more innovative overall than the conversion charter school; (9) The two charter schools had more in common than they had differences; (10) New consensus-based, teacher-led decision-making at both schools intensified the micro-politics and burdens placed upon teachers' time, impacting their classroom performance. Unique to the start-up: (11) New operational paradigms required teachers to take on additional support services resulting in less planning time, teachers' feeling overwhelmed, and concern with keeping staff; (12) Parents and students influenced teachers to change back to less innovative practices; and (13) A small campus, faculty, and number of students appeared to create a family-like atmosphere. Based on the findings of this study, two underpinnings of the charter school movement, creating innovative classrooms and increasing teacher autonomy behind the classroom doors were problematic at these charter schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine a first grade teacher's personal theory about curriculum, and explore the ways in which this theory manifested itself about the content and the curriculum enactment process in a classroom context. Special attention was paid to analyze Sarah's (the teacher) classroom curriculum components in order to develop a theoretical model to describe Sarah's enactment theory of the curriculum in her context as a whole language teacher. The primary mode for conducting this study was classroom observations and in-depth teacher interviews. Formal curriculum standards, lesson plans, and reflective journals were used as supplementary resources for the primary data in this study. The analysis of the data suggested that this teacher had a well-developed theory about the content of her classroom curriculum that she used to set up the stage for enacting the curriculum at the classroom level. The curriculum enactment was carried out in the forms of stories, songs, group work activities, and direct teaching as structured events. In addition, Sarah used her rhythmic knowledge to process the curriculum as different segments across the classroom day. Moreover, Sarah enacted the curriculum through organizing students in different forms of communities to establish a culture for learning. The three major implications of this study are: that prospective teachers need to understand curriculum enactment as structured events, to use rhythms to help students make sense of their classroom time and predict the flow of classroom activities, and to establish a culture of learning in which students work as partners in the enacting process of classroom curriculum. Further research is needed to study the cognitive and social impacts of classroom tasks, conduct studies about curriculum enactment in different learning settings, or examine the impact of teachers' daily agenda on curriculum enactment in their context.

<p> This qualitative study explored the strategies that teachers use to implement virtual literature circles in middle and high school classes and university Reading programs. Through questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis, several strategies that support student learning were identified, including guided questions, rubrics with clear expectations, and targeted feedback. Making the process student-centered rather than teacher-centered, using appropriate platforms with small groups, and including a face-to-face component also supported student learning. </p><p> Additionally, an examination of teacher perceptions of benefits and challenges of virtual literature circles revealed more advantages than disadvantages. Benefits included improved writing, specificity, and critical thinking; connections to other subject matter; peer interactions; ease of differentiation; technology integration; flexibility; teacher collaboration; engagement; and student-centered practice. Challenges included technology access issues and glitches, student apathy, superficial student responses, and time issues.</p>

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No description available.

No description available.