The purpose of my study was to explore and investigate how children respond to the use of a new learning center, which is focused on the concept of multiplication, and to the use of specifically designed learning games. The literature review presented supports the view that a structured approach to games, one where learners' tactics are specified and guided, does have a significant educational effect. This study was meant to be another test of the assumption that games are a valuable addition to our repertoire of methods for teaching and was based on the belief that games can generate enthusiasm and excitement; and students can become strongly motivated by the use of games. The study is significant because very few studies have dealt, empirically, with students "playing" educational games in the classroom. Through my in-depth study, I intended to find out what happens to students when they play; what they think; how they get involved in the game; and how an educational game, as part of a learning center, can be included in the classroom. Mainly, I would like to emphasize in my study the unique part played by the educational game in the curriculum. The effectiveness of the use of the new learning center, in terms of construction of personal knowledge, and construction of social knowledge, was demonstrated. Playing with the games appears to have increased the students' involvement in the process of social interaction which resulted in them creating a microcosm of society, and also creating their own knowledge of the concept of multiplication. The results also indicate that playing, as a part in the learning process, appears to have had a great impact on the students' academic performance, in terms of their math and social skills. This study has demonstrated that an inclusion of educational games can provide an important form of interaction needed in the classroom.

This study examined the academic progress of limited English proficient students who have been mainstreamed from the bilingual program. The study population consisted of thirty fourth grade students from the Hoboken, New Jersey School District who have previously participated in the bilingual program from Kindergarten to third grade. It included an analysis of identification process, their tenure in the bilingual program, and their present mainstream academic status. The study focused on the follow-up aspects (not often undertaken by bilingual programs) evaluating success and failure factors for mainstreamed bilingual students. Subjects examined included student achievement and assimilation, using a comparative base on non-bilingual program English-speaking students. Both reading and mathematics achievement data on the target population were analyzed for skill deficiencies using the Comprehensive Test for Basic Skills (CTBS) data base. A review of factors affecting students' progress was assessed via surveys of personnel who work with limited English proficient students. These interviews included parents, teachers, and administrators. Factors derived from these interviews, review of literature, and empirical observations combined to facilitate the development of a mainstreaming model. The mainstream model was designed to facilitate parents, teachers, and administrators with baseline data in organizing an effective mainstream criterion. The following are three major conclusions which were derived from this study: (1) Multiple criteria for entry and exiting bilingual students should allow for a more effective assessment of the limited English proficient students. (2) Program goals and objectives must be identified to maintain proper direction in the bilingual curriculum. (3) The development of a mainstream model.

The dissertation highlights the many deeply rooted problems elementary school teachers in Boston face in trying to be caring, effective teachers. A brief history and demographic information of the Boston Public Schools provide the context for extensive interviews with ten middle-aged, female teachers. The intellectual rationale is provided with an overview of classic theories of adult development but is most strongly grounded in feminist scholarship. The dissertation provides an analysis of how patriarchal patterns and sexist prejudice in society undermine the respect for teachers and strip them of power, and how these patterns and prejudices silence teachers' voices within the Boston Public Schools. By asking these teachers to tell their stories, the dissertation reveals some of the myriad educational and societal factors that influence life in the urban classroom. The voices of the teachers, the heart of the dissertation, provide an eloquent plea for taking elementary school teachers seriously and including them as vital partners in school improvement. The voices of the women are organized according to certain issues that kept surfacing in their interviews. These issues were: the influence of patriarchy, being middle-aged and experienced teachers and a list of teacher concerns, including, sexual abuse of children, over emphasis on testing, the changing role of the school, the imposition of a single basal reader, poverty, and school administration. The reader discovers the remarkable insight, stamina and courage of these teachers in their daily encounter with the societal evils that their children fall prey to. A phenomenological style of interviewing constitutes the methodology of this dissertation. This feminist analysis makes public the lived experience and private reflections of these women who have chosen careers in service to others, often called "women's work." They have long spoken in private; now their public voices beg to be heard and valued as a powerful source for reform of the schools.

The purpose of this study was to first identify and describe the literary response behaviors exhibited by pre-schoolers in a literature rich setting. Next, the study examined these response behaviors as indicative of the characteristics of theorist Michael Benton's 'secondary world' of literary response (1983) and of psychologist D. W. Winnicott's 'third area' of play (1971). Finally, the study considered the possibilities inherent in these secondary worlds for the creation and exploration of meaning on the part of pre-schoolers. This study utilized ethnographic methods of participant observation, in-depth interviewing, informal conversations, field notes and videotaping. Validity was established and checked through trianglization using the adults in the setting and two outside readers. The findings of this study are culture specific. This ethnographic study offers ways of thinking about, considering and discussing how young children use their experiences of interacting with books and responding to books to create meaning for their lives. Response behaviors were identified, described and organized into three general categories: (1) Individual/dyadic response behaviors involving one child/book(s), two children/book(s) and a child/adult/book(s), (2) Communal response behaviors involving several children/book(s) or several children/adult/book(s), and (3) Guided/directed response behaviors which always involved several children, an adult and book(s), and, in addition, had a specific goal or objective. Response behaviors in each of these categories covered a broad range of activities and formed an integral part of the living and learning experiences of the pre-schoolers in this day care setting. Both physically and humanly this setting was an organized and supportive environment which expected and encouraged interactions with and response to books. Within this setting, reliable and trustworthy relationships were formed which both allowed and encouraged the creation of secondary worlds. Such secondary worlds were intermediate between inner psychic reality and outer shared reality, were dependent upon individual contributions and provided place and opportunity for the creation of meaning. The pre-schoolers used these secondary worlds to explore self identity, emotions, competency development and to expand and integrate their ways of being in the world.

This study tested the effectiveness of an inservice training program for (1) teaching telecommunication skills to teachers who were relatively inexperienced in the use of computers, and (2) assisting teachers in designing and implementing telecommunications activities in their curriculum. Nine elementary teachers participated in an innovative telecommunications project between two local schools. Three of the teachers completed the four session model training program in which they learned the skills necessary for using a telecommunications Bulletin Board System. During the six-week initial implementation phase, a coaching strategy was employed, in which the teachers were observed and assisted while practicing telecommunications. The teachers developed a degree of expertise in using telecommunications and they were able to implement this technological innovation in their curriculum as indicated by the activities and impact upon student learning. During the first cycle of use the teachers were becoming stabilized in the use of telecommunications as they began to refine integration of this media in new areas of their curriculum. The coaching the teachers received was evaluated as being most helpful in assisting teachers in the implementation process. Perceived future barriers to implementation relate to the lack of phone lines and the scarcity of support assistance in the schools. This study has considerable implications for policy makers responsible for the incorporation of technological innovations in school curricula. The results indicate that teachers given an extensive system of training and implementation support are able to effectively integrate telecommunications activities in their curriculum.

The past decade brought dramatic increases in numbers of microcomputers available for use in schools with high expectations for their potential to improve education. Much of the current literature shows little change in spite of the potential. Successful implementation of technological innovations does not just happen. This is a study of the implementation of microcomputer activities for instruction in selected elementary schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, essentially a case study approach with some tabulation, it attempts to describe and analyze how implementation is taking place. A survey of 41 computer using educators and 6 in-depth interviews provided the data. Analysis was based on implementation models defined by Anderson (1989), and Hall's (1989) Concerns Based Adoption Model (C-BAM) concepts to identify evidence of the models, examples of strategies and levels of success of various approaches used to provide sufficient hardware, software, training, technical assistance and time needed to get educators using the technology. The findings describe the roles of the people involved, conditions in their schools, perceptions of support, problems or concerns, suggestions for successful implementation strategies, and criteria for software selection. The data also show that many different staff members shared the responsibilities for computer related tasks. These educators had microcomputer hardware available to use in classrooms and computer labs. The most prevalent model identified is that of the Single Person. The interviews indicate that most schools had more than one model functioning at various times during the growth of the innovation. An analysis of problems or concerns revealed that most people were functioning at the Task Level, concerned with managing the innovation and its consequences for their students. More research needs to be done to understand and utilize the contribution of the Single Person Model and how to make it more effective for schools. Educators need to develop better methods to determine strategies which will move teachers to higher levels of use as well as to spread the innovation to more groups of teachers.

Current literature and research in education underscores the importance that parent participation and involvement play in a child's academic progress and successful educational experience. The importance of involvement has been traced through all educational levels from preschool through high school and in both American and foreign academic settings. American educational reform movements focus on efforts to restructure our schools to include all interested parties in the decision making process. Crucial to this restructuring is an active parental component. If schools are to overcome this crisis of public confidence they must work with the community, including its citizens and business members, to meet the unique individual needs of their setting. No where is this involvement more crucial than in America's inner-city, urban neighborhoods. However, it is here where we have seen minimal parent-school contact. This study explored parental involvement practices in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, inner city parochial school setting and attempted to identify and analyze the various barriers which prevent a more involvement role for our inner city parents even in this selective setting where the element of parental choice and monetary investment became evident. The descriptive study utilized a questionnaire format to identify these barriers to participation and compare the responses across various racial groups including Hispanic, African American, Native American, White, and Asian American.

The purpose of this study is to make predictions for school change in a school system which has recently implemented a Schools of Choice plan. Goals of this plan include systemwide equity, increased parental involvement, and school improvement which is based on the interests of faculty and parents. This plan provides for School Planning Teams which are charged with planning for school change which is responsive to the wishes of the greater community. In order to ascertain the interests of faculty and parents in the city's five elementary schools, a survey was administered by Schools of Choice officials. This survey was prepared by a committee of teachers, administrators and parents, and was based on the advise of a consultant, similar surveys used in other school systems, and the interests of this community. The survey was administered to all elementary school teachers during faculty meetings, was mailed to parents of preschoolers, and was sent home with all elementary school aged children. Opinions were solicited in the areas of academic enrichment possibilities, program options and forms of organization. Survey results identify areas of convergence and divergence of interests among parent and teacher groups in each of the five schools. These survey results contain information which can be of use to School Planning Teams as they begin planning for school change. The process of using a Schools of Choice program as a catalyst for school change is particularly relevant to the rapidly increasing number of school systems, cities and states, which are turning to choice plans to improve the quality of public education. If parents are to chose schools for their children, the schools must differ from one another in meaningful ways. If parents and teachers together are to plan for school improvement and educational diversity, they need the kind of data which can be provided by an opinion survey as a source of direction.

This dissertation describes the design, implementation and assessment of a staff development project to develop a cooperative whole language approach. The foundation for this staff development project for elementary school was the recognition that language development is crucial to a child's ability to succeed in the school environment. The educational objectives of this project were to motivate and encourage students of low income, African American families to write imaginatively and productively, and to teach writing to those same students to help them develop their own stylistic competence. These objectives necessitated the organization of three components. First, a staff development program focused on a whole language approach so teachers could share cooperative learning strategies for improving selected aspects of writing instruction. Second, a language experience approach in which the language, experience, and feelings of minority students could be used to advance motivation, accuracy, and pride. Third, the creation of a positive school climate to help students overcome difficulties in communicating in standard English by developing a "school way of communicating" without forcing the student to conclude that the way the family converses at home is wrong. Cooperative learning staff development sessions, predicated on a whole language approach, combined five underlying principles: (a) Distributed Leadership; (b) Heterogeneous Grouping; (c) Positive Interdependence; (d) Social Skills Acquisition; and (e) Group Autonomy. These prompted the preparation of writing activities for the African American students in all aspects of the curriculum. Ongoing monitoring of students' progress and completed tasks were compiled in both a group and individual portfolios. Basic to the success of this project was overcoming six beliefs: (a) a single set of subcultural customs shape the behavior of African American members of our society; (b) language programs should involve only instruction in using standard English; (c) all African American children are apathetic and their classes are seldom exciting; (d) discipline is a unique problem in the African American classroom; (e) African American learners cannot become involved in inductive, inquiry centered learning; and, (f) staff development sessions are not required for teaching English to the African American child. The proposed goal of this effective staff development project was not to change, but, to add a new dialect to an existing one by using a child centered, whole language, cooperative learning approach. By mixing the students' own experiences and the presentation of new experiences, a new dimension was introduced. The students were meeting established norms of success and were eager to accept additional challenges. Class improvement was clearly visible in a low income, urban elementary school.

In a qualitative study of the beliefs and behaviors of four third and fourth grade teachers as they taught mathematics in an industrial Vermont town, teachers were found to have four fundamental common beliefs about how children learn mathematics: (a) children learn mathematical concepts by manipulating or visualizing concrete materials; (b) children learn arithmetic through specific sequenced steps; (c) children learn mathematics through practice and repetition; and (d) children learn mathematics best when they feel good about themselves and experience success in mathematics. Not all of their beliefs are in concert with the learning theories foundational to the 1989 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. Associated with each belief, the teachers had one or more factors they considered when planning mathematics lessons. They demonstrated a variety of behaviors including classroom activities and strategies concomitant with, although not necessarily congruent with each belief. There were discrepancies most commonly because of tendencies to acquiesce to the pressures of time and curricular expectations (including those expectations from the next year's teachers) and to rely upon the textbook rather than build upon the strength of their convictions and beliefs about how children learn. While teachers believed that manipulating materials helps students grasp and develop concepts about the real world in mathematical terms, there was limited time devoted to the manipulation of materials. Although sequential learning was believed to be valuable, many mathematical concepts such as measurement and geometry were taught out of the context and sequence of similar concepts. Practice was typical in each classroom; repetition was prevalent in two classrooms. Many ways of boosting the confidence of students were demonstrated, although one of the teachers believed she was supportive to students when in fact supportive behaviors were not displayed. Staff development implications include recommendations for teachers to increase their knowledge of constructivism as a way that children learn and of mathematics as a field of knowledge. There are suggested actions for teacher unions, school administrations, state departments of education, post secondary schools of education, and professional organizations.