Mathematics curriculum innovation has been launched in Taiwan recently in order to reflect the changing needs of the 21st century. The underlying assumptions of reform are: a learner-centered approach, emphasis on confluent education, and a problem-solving & reasoning approach. Research has revealed that teachers' beliefs can negatively interact with curriculum reform. On the other hand, some studies document that beliefs have little effect on instructional behavior. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate three questions: (1) what are the teachers' beliefs about the teaching and learning of mathematics in Taiwanese elementary schools and in what ways are teachers' beliefs congruent with the ongoing trend of reform; (2) what is the general picture of teachers' mathematical instructional practices in Taiwanese elementary schools and in what ways are these instructional practices congruent with the ongoing trend of reform; and (3) what is the relationship between teachers' beliefs and their instructional practices? Basically, this study combines qualitative and quantitative methods in collecting and analyzing data. That is, teacher interviews and questionnaires were administered in order to understand teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning mathematics while observational checklists and naturalistic field observations were used to portray instructional behavior. The major findings of this study are: (1) Elementary school teachers' beliefs tend to hold with the traditional absorption learning theory and seem incongruent with the undergoing curriculum reform. (2) The instructional practices tend to reflect a traditional teacher-centered classroom and also seem incongruent with the launched reform. (3) Teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning play a vital role in shaping their instructional behavior; the situational constraints merely play a minor role. In light of the above findings, some implications such as teacher education were drawn to broaden teachers' beliefs.

Thirteen low-skilled sixth graders enrolled in 4 classes in 3 different schools were identified using a combination of teachers' rankings and skill test scores. The thirteen were interviewed both individually and in small groups, and were observed over two contiguous units of their physical education class. Use of the Brophy-Good Dyadic Interaction recording instrument was interspersed throughout the study. All low-skilled students experienced physical education classes as humiliating, frustrating, embarrassing, and barely tolerable. They were subjected to continuous criticism and harassment by their peers--abuse which their teachers did not challenge or act to limit. Success was largely attributed to previous experience and luck. It was rarely attributed to instruction and practice. Failure was attributed to inability or lack of effort. Students devised a number of behaviors to reduce continued failure, from announcing failure in advance, to avoiding the learning task. The professional rhetoric of "providing a positive learning environment for all" and "having fun in physical education class" must be re-examined in light of this study.

Within the period of each student teaching experience a series of transfers takes place in which responsibility for decision-making in instruction and classroom management is shifted from the cooperating teacher to the student teacher and culminates with the assumption of the role of teacher by the student teacher. The purpose of this study was to investigate the transfer of instruction and classroom control and the degrees of freedom allowing the student teacher to make decisions during the preservice clinical experience. Six categories were used as a framework to discipline the collection of the data: Time Sequence, Readiness, Formal Communication--Conferences, Informal Communication--Cues and Signs, Degrees of Freedom and Proximity, and Legal and Moral Responsibilities. The methodology involved three phases of investigation: oral interviews, classroom observations, and questionnaires. The population in Phases 1 and 2 consisted of ten matched pairs of cooperating teachers and student teachers who were interviewed and observed. In Phase 3 nine cooperating teachers and eight student teachers comprised a different, non-matched population who responded to two types of questionnaires. All participants were from elementary preservice clinical experiences in western Massachusetts. Collected data from the three phases were qualitatively analyzed to identify significant factors relative to the transfer of control. Cooperating teachers and student teachers had no personal explicit time sequence to grant or receive the transfer of control but believed an implicit pattern existed. Student teachers had no personal criteria for readiness to assume control but determined it by personal successes in classroom management, lesson ownership, and pupil respect. Cooperating teachers had an implicit pattern for determining readiness based on these factors. Conferencing varied in length and content; reflective thinking and philosophical discussion were not major components. Cues and signs were important indicators of the progress of the transfer of control. Student teachers needed to experience degrees of freedom to make decisions as they assumed control. They believed the cooperating teacher's proximity affected the mode of instruction and limited the degrees of freedom in their instructional and management styles. Legal questions limited the latitude of the student teacher's risk-taking and decision-making potential.

The purposes of this dissertation were to compare the creative thinking of kindergarten students from three different child rearing backgrounds who participated in two curriculum approaches. Another purpose was to identify suggestions for promoting and developing creative thinking in children. The three child rearing styles examined were: democratic, autocratic and overprotective. The two curriculum approaches were: Readiness Activities Oriented Curriculum and the Academic Oriented Curriculum. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Figural Form A was translated and adapted to suit Thai students (Rungsinan, 1978). The Torrance Tests yielded three measures: fluency, originality and elaboration. The Kindergarten Curriculum Evaluation Form developed by the researcher was used to identify fourteen kindergarten schools that participated in the study. The Questionnaire Concerning Child Rearing Practices was adapted from the questionnaire developed by Thumnut (1979) and revised by Kiattikul (1988). A total of three hundred and seventeen children participated in the study. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance procedures. The following findings emerged from the study: (1) There were no significant differences in fluency, originality and elaboration scores among students from different child rearing backgrounds. (2) The students in the readiness kindergarten programs scored significantly higher on fluency, originality and elaboration than students in the academic kindergartens. (3) The measure of elaboration emerged as a variable which was highly significant and may be of practical significance. In promoting and developing creative thinking in kindergarten students, the researcher suggests the use of brainstorming, webbing and pretending as techniques to help students produce new ideas and form relationships between concepts, to encourage their imagination and to involve students with minimal amounts of direction, exposition and instruction.

The intent of this study was to describe the complex phenomenon of mentoring student teachers in one elementary teacher education program. A case study research design was used. Interviews, observations, and an examination of documents were used to uncover two major themes, support and challenge, across the three central topics of curriculum, classroom management, and school culture. An operational definition of preservice mentoring was constructed, using the literature as well as data from the participants: Emergent teachers moving through the teacher education continuum of preservice, induction, and inservice, construct a mentoring system to help them manage their professional growth and development: a unique network of people who support and challenge them with curriculum, classroom management, and the school culture. A mentor/protege relationship is characterized by shared beliefs, negotiation, reciprocity, commitment, collegiality, nurturance, and respect for the autonomy of the protege along a developmental path of initiation, reciprocity, separation, and redefinition, always with a goal of increased self-reliance. (Templeton, 1994). The study focused on the cooperating teacher/student teacher relationship that occurs during the student teaching semester in order to arrive at a description of the vital elements that are central to mentoring in preservice teacher education. The study described the context underlying the collaborative mentoring support system that operates within this elementary teacher education program. The questions that guided this inquiry were (1) How does mentoring operate in the cooperating teacher/student teacher relationship in the student teaching component of one elementary preservice teacher education program? (2) What do cooperating teachers and student teachers identify as the key elements of mentoring relationships in the student teaching component of one elementary preservice teacher education program? The study revealed that mentoring occurs at many different levels during teacher development and is interpreted in many different ways, both in the mentoring literature and in practice. Phases of the mentoring relationship were experienced in the same order, but in varying intervals by each of the three student teachers. These phases were initiation, reciprocity, separation, and redefinition. The study may provide a basis for guiding others interested in incorporating mentoring into their teacher education programs. Teacher educators could benefit from this study because the data may exhibit elements which will contribute to a systemic model of mentoring at the preservice level. It is important for teacher educators to start thinking about the skills they need to provide, model, and encourage preservice mentoring processes because mentoring can be a critical element in providing a bridge between preservice education and induction into teaching.

Significant improvement in American science education is desirable from many perspectives. This need can be encapsulated in the student learning goal of flexible, inquiry-based problem solving. To guide efforts to move towards this goal, an Amalgamated Model of science education is synthesized from six major trends in science education. Explication of this model is focused on the physical sciences, as is the research carried out to test one of the predictions of the Model. One keystone of the Amalgamated Model is the delineation and characterization of concepts according to the three properties of generality, complexity, and abstractness. Using these three properties, a conceptual structure for physical science is constructed. When this structure is compared with conventional physical science curricula, a large discrepancy is in the treatment of the conservation of energy concept. The Model predicts that elementary and middle school age children develop intuitive understandings of the concept, whereas conventionally it is believed to be inherently difficult and comprehensible only to older, high school students. To test this prediction, two sets of tasks and associated clinical interviews are administered to 48 subjects randomly drawn from a K-6 population. The first set of tasks consists of the classical Piagetian conservation instances and the second set investigates understanding of conservation of energy. The quantitative data generated by the two tasks is analyzed to measure the degree of connection within subjects' conceptual structures between their ability to conserve quantity, substance, weight and volume and their ability to conserve energy. The results indicated that understanding of conservation of energy is connected to and apparently develops from the understandings of Piagetian conservation. The experimental and analytical methodologies could be used for further mapping of conceptual structures. It would seem that the prediction of the Amalgamated Model cannot be rejected as false, providing some justification for using the Model as a future framework for research in conceptual structures and for science curriculum development.

Contemporary early childhood experts, via their major professional organization, the National Association for the education of young children (NAEYC), have adopted a set of guidelines for "developmentally appropriate practice" (DAP) in kindergartens. These guidelines, based on child development research, contrast sharply with a contrary educational movement for increased formal "academic" programming for young children. The primary purpose of this study was to survey the beliefs and practices of kindergarten teachers in Massachusetts, and to examine the congruence of those beliefs with the set of nationally proposed guidelines. A second purpose was to examine the relationship between the beliefs and practices reported and selected professional development variables. A questionnaire designed by a Louisiana group (Charlesworth et al., 1991) and based on the NAEYC guidelines was used. In addition, an author-designed set of questions on key demographic and professional development variables was included. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 150 elementary schools in Massachusetts. One hundred twenty six teachers responded, representing 102 schools for an overall school return rate of 68%. Results indicated that Massachusetts teachers tend to follow the NAEYC guidelines for developmentally appropriate practice. Correlations between the Teacher Belief Scale and the Instructional Activities Scale (r =.6225, p,.0001) indicate that teachers in Massachusetts generally report using practices that are congruent with their beliefs. Significant positive relationships were found between teachers with advanced college training and both of the Teacher Questionnaire Scales. The professional development activities most frequently listed as valuable to Massachusetts kindergarten teachers included college courses, whole language workshops, Math Their Way workshops, DAP seminars, the Lesley College Kindergarten Conference and inclusion workshops. In further analysis, the sample was divided into thirds based on the total DAP scale scores. Those with high DAP scores differed from those with low DAP scores in the amount and type of professional development activities. The results were discussed with respect to the effectiveness of specific professional development activities.

Over the past twenty years, an increasing number of schools have been integrating individuals with autism into general education classes. Although the benefits of this practice have been questioned, there has been little formal research on this subject. This qualitative study attempted to examine the short-term effects of the integration of one child with autism, Karl, into his neighborhood elementary school. Data were collected through direct observation in the classroom and interviews with the classroom teacher, support staff, the parents of the child who has autism, the parents of two classmates, the child with autism, and two classmates. The observations and interview questions focused on the behavior and perceptions of (a) the child with autism, (b) two classmates and (c) the adults participating in the integration. The participants identified locations (where the student is) and social opportunities (who the student is with) as important characteristics of an integration program, rather than strictly adhering to formal definitions of mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion. Although many of the participants were aware of the characteristics of autism, their definition of Karl was focused on who he was and what he did, rather than his label. Class membership included (a) the activities in which Karl participated, (b) the peers with whom he associated, (c) the changes that occurred in the classroom, (d) his ability to blend in, and (e) his perception of himself as a member of the class. The success of this integration program was attributed to the addition of a one-to-one integration assistant and the communication, consistency, support, and flexibility of the integration team. This study provides a rare view of an integration program that worked for a student with autism. Regardless of the characteristics unique to Karl, the participants, and this situation, this study demonstrates that it is possible to integrate a student with autism, provided the appropriate resources are made available.

Thesis (Ed.D)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: A. Harry Passow. Dissertation Committee: Heidi Hayes Jacobs. This dissertation is to develop a five year plan to transform Washington School, a traditional K-5 elementary school in Caldwell-West Caldwell, NJ. into a school reflecting the principles of the Paideia Proposal (Adler, 1982). Bibliography: leaves 178-189.

<p> Working in school settings can present school social workers, teachers, and counselors with multiple risk factors that increase their likelihood of experiencing burnout. Providing direct services to students on a regular basis can have a negative impact on their overall sense of well-being along with other factors associated with being employed as a social service provider. Promoting Resilient School Personnel project (PRSP) consists of a series of on-site mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) workshops aimed at providing school social workers, teachers, and counselors at a public school in Los Angeles County with the resources to understand and help prevent burnout, the opportunity to learn and practice different mindfulness-based techniques, and strategies to establish long term self-care habits that promote a high sense of well-being. A potential funder was identified, although actual funding and submission of this grant proposal were not requirements for the successful completion of this project.</p>