Showing papers on "Primary education published in 1991"

School Programs and Teacher Practices of Parent Involvement in Inner-City Elementary and Middle Schools

Abstract: This study uses data from 171 teachers in 8 inner-city elementary and middle schools to examine the connections between school programs of parent involvement, teachers' attitudes, and the practices that teachers use to involve parents of their own students. Patterns are examined at 2 levels of schooling (elementary and middle), in different academic subjects, under various classroom organizations (self-contained, semi-departmentalized, departmentalized), and under different levels of shared support for parent involvement by the teachers and significant other groups. Each of these variables has important implications for the types and strengths of school programs and teachers' practices of parent involvement. The results add to the validation of Epstein's typology of 5 types of school and family connections. The data used in this study were collected as the first step in a 3-year action research process in which the sampled schools are engaged. The process is outlined in terms that any school can follow to...

Improving primary education in developing countries

Abstract: Primary education is a building block not only for further education but for the future. Economic and social progress depend on a thinking population and a literate, numerate labor force that can acquire, apply, and advance knowledge. Too often, though, especially in the developing world, primary schools fail to help students acquire basic cognitive skills. This book is the first comprehensive review of both the scholarly literature on the subject and donors' experience. The book provides an overview of primary education systems and argues that developing countries must do more to serve the needs of all children. Those who have traditionally been underrepresented in primary school - girls and children from poor and rural familes - must have greater access to education and more encouragement to enroll. At the same time, the curriculum must be strengthened, teaching made more effective, and other measures taken to ensure that when students complete the primary cycle, they have mastered what is taught. The authors discuss strategies for improving five aspects of primary education systems, including: ways to improve teacher training and motivation; ways to help children learn; ways to perform managerial and other institutional functions better; ways to make access to education more equitable; and ways to finance investment in education by tapping both domestic resources and foreign aid.

Physical Education's Role in Public Health

Abstract: The public health community is becoming increasingly interested in the potential contributions of school physical education to child health. School physical education is seen as an ideal site for the promotion of regular physical activity because up to 97% of elementary school children participate in some sort of physical education program. For maximal public health benefit, school physical education programs should prepare children for a lifetime of physical activity. This public health goal for physical education may require some changes in current approaches. Physical educators are challenged to collaborate with public health professionals in developing and evaluating school physical education programs that will improve the health of the nation's youth.

Involving Parents in the Schools: A Process of Empowerment

Abstract: This four-year study in a southern California school district examined parent-involvement activities as they encouraged isolated Spanish-speaking parents to participate more fully in their children's schooling. The findings showed that conventional avenues for involving parents in school were closed to many parents because specific cultural knowledge (which, in essence, is power) was required in order to participate effectively. On the other hand, nonconventional activities encouraged parents to participate in their children's education through culturally responsive communication. The parent-school empowerment process described in this article illustrates a difficult but possible approach taken by a community interested in Latino children's education. By forming cooperative linkages between the school and families, parents became aware of their children's conditions in their school and their rights as parents to collectively join with others who shared their experience, to cooperate with the schools, and ...

Parent Involvement in Schools: An Ecological Approach.

Abstract: The meaningful involvement of parents in children's schooling can enhance the educational process. Parents can contribute insights and knowledge that complement the professional skills of schools' staffs in ways that strengthen academic and social programs. However, for parent involvement initiatives to be successful, they should be part of a contextually focused school improvement process designed to create positive relationships that support children's total development. Parent involvement programs that are instituted in traditional bureaucratic and inflexible school environments are less likely to yield positive results than those that are part of a more collaborative organizational structure. In our work, we involve parents at all levels of school life, through general support of schools' educational programs, active participation in daily activities, and in school planning and management. Parents work together with schools' staffs to establish academic and social goals and to develop and implement co...

Research and Practice in Parent Involvement: Implications for Teacher Education

Abstract: The literature on parent involvement in education contains many implications for teacher education. Numerous studies have established that different approaches to parent involvement produce various outcomes for parents and students, including different achievement for elementary students. The teacher's role, particularly in the elementary school, interacts with 6 types of parent involvement: (1) parent as audience, (2) parent as volunteer, (3) parent as paraprofessional, (4) parent as teacher of own child, (5) parent as learner, and (6) parent as decision maker. Unfortunately, the number of courses and professional experiences in parent involvement included in the preservice and in-service preparation of teachers is insufficient. 10 recommendations for teacher education are drawn from the literature.

Crossing Cultural Borders: Education for Immigrant Families in America

Abstract: The role of cultural learning the sociocultural environment in Secoya socialization in the home storytelling and games - learning in community settings from school to home towards an ethnography of empowerment empowerment and educational reform.

Teacher Perceptions of the Regular Education Initiative

Abstract: A survey of 381 special and regular educators assessed perceptions and opinions surrounding the regular education initiative. Confirmatory factor analysis supported an a priori hypothesized structure of teachers' responses. Items factored into 14 categories. These factors describe issues related to preferred placement of students with mild disabilities, teachers' responsibility and ownership, teacher preparedness for meeting the needs of these students, achievement outcomes for all children, and the changes that would result from adopting the proposed consultant model rather than a pullout program. Results favored current special education practices (pullout programs) in elementary schools.

Promoting physical activity and a healthful diet among children: results of a school-based intervention study.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: National health objectives call for improved diet and more regular physical activity among children. We tested the effects of a school-based program to improve students' diet and physical activity behavior at school. METHODS: Two of the four elementary schools in one Texas school district were assigned to intervention and two to control conditions. The three intervention components were classroom health education, vigorous physical education, and lower fat, lower sodium school lunches. Nutrients from school lunches and the total day and the amount of physical activity students obtained during physical education were assessed as outcome. RESULTS: Analysis of school lunches showed declines from base line to posttest in the two intervention schools of 15.5% and 10.4% for total fat, 31.7% and 18.8% for saturated fat, and 40.2% and 53.6% for sodium; posttest values were lower in the intervention schools. Observation of physical activity during physical education classes indicated an increase in the...

Training teachers to attend to their students’ oral reading fluency

Abstract: (1991). Training teachers to attend to their students’ oral reading fluency. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 30, Fluency in Oral Reading, pp. 211-217.

High- and Low-Burnout Schools : School Culture Aspects of Teacher Burnout

Abstract: The aim of this study was to identify school factors associated with teacher burnout. For that purpose, the organizational characteristics of those schools in which most teachers reported high levels of burnout (high-burnout schools) and schools in which most teachers reported low-burnout level (low-burnout schools) were identified and compared. A sample of 1,597 elementary school teachers were given a modified version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, including a background information section, followed by interviews with principals, teachers, and other school incumbents. The findings in this study indicated that four major school culture variables contribute to teacher burnout: (a) the drive toward measurable goal-achievement behavior imposed on teachers by school administration, (b) lack of trust in teachers' professional adequacy, (c) circumscribing school culture, (d) and disagreeable physical environment. Age, sex, level of education, and number of years in teaching are background variables...

Kindergarten teachers beliefs and practices.

Abstract: The major objectives of this study were to develop a questionnaire based on the National Association for the Education of Young Children guidelines [1986] for developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education and to use this questionnaire for obtaining information regarding kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and practices. The Teacher Questionnaire containing two subscales, the Teachers’ Beliefs Scale and the Instructional Activities Scale, was constructed and administered to 113 kindergarten teachers from four Southern states. In addition to encouraging psychometric properties, positive correlations were found between develomentally appropriate beliefs and activities [r = .63, p = .000] as well as between developmentally inappropriate beliefs and activities [r = .71, p = .000]. The teachers with higher ratings on developmentally appropriate beliefs felt more in control of planning and implementation of instruction than did the teachers with lower ratings. The Teacher Questionnaire shows promi...

Beyond traditional outcome-based education

Abstract: Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is founded on three basic premises: all students can learn and succeed (but not on the same day in the same way), success breeds success, and schools control the conditions of success. This article examines three types of OBE: Transformational OBE, Traditional OBE, and Transitional OBE.

The Church, the Family, and the School in the African American Community.

Abstract: This article focuses on the church as a social institution and examines how it interacts with and influences two other important social institutions in society (as identified by Moberg, 1962)-the family and the school. Historically, the church, the family, and the school are the three most critical institutions whose interactions have been responsible for the viability of the African American community (Roberts, 1980). The strengths of these three institutions are due in large measure to their function as expressions of the most basic values of the African American cultural heritage. These values include spirituality, high achievement aspirations, and commitment to family as enduring, flexible and adaptive functional mechanisms for survival (Billingsley, in press). We pursued this study using a holistic perspective inspired in part by DuBois (1898). This perspective recognizes that all three aggregations-the church, the school, and the family-operate within the domain of the larger society as socializing agents and are shaped by their own historical foundations. In this article we discuss the church's role in assisting families in need and in supporting educational institutions. The data presented herein are based on an ongoing, nationwide, multi-year study of the family-oriented community outreach programs that Black churches sponsor to assist those in need. Preliminary findings from a representative sample of 315 Black churches in the northeastern region of the country will be presented. Before turning to the details of this study, however, a brief discussion of the nature of these principal institutions will be set forth.

Success for All.

Abstract: 1. The descriptive information for this program was obtained from the publicly available program web site (www.successforall.net, downloaded February 2007). The WWC requests developers to review the program description sections for accuracy from their perspective. Further verification of the accuracy of the descriptive information for this program is beyond the scope of this review. 2. The evidence presented in this report is based on available research. Findings and conclusions may change as new research becomes available. Success for All (SFA)® is a comprehensive school reform model that includes a reading, writing, and oral language development program for students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. Its underlying premise is that all children can and should be reading at grade level by the end of third grade and then remain at grade level thereafter. Classroom reading instruction is delivered in daily 90-minute blocks to students grouped by reading ability. Immediate intervention with tutors who are certified teachers is given each day to those students who are having difficulty reading at the same level as their classmates. A full-time SFA® facilitator employed by the school supports classroom instruction by training teachers, overseeing student assessments, and assisting with decisions about group placement and tutoring. Family Support Teams work on parent involvement, absenteeism, and student behavior. This intervention report focuses on the reading instructional component of SFA®, which is often implemented in the context of the highly structured SFA® whole school reform program. Although the whole school reform program has key components that are implemented in each school, school sites may vary considerably in the number of personnel used to implement SFA®, particularly tutors and family support staff. The reading curricula are essentially the same at all schools, with each school receiving the same training, coaching support, and materials. Ratings presented in this report are not disaggregated by the variations in implementation of whole school reforms. Reading outcomes from all studies included in this report are examined together and formed the basis for a single effectiveness rating for each outcome domain.

Early Literacy: Linkages between Home, School and Literacy Achievement at Age Five.

Abstract: This article reports the findings relating the predictor variables identified through the analyses discussed in the previous articles to the outcome measures of early literacy from the test battery administered to the children in the Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development at age five. The test battery, called the SHELL-K (School Home Early Language and Literacy), uses a variety of assessment procedures to develop a componential view of each child's language and literacy development. The results demonstrate that both home and school measures contribute to children's literacy achievement at age five. Finally, profiles of the three selected children are presented demonstrating the variability in the experiences and outcomes for these children.

Word Processing and Writing in Elementary Classrooms: A Critical Review of Related Literature

Abstract: Word processing has been widely endorsed as one of the most promising uses of microcomputers in the elementary school curriculum. This article reviews the burgeoning literature that pertains to word processing and writing in elementary classrooms by constructing five major propositions that cut across individual studies and methods. Together, the propositions provide a schema for understanding and categorizing what is known and still needs to be known about word processing and young writers, a framework for probing the significant theoretical and substantive issues underlying the findings, and a point of departure for discussing the most provocative themes and questions that emerge from many fields of study. Throughout the review, I demonstrate that using word processing for writing in individual classrooms is a practice that is social as well as technical. I argue, therefore, that we cannot determine how word processing is most effectively used in classrooms apart from the ways particular teachers work i...

The Ethic of Caring in Teacher Education

Abstract: Interviews from an ethnographic study of elementary school teachers and students are cited to support the conclusion that an ethic of caring is essential to the definition of effective teaching. A process for restructuring teacher education programs on the basis of an ethic of caring is described. Seven characteristics of a teacher education program designed to promote the development of an ethic of caring are described: curriculum construction, modeling, dialogue, reflection, confirmation, practice, and continuity.

Local Knowledge, Research Knowledge, and Educational Change: A Case Study of Early Spanish Reading Improvement:

Abstract: Reforming schools depends on the interplay between research and local knowledge. This article uses examples from a multiyear project to improve reading achievement of Spanish-speaking children. Achieving changes was partially dependent on local action and understanding of the local school culture. It could not be done exclusively through reference to research knowledge, no matter how compellingly documented in the national literature.