This volume provides the theory and research on which Elizabeth Cohen’s Designing Groupwork, now a classic resource in curriculum, was based. Working for Equity in Heterogeneous Classrooms documents, with systematic data collection and analysis, how it is possible to abolish ability grouping without sacrificing the intellectual challenge of the curriculum. This unique illustration of the practical application of sociological theory and research strategies shows how they can be utilized in reconstructing classrooms to simultaneously achieve goals of equity and development of higher order thinking. The innovation of this approach, Complex Instruction (CI), has a systematic knowledge base that permits examination of implementation, staff development, equal-status interaction, and outcomes of achievement and cognitive development. The work of this group of researchers is testimony to the exciting potential that sociological theory and research have for the field of education. “Seeing to it that students are productive in classrooms is a challenge for any teacher. Add to this the formidable task of affording all students in a classroom an equal opportunity to learn and you have the pivotal practical dilemma that Cohen, Lotan, and their colleagues tackle in the series of studies brought together for the first time in this volume.” —Gary Natriello, Series Editor

This wide-ranging handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the field of education as viewed from a sociological perspective. Experts in the area present theoretical and empirical research on major educational issues and analyze the social processes that govern schooling, and the role of schools in and their impact on contemporary society. A major reference work for social scientists who want an overview of the field, graduate students, and educators.

Winner of the 2004 Critics' Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies Association Teacher educators from ten institutions and programs in the United States, Canada, and Germany describe the ways in which they have changed teacher preparation to more fully incorporate cooperative learning concepts. Analytical commentaries on the programs highlight the learning experience of these programs as well as underlying issues of needed reforms in teacher education. Included among best practices in education, cooperative learning may require a shift in program philosophy and disciplinary areas to meet the challenge of complex organizations and diverse student populations. As the essays in the volume demonstrate, a new alignment of field experiences to provide support for novices to implement cooperative strategies, and to receive timely and effective supervision for these attempts, may also be required.

Classroom management is a topic of enduring concern for teachers, administrators, and the public. It consistently ranks as the first or second most serious educational problem in the eyes of the general public, and beginning teachers consistently rank it as their most pressing concern during their early teaching years. Management problems continue to be a major cause of teacher burnout and job dissatisfaction. Strangely, despite this enduring concern on the part of educators and the public, few researchers have chosen to focus on classroom management or to identify themselves with this critical field. The Handbook of Classroom Management has four primary goals: 1) to clarify the term classroom management; 2) to demonstrate to scholars and practitioners that there is a distinct body of knowledge that directly addresses teachers’ managerial tasks; 3) to bring together disparate lines of research and encourage conversations across different areas of inquiry; and 4) to promote a vigorous agenda for future research in this area. To this end, 47 chapters have been organized into 10 sections, each chapter written by a recognized expert in that area. Cutting across the sections and chapters are the following themes: *First, positive teacher-student relationships are seen as the very core of effective classroom management. *Second, classroom management is viewed as a social and moral curriculum. *Third, external reward and punishment strategies are not seen as optimal for promoting academic and social-emotional growth and self-regulated behavior. *Fourth, to create orderly, productive environments teachers must take into account student characteristics such as age, developmental level, race, ethnicity, cultural background, socioeconomic status, and ableness. Like other research handbooks, the Handbook of Classroom Management provides an indispensable reference volume for scholars, teacher educators, in-service practitioners, and the academic libraries serving these audiences. It is also appropriate for graduate courses wholly or partly devoted to the study of classroom management.

This book examines aspects of Western psychological and educational theory in relation to educational practice around the world, and considers the extent to which current understandings are truly applicable to a range of diverse settings. In so doing, it also seeks to question, where appropriate, existing orthodoxies within Western educational systems.

The Fifth Edition of the Handbook of Research on Teachingis an essential resource for students and scholars dedicated to the study of teaching and learning. This volume offers a vast array of topics ranging from the history of teaching to technological and literacy issues. In each authoritative chapter, the authors summarize the state of the field while providing conceptual overviews of critical topics related to research on teaching. Each of the volume's 23 chapters is a canonical piece that will serve as a reference tool for the field. The Handbook provides readers with an unaparalleled view of the current state of research on teaching across its multiple facets and related fields.

When it comes to motivating people to learn, disadvantaged urban adolescents are usually perceived as a hard sell. Yet, in a recent MetLife survey, 89 percent of the low-income students claimed "I really want to learn" applied to them. What is it about the school environmentâ€"pedagogy, curriculum, climate, organizationâ€"that encourages or discourages engagement in school activities? How do peers, family, and community affect adolescents' attitudes towards learning? Engaging Schools reviews current research on what shapes adolescents' school engagement and motivation to learnâ€"including new findings on students' sense of belongingâ€"and looks at ways these can be used to reform urban high schools. This book discusses what changes hold the greatest promise for increasing students' motivation to learn in these schools. It looks at various approaches to reform through different methods of instruction and assessment, adjustments in school size, vocational teaching, and other key areas. Examples of innovative schools, classrooms, and out-of-school programs that have proved successful in getting high school kids excited about learning are also included.

Offering first-hand insights from the early originators of Cooperative Learning (CL), this volume documents the evolution of CL, illustrating its historical and contemporary research, and highlights the personal experiences which have helped inspire and ground this concept. Each of the chapters in Pioneering Perspectives in Cooperative Learning foregrounds a key approach to CL, and documents the experiences, research, and fruitful collaborations which have shaped and driven their development. Contributions from leading scholars include Aronson, Davidson, Kagan, Johnson & Johnson, Schmuck, the Sharans, Slavin and Madden, as well as retrospective pieces on the work of Deutsch and Cohen. These chapters detail the historical development of cooperative learning, cooperation versus competition, and cover major approaches including the jigsaw classroom; complex instruction; the learning together model, and several more. Chapters include qualitative, personal, and retrospective accounts, whereby authors outline the research and theory which underpins each approach while highlighting practical strategies for classroom implementation. This text will primarily be of interest to professors, researchers, scholars, and doctorial students with an interest in the theory of learning, educational research, and educational and social psychology more broadly. Practitioners of CL with an interest in varied forms of small group learning and classroom practice, as well as those interested in the history and sociology of education, will also benefit from the volume.

This second handbook offers all new content in which readers will find a thoughtful and measured interrogation of significant contemporary thinking and practice in urban education. Each chapter reflects contemporary cutting-edge issues in urban education as defined by their local context. One important theme that runs throughout this handbook is how urban is defined, and under what conditions the marginalized are served by the schools they attend. Schooling continues to hold a special place both as a means to achieve social mobility and as a mechanism for supporting the economy of nations. This second handbook focuses on factors such as social stratification, segmentation, segregation, racialization, urbanization, class formation and maintenance, and patriarchy. The central concern is to explore how equity plays out for those traditionally marginalized in urban schools in different locations around the globe. Researchers will find an analysis framework that will make the current practice and outcomes of urban education, and their alternatives, more transparent, and in turn this will lead to solutions that can help improve the life-options for students historically underserved by urban schools.