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This paper reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study that analyzes and interprets the evolution of teachers' beliefs regarding learning, teaching, and technology, and their instructional practices, in the context of integrating technology-based information-rich tasks in six 4th-6th grade classrooms. The study used multiple research tools, interviews, questionnaires and observations, focusing on both teachers' beliefs and classroom practices. The findings reveal that following multi-year experiences in technology-based classrooms, teachers' educational beliefs had changed quite substantively, demonstrating multiple views rather than pure beliefs. The study argues that teachers' beliefs form a mosaic of complementary visions, even conflicting ones. It also shows that it is easier to change classroom practices than educational beliefs. (Contains 3 tables.)

This longitudinal case study of a single school examines changes in the educational beliefs of 10 elementary-school teachers who experienced a constructivist-based trans-disciplinary curriculum (CTC). After 3 years of experiencing a CTC, which emerges through theme-oriented and project-based learning, teachers' educational beliefs had changed to demonstrate multiple views rather than pure beliefs. Teachers' beliefs form a mosaic of complementary visions and the process of change in teachers' beliefs reflects the "overlapping" rather than the "staircase" metaphor. (Contains 1 table and 9 notes.)

This article reports findings obtained from a large-scale national study (299 schools; 2761 students) that examined academic achievements of immigrants in Israeli schools. It focused on two distinct groups of immigrant students--those from the former USSR and from Ethiopia, in two subject areas--mathematics and academic language (Hebrew), and in three grade levels--5, 9 and 11. The scores of the immigrant students and those of a parallel group of native-borns were compared and analyzed. The findings demonstrate differences in achievements between the groups. The scores also demonstrate that immigrants require a substantial number of years to reach achievement levels similar to those of students who were born in Israel in academic subjects, specifically, 5-7, 9 or 11 years in mathematics, and 5-7, 8 or 11 years in academic Hebrew, depending on the grade levels and the groups. The study discusses the implications of using large-scale evaluation of educational achievement for educational policy and evaluation designs.

This article reports on an exploratory, longitudinal study, which examined six teachers' views on the factors that affect technology use in classrooms. The research examined teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6--for three years, studying the teachers both as a group and as individual case studies. Three case studies were selected for analysis, with the aim of exploring the relation between the changes that occurred in the teachers' educational views and practices as a result of their exposure to teaching and learning with the aid of rich technology and their views on factors affecting technology integration. The findings point to two developmental patterns in teachers' views on the factors affecting technology use in the classroom: the first is concerned with the "source of influence" on technology adoption, and focuses mainly on the human factor; the second is concerned with the "nature of the influence" when using technology in the classroom, ranging from technical to cognitive transformation. The three case studies reveal three different profiles of change and demonstrate the complex relations between teachers' orientations concerning the conditions affecting technology use, and the changes that occur in teachers' views and practices. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

This article explores student views on writing as shown by the metaphors they use when asked to reflect on their own writing-to-learn tasks in the science classroom. The study examines the metaphors and metaphoric themes of 97 eighth grade students, discusses how they compare to important theories on writing to learn, and explores how student views on writing are affected by their classroom writing experiences. The study shows (1) that the identification of metaphors and clustering them around recurring themes can help to systematize the experiential meanings of writing with reference to four dimensions: cognitive, social, emotional and meta-cognitive; (2) that student views on writing correspond to various theoretical models, but are not identical to them; (3) that metaphor use is strongly affected by student writing experiences and that writing-to-learn tasks, feedback and reflective writing greatly influence student views on writing; and finally, (4) the study found two multidimensional conceptualizations reflected in the student metaphors, corresponding to the constructivist and transmission views of teaching and learning.

This study explores the views on learning, technology and classroom practices of both students and teachers in a technology-enriched classroom environment. It examined the characteristics and uniqueness of 4th-6th grade students' views and the changes in their teachers' views as result of longitudinal experiences of an innovative approach to learning and teaching that focused on learning through information rich tasks in a technology rich environment. The main findings show that in almost all participating classrooms, students' views were aligned with constructivist ideologies and mainly emphasized the characteristics of authentic and social-dialogical learning and its contribution to their cognitive development. The findings also express three key views regarding learning in an information-rich environment: learning from ICT, about ICT, and with ICT. The findings demonstrate the multi-dimensional nature of teachers' beliefs, and reflect the complex nature of the relationship between students' views and teachers' educational beliefs and practices. (Contains 8 tables.)

This study was conducted in the framework of a project that sought to change the school learning and teaching environment and adapt it to current reality through the proactive use of technology in the search for knowledge. It is an exploratory, longitudinal, case study of a single school, in one city in central Israel, which examines changes in educational beliefs, classroom practices, and knowledge restructuring processes of six teachers of grades 4-6, who for three years experienced an approach to teaching and learning focusing on information-rich tasks in an information-rich environment. The main findings show different patterns and rates of change in teacher educational beliefs, knowledge restructuring processes and classroom practices. They also demonstrate that students of teachers whose educational beliefs and classroom practices radically changed and which reflected a constructivist approach to learning regarded learning as a process of engaging with complex, context-related tasks requiring multiple viewpoints, whereas students whose teachers had a traditional positivist approach saw technology-assisted learning as learning with technical tools. The study indicates a reciprocal rather than unidirectional relationship between teacher classroom practice and changes in teacher educational beliefs and knowledge restructuring processes. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

Based on the "Courseware Evaluation Project," supported by the Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture, this article addresses basic issues regarding formative evaluation practices in the context of computerized instruction. Topics discussed included the rationale for evaluation, elements to evaluate, dimensions for assessing quality, and evaluative information providers. (BS)

Describes study of Israeli secondary school students that was conducted to determine the extent to which gender and prior computer exposure affect students' attitudes toward computers prior to computer instruction in school. An attitude questionnaire designed to measure affective and cognitive attitudes toward computers is described, and results are analyzed. (15 references) (Author/LRW)

Compared are boys' and girls' abilities and achievement in a research class which included both classroom and research institute experience. It was found that boys were more active in classroom interactions and that the ratings of girls and boys were otherwise not significantly different. (CW)

Examines the behavioral patterns of high, average, and low achievers in first-, second-, and third-grade classrooms implementing an individualized instructional strategy. Time spent on independent work, interaction patterns/achievement level, and the implications of this research for teachers and instructional developers are discussed. (RAO)

When instruction is weak and inappropriate to a goal, only students with high intelligence and aptitude learn rules for problem solving. All students learn, when given time, help, and opportunity to practice problems. (RL)

The major difference between individualized and traditional instruction methods is the pattern of student interaction with the teacher, with the classmates, and with the learning materials. (JN)

Explored were classification criteria selected by primary children in free classification situations as a function of grade levels, socioeconomic background, and some characteristics of the classification tasks. Conclusions indicate a strong preference to classify items by their form. Student differences in free and guided classifications are discussed. (CS)

Although classroom learning environment variables provide useful criteria of effectiveness in curriculum evaluation, a limited number of evaluation studies employ classroom environment instruments. This article provides an example of the use of learning environment dimensions as dependent variables in instructional evaluation. (RL)