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This study examined how constructivist teaching and the organization of the learning environment relate to student achievement. The researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships among school and teaching attributes and student achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics as measured by the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Data came from the average school-level scale scores of 79,494 students and from questionnaires completed by 4,307 teachers from 239 elementary, middle/juniors, and high schools in Washington state. The analyses show a strong positive relationship between school attributes and constructivist teaching. Schools that emphasize parental and community involvement and that have teaching staff who model and expect responsible behavior and mutual respect are more likely to have staff who use constructivist teaching methods. Constructivist teaching appears to have a meaningful influence on student achievement as measured by the WASL. Findings also show structural relationships among many school and classroom factors and student achievement. Maximizing achievement appears to be the result of an environmental shift in the school, a reinvention of education. (Contains 4 figures and 19 references.) (SLD)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert