Everyone acknowledges the importance of leadership in good schools, but sometimes a leader's influence extends into unexpected areas. Getting admitted to and succeeding in college is certainly the result of hard work on the part of individual students and their families, but for many kids, particularly those from impoverished backgrounds or from…

The scope and sequence format for foreign language instruction in Waukesha, Wisconsin's public schools is presented. It charts the specific concepts, skills, and objectives to be included in foreign language exploration (FLEX) courses and courses in French, German, Latin, and Spanish at each of five levels. Each concept, skill, and objective is…

The guide is intended to aid Manitoba's high school administrators and curriculum developers in adapting and classifying standard courses specifically for students of English as a Second Language (ESL). It begins with a description of the ESL course designation and a brief discussion of characteristics of the ESL learner. The distinction between…

Academic records of first year students enrolled in Introductory Chemistry at the University of Guelph, Canada, were used to develop a method to examine the effects of individual courses on freshman academic performance. At the center of the technique is a new test statistic useful in creating individual course profiles. Because grade point…

The traditional system of letter grades discourages college-bound students from taking difficult courses. Many colleges look closely at an applicant's grade point average (GPA). When a student's GPA is computed, a grade from an easy course carries as much weight as a grade from a difficult course. Since a student can achieve a higher grade with…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

The foreign languages segment of Arkansas' statewide curriculum guide outlines instructional objectives for French I and II and Spanish I and II in the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and culture. The guide does not recommend any specific material or method, but emphasizes skills and learning objectives to produce…

Factor analysis of a survey of 2,072 students in 176 courses in 4 departments of an Israeli community college revealed similarities in student satisfaction among departments with the teacher and interpersonal relationships between students the major contributing factors. Results suggested that an evaluation tool appropriate for many courses or…

The first (exploratory) phase of the Learning in Science Project focused on science teaching/learning in the Form 1 to 4 level (ages 10 to 14) and sought to identify problems and difficulties in several areas. Provided in this paper are comments obtained during structured/unstructured interviews (from students, ex-students, teachers, headmasters,…