It is crucial for Tech Comm instructors to address challenges of audience within the artificial environment of classroom instruction. Without a distinct and specific audience, course content often remains theoretical and abstract, and students struggle both to connect the unknown to the known, and to generate meaningful and effective…

For approximately twenty-years, Web-enhanced learning environments have been popular in higher education. Much research has examined how best practices can integrate technology, pedagogical theories, and resources to enhance learning. Numerous studies of hybrid teaching have revealed mostly positive effects. Yet, very little research has examined…

While online course offerings have steadily risen over the last decade and it is estimated that 32% of college students have taken an online course (Allen & Seaman, 2013), the process of preparing students for blended and online courses has varied and is inconsistent across institutions. Attrition rates for online courses have been…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups, including English Learners and students with disabilities, have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains results of 40 studies conducted in a variety of settings, in school districts across the…

Brown discusses the history of Hector Garcia, a Mexican immigrant who, as U.S. Army captain, worked diligently to assist minority servicemen in navigating the Veterans Administration, and found the GI Forum. Dr. Garcia's activism, through the Forum, was instrumental in desegregating hospitals, swimming pools, schools and cemeteries. Brown's case…

Science teachers often have two different curricula--the ideal framework on paper and the real, day-to-day instructional program that occurs in the classroom. A number of factors can affect how much of that ideal framework is accomplished. For example, how a facility is designed and how space is used can affect student achievement, classroom…

This article examines how a state, a district, and a local school in Texas are making steps toward meeting the first recommendation (setting challenging curricular standards) of the 1993 national report "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent". Specific performance standards for students are listed and standard…

This final report is a process evaluation of the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Project describing the efforts to develop a statewide philosophy and an operational plan in Texas toward primary and secondary prevention of child abuse and neglect. Discussion focuses on the background and origin of the project, first and second year operations…

Two papers are included here, one presenting an overview of inservice education and the second presenting data on the attitudes of teachers toward inservice education in Texas. Specific concepts that have guided inservice education are focused on as well as (1) the many trends that have influenced it, (2) the objectives of the inservice programs,…

This paper describes state, institutional, and other community-based programs deemed exemplary (on the basis of design imperatives) for successful interventions to promote meaningful access of minority group youth to postsecondary education. The imperatives include early intervention, comprehensive and integrated intervention, intervention…