Due to the low success of traditional, postsecondary remediation mathematics, The Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative First in the World Grant (MMRI-FITW) sought to develop and implement a statistics pathway in 2- and 4-year institutions as an alternative to traditional algebra-based math, to accelerate developmental mathematics students'…

Rheumatic diseases are known to be associated with the development of metabolic syndrome, which increases mortality rates due to cardiovascular complications. Although a variety of self-management programs for rheumatic diseases have been developed, few have concentrated on metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to develop and verify a blended (a…

A pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial examined whether extending the duration of a cost-effective, intensive tobacco-dependence intervention designed to support autonomy will facilitate long-term tobacco abstinence. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three tobacco-dependence interventions based on self-determination theory,…

The "quit4u" stop smoking service (SSS) was developed by National Health Service (NHS) Tayside for smokers in deprived areas of Dundee (UK). quit4u combined behavioural support and pharmacotherapy with financial incentives for each week that participants remained quit. A quasi-experimental study was undertaken with smokers using quit4u…

This study explored the cost-effectiveness and return-on-investment of a combined social and physical environmental worksite health promotion program compared with usual practice, and of both intervention conditions separately. Participants were randomized to the combined intervention (n = 92), social environmental intervention (n = 118), physical…

This article reviews the contents and research on the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), a family evidence-based seven- to 14-session intervention for drug prevention in high-risk children ages 0 to 17. Twelve Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) found significant improvements in youths' behavioral health, including 50% reductions in substance…

This study looks at the impact of a cost-effective professional development model in which teaching artists helped early elementary teachers master arts-based strategies for boosting the oral language development of English-language learners (ELLs). Teaching artists visited K-2 classrooms for 50 minutes weekly for 28 weeks. Student scores on the…

Drawing on the University of Massachusetts experience in developing successful blended local programs, this paper suggests guiding principles that include mission-driven responsiveness to local contexts and partnerships; using low-cost marketing strategies available through local relationships and brand; attending to students' preferences for…

Current technology enables schools to provide remote or virtual computing labs that can be implemented in multiple ways ranging from remote access to banks of dedicated workstations to sophisticated access to large-scale servers hosting virtualized workstations. This paper reports on the implementation of a specific lab using remote access to…

This study explores two specific cases of institutional mergers in the field of higher education. The two cases took place in China in the 1990s. One of the cases might be labeled a vertical merger and the other a horizontal merger. The former simply implies a merger between higher education institutions with equal status and the same level of…

The Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) support creation of a novel type of tutors called example-tracing tutors. Unlike other types of ITSs (e.g., model-tracing tutors, constraint-based tutors), example-tracing tutors evaluate student behavior by flexibly comparing it against generalized examples of problem-solving behavior. Example-tracing…

Implications of this study for CAI to improve productivity and effectiveness are discussed. (MB)

A National Association of College and University Business Officers project collects data on college administrative and business costs and compiles them for comparative purposes. The unpublished findings are available to participants to gauge institutional efficiency. However, some feel more institutions must participate for data to be useful. (MSE)

These technical appendices give the following information: a comparison of RENP and non-RENP mean Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) Fall 1976 pretest scores; evidence of the existence of an achievement gap between Washington, D.C. and large city norms; number and percentages of students in each of three pretest achievement levels;…

A major part of the Naval Training Equipment Center's Aviation Wide Angle Visual System (AWAVS) program involves behavioral research to provide a basis for establishing design criteria for flight trainers. As part of the task of defining the purpose and approach of this program, the applications of advanced experimental methods are explained and…