When the literature anthologies did not arrive, Allen Webb turned to the Internet, where he found a wealth of classic and contemporary e-texts. Using these online resources opened up possibilities for new ways of teaching and learning traditional skills of close reading and critical analysis. Students created blogs of poems and commentary,…

We look at some of the theoretical and methodological issues underlying international university ranking systems and, in particular, their conceptual connection with the idea of excellence. We then turn to a critical examination of the two best-known international university ranking systems--the "Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)" World…

The authors--a second grade classroom teacher and a university professor of education--decided to collaborate. Melanie wanted to find out if she could help her students increase their reading and writing comprehension by presenting a sequence of events in an activity (for example, the steps in building a house) and then have the students write the…

School-university partnerships are not uni-dimensional projects. Success in these partnerships can be found in loosely-coupled systems such as client-server partnerships and in more tightly-coupled systems such as collaborative development centers. Using a comparative case study approach, we explore two school-university partnership case studies…

With the exception of the procedures developed by Porter and colleagues (Porter, 2002), other methods of defining and measuring alignment are essentially limited to alignment between tests and standards. Porter's procedures have been generalized to investigating the alignment between content standards, tests, textbooks, and even classroom…

This paper explores the discourse of whole class teaching in Kenyan and Nigerian primary school English lessons. Twenty lessons were analysed using a system of discourse analysis focusing on the teacher-led three-part exchange sequence of Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF). The focus of the analysis was on the first and third part of the IRF…

This paper compares various methods of smoothed equipercentile equating and linear equating in the random groups equating design. Three presmoothing methods (based on the beta binomial model, four-parameter beta binomial model and a log-linear model) are compared to postsmoothing using cubic splines, linear equating and unsmoothed equipercentile…

A study explored the effectiveness of adding a daily, structured practice session of weekly spelling words to the traditional pattern of pretesting on Monday, posttesting on Friday. Subjects, 28 second graders from the Grapeland Independent School District (Texas), were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group paired up…

This pamphlet discusses the use of questioning in the college classroom and its contribution to learning. Starting with a brief examination of the ways children question, discussions cover: (1) the effects of linguistic and socio-linguistic characteristics in questioning; (2) questions in psychotherapy, law, and opinion polling; (3) classroom…

Among the different types of experimental design are two general categories: true experimental designs and quasi- experimental designs. True experimental designs include more than one purposively created group, common measured outcomes, and random assignment. Quasi-experimental designs are commonly used when random assignment is not practical or…

Performance in assessing the unidimensionality of tests was examined for four methods: (1) W. F. Stout's procedure (1987); (2) the approach of P. W. Holland and P. R. Rosenbaum (1986); (3) linear factor analysis; and (4) non-linear factor analysis. Each method was examined and compared with the others using simulated and real test data. Seven data…

Students were asked to record their three most noteworthy (peak) learning experiences at the end of each week for four weeks. Peak learning experiences of students enrolled in a new agricultural program were compared to those offered a traditional. Results indicate the new program induced more peak learning experiences. (BJG)

The purposes of this study were to demonstrate a methodology for local development of slide-tape occupational information materials, and to determine whether this was a more effective means of conveying this information than printed or aural presentations. The results indicate the slide-tape mode was the most effective. (Author)

The present study was concerned with relationships among three different methods of evaluating psychotherapy outcome: final status scores, pretreatment to posttreatment difference scores, and direct ratings of global improvement. Similarities and differences among these relationships and those previously reported in the literature are discussed.…

Age-Specific divorce rates and weighted divorce rates are evaluated in comparison with several traditional rates. The analysis reversals of the ranking of some states in comparison with rankings based on other divorce rates, and the age-specific rates for young married couples is lower than expected. (Author)