A review of the literature indicates that measures of the McClelland-Atkinson need-Achievement (nAch) construct are weak in terms of both reliability and validity. The most serious weakness of the model's validity is the lack of evidence for the hypothesized positive relationship between nAch and performance. In addition, the inverse relationship…

This paper contains a discussion concerning some of the variables which threaten external validity and inferences about communicative behavior made by researchers and teachers. Communication researchers have begun to explore potentially artifactual sources of variance in judgments of evaluations of communicative behavior. Some studies have shown…

The literature on the three most commonly used study techniques was surveyed. Underlining and note taking, requiring active student involvement, were found to be the most effective techniques. (MA)

A critical review of the small group literature is undertaken in an attempt to identify those characteristics which distinguish the dyad, the two-person group, from larger groups. Comparisons of dyads to larger groups are made in five categories of major small group variables: influence processes, affiliation processes, role differentiation and…

This paper examines the career patterns of educational administrators in order to identify socialization processes and consequences in public school systems. Section 1 presents a review of the literature dealing with school career socialization, including studies of the career patterns of both teachers and administrators; section 2 examines…

The literature on performance differences in various tasks as a function of reflection-impulsivity (R-I) is reviewed in this publication. A series of four experiments is then described which involve the cognitive-perceptual basis of R-I of children on a picture recognition memory task. Results from these studies indicated the following important,…

In this essay, the authors explore rhetorical sensitivity and the behaviors that characterize the rhetorically sensitive person as defined by Hart and Burks in a paper entitled "Rhetorical Sensitivity and Social Interaction." Rhetorical sensitivity is viewed as an attitude toward encoding information obtained in social situations. After…

Since basic studies of educational leadership behavior have stressed psychometric evaluations at a single point in time, primarily through use of the Halpin Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire, questions about the dynamics and context of this leadership behavior have been largely ignored. Canadian researchers have found that an…

A preliminary review of the literature indicates that previous research undertaken to identify communication competencies by those in business produced a wide range of findings. The studies may be placed in one or more of the following categories: geographically limited in population, limited solely to business executives, or concerned only with…

The author discusses the substantive and methodological contributions which several disciplines can make to naturalistic research in the field of special education and raises definitional issues. (Author)

This report is an overview of recent research on the effects of class size on the academic performance and behavior of students at risk. In several ways it is not a conventional literature review. It emphasizes one recent large-scale investigation, Tennessee's Project STAR (Student-Teacher-Achievement-Ratio), begun in 1985. It is more evaluative…

A review of research makes it increasingly clear that findings from the areas of brain development and hemispheric specialization, student and teacher learning styles, and holistic and meaning-centered approaches to reading and writing are related, as they all contribute to a richer view of how learners learn. In brain research, the popular focus…

This document describes research which examined the principles of reward and punishment applied to certain types of behavior portrayed by characters illustrated in 30 school readers. It was hypothesized that certain portrayed values, which have political connotations, are being transmitted to young people through the indirect method of…

The labeling theory of deviance is used as a basis from which to comment on the dynamics of the labeling process in schools in general. Several research studies have demonstrated the self-fulfilling prophecy of labeling techniques. Four types of behavior can be distinguished: behavior that breaks a rule and is labeled as deviant; behavior that…