The role of the school principal continues to increase in its responsibility and complexity. This narrative study centered around two research questions: 1. What stories do principals tell about their memorable professional development and 2. In what ways do the stories align with Knowles' principles of adult learning theory? Eight principals from…

Brief, targeted self-affirmation writing exercises have recently been offered as a way to reduce racial achievement gaps, but evidence about their effects in educational settings is mixed, leaving ambiguity about the likely benefits of these strategies if implemented broadly. A key limitation in interpreting these mixed results is that they come…

We investigated how students articulate uncertainty when they are engaged in structured scientific argumentation tasks where they generate, examine, and interpret data to determine the existence of exoplanets. In this study, 302 high school students completed 4 structured scientific arguments that followed a series of computer-model-based…

The department editors, joined by classroom teachers from Wisconsin and reading specialists from Tennessee, examine across geographical and school boundaries the current practices of teachers who are initiating Response to Intervention (RTI) instruction. They address three goals of RTI that focus on providing systematic instruction of student…

A multidimensional item response theory model that accounts for response style factors is presented. The model, a multidimensional extension of Bock's nominal response model, is shown to allow for the study and control of response style effects in ordered rating scale data so as to reduce bias in measurement of the intended trait. In the current…

Differences in administrative (UI) and survey (S) records on employment and earnings have substantial implications for assessing the impact of a variety of public interventions, such as welfare-to-work and employment training programs, and especially the state-oriented welfare reform legislation of 1996. We use data from the 1998 and 1999 waves of…

In 1992, a group of teachers, principals, and central-office administrators at a Wisconsin elementary school developed an effective differentiated teacher-supervision process. Teachers enjoy the flexibility of choosing among three options: a cooperative-clinical supervision group, a self-directed group, and a collegial professional-development…

This study evaluated the quality of the learning experiences, accommodation and support strategies, and post-school outcomes of 40 students with disabilities who participated in Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship (YA) programs. The YA program is a rigorous 2-year school- and work-based learning program for high school juniors and seniors. Currently…

We identified 201 individuals who obtained IQs of 85 or below in high school and participated in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (a prospective longitudinal study that followed sample members from age 18 through age 53). Their life course development was contrasted with their siblings who obtained IQs above 100. Life course outcomes were assessed…

A PRETEST, POST-TEST, AND RETENTION TEST OF 481 SOPHOMORE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN 33 WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOLS OFFERING VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE WERE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL, HOME-FARM SITUATION, AND STUDENT SUPERVISED FARMING EXPERIENCE DIFFERENCES UPON ACQUIRING AND RETAINING LEARNING IN VOCATIONAL AGRICULTURE CLASSROOMS. EACH…

Wisconsin teachers (N=416) who had preservice multicultural education training were surveyed by mail to discover what they were doing in their classrooms to attend to diversity based on race and ethnicity, gender, and social class in the areas of curriculum and material, expectations, instructions, and student-student relationships. (IAH)

New fiscal and administrative patterns are being considered or implemented in many States to provide quality education, accessible to all, at costs the public can accept and support. This paper is concerned with the structure of delivery systems whereby services are provided to pupils. Specifically it deals with the re-emergence of the…