Parents can play an important role in helping their children succeed in school. This ERIC Digest presents the Big Six Skills problem-solving method as an effective approach for parents. The Big Six Skills apply to any problem or activity that requires a solution or result based on information. The Big Six can help parents effectively deal with the…

Seven job-related basic skills identified as skills employers want are as follows: (1) learning to learn; (2) reading, writing, and computation; (3) oral communication and listening; (4) creative thinking and problem solving; (5) personal management, including self-esteem, goal setting, motivation, and personal and career development; (6) group…

Employers expect their employees to have basic skills in reading, writing, and math; speaking and listening skills; problem-solving ability; employability skills; reasoning skills; leadership skills; computer literacy; interpersonal skills; ability-to-learn/learning-how-to-learn skills; and collaborative/teamwork skills. How well do employers…

The educational excellence movement has made an academic curriculum a high priority for all high school students, including the 40 percent who do not go on to college. The joint efforts approach to incorporating basic skills into the vocational curriculum is based on the following assumptions: (1) academic skills are embedded in vocational…

Over the past 20 years, library media professionals have worked to move from teaching isolated library skills to teaching integrated information skills. Effective integration of information skills has two requirements: (1) the skills must directly relate to the content area curriculum and to classroom assignments; and (2) the skills themselves…

This digest concerns itself with the origin of reflective thought, the application of theories about reflective thought to classrooms, conflicts and issues, and a synthesis of the essential ideas. Sections of the Digest address origin of the idea of reflective thought, definitions of reflective thinking, questioning strategies, how to generate…

Prospects for making formal principal preparation programs more relevant to actual administrator experience are described in this Digest. First, some of the deficiencies of traditional preparation programs are outlined. Next, ways in which shared decision making and decentralization have affected principals' preservice training needs are…

Critical thinking skills figure prominently among the goals for education proposed by educational researchers, parents, and employers. This digest discusses the skills related to critical thinking and three specific strategies for teaching these skills. The first, Building Categories, is an inductive reasoning tool that helps students categorize…

This digest describes an integrated approach to teaching computer skills in K-12 schools. The introductory section discusses the importance of integrating information skills into the curriculum. "Technology Skills for Information Problem Solving: A Curriculum Based on the Big6 Skills Approach" (Michael B. Eisenberg, Doug Johnson, and…

This document presents a brief overview of conflict resolution in school settings and defines conflict resolution as: (1) a constructive approach to interpersonal and intergroup conflicts that helps people with opposing positions work together to arrive at mutually acceptable compromise solutions; and (2) as the body of knowledge and practice…

In an effort to provide information about the effect of computer use in schools on student achievement, attitudes, dropout rate, and learning time, a review of instructional computing research analyzed studies done between 1980 and 1987 using statistical summary procedures. Reviewers used a meta analysis procedure to calculate effect size as they…

The work of the National Research Center on Student Learning (CSL) is described. The CSL, one of 23 national centers funded by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, is an integral part of the Learning Research and Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). The CSL conducts interdisciplinary research that…

This digest discusses how well authentic mathematics assessment tests can be expected to meet the needs of mathematics instruction that focuses on conceptual insights and analytical skills. In the new mathematics curriculum, situational lessons or real-life problems attempt to include dimensions of thinking and reasoning, individual or small-group…

By 1992, according to a study by the Council of Chief State School Officers, more than 3.5 million computers were in U.S. elementary and secondary schools--a ratio of one computer for every 13 students. In addition, 99 percent of all schools across the country reported that they provide their students with some access to computers. Sometimes…

The computer revolution was expected to help American schools to teach traditionally unsuccessful students more effectively and to reduce educational inequalities. Research suggests, however, that computer technology has in many ways actually widened the gap in educational opportunity. Nevertheless, this report finds that computers and…