A study was done to foster interest in Supplemental Instruction (SI), an instructional intervention which helps students develop study skills relevant to a particular course, and to investigate the effects of participation in an SI program for a first semester, college level mathematics course in business calculus. The course had a consistent…

A study examined the systemic reform process initiated in Maryland in 1991. The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) consists of learning outcomes, a framework for performance assessment, guidelines for school decision making, and suggestions for staff development. One year following the initiation of the MSPAP, semi-structured…

This practicum attempted to modify the antisocial behavior of 25 early adolescent children classified as having emotional disturbances by a training program to facilitate the development of affective skills in their mothers. The 8-month training program involved discussion groups, social activities, and individual and/or small group meetings with…

The publication in 1990 of the School Management Task Force Report "Developing School Management--The Way Forward" was a milestone for challenging Local Education Authorities (LEA) and providers in higher education. The report stressed school-based and school-focused institutional and individual development. Changes resulting from the…

Designed to help educators examine their current student assessment practices and ensure that assessment activities lead to real improvements, this paper lists and discusses nine principles for assessing student learning. The nine principles are: (1) the assessment of student learning begins with educational values; (2) assessment is most…

Although organizations spend increasingly large amounts of money on training, little effort or money is spent on evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. When evaluations are done, they are often designed for specific programs and often consider only participant reactions and immediate learning, and ignore behavior changes and long-term…

Prior to April 1993, the educational system in South Africa consisted of five separate departments of education. The Department of Education and Training (DET) governed education for the 10 black groups, excluding independent states and self-governing states. This paper describes the DET's inservice training policy for senior personnel,…

Valencia Community College in Florida developed a holistic approach to improve student retention during the period October 1987 through September 1992. Two of the major thrusts of the retention project were the development of an extended orientation course about student success (SLS 1122) and the development of a faculty mentoring program. Study…

This study evaluated the impact of a public service advertising campaign conducted for Recruiting New Teachers, Inc (RNT). The study surveyed a national sample of 2,750 individuals who called the RNT toll-free number mentioned in public service advertising and returned information about their educational background and teaching interests. The…

Alternatives is a project designed for youngsters, ages 11-15, who display serious conduct problems and severe learning deficiencies. The primary goal of the project is to prevent the development of a chronic antisocial orientation among youngsters who are at high risk for such an outcome. The interventions employed at Alternatives are based on…

This paper briefly reviews the early efforts at forming alumni associations and organizing alumni reunions, describes a number of the more recent alumni surveys used in assessment activities, and concludes with suggestions for conducting such surveys. First, pre-1980 alumni surveys that attempted to measure college outcomes are discussed. Next, a…

This document reports on the 1991-92 Teacher Recognition Program honoring exceptional teachers from rural and small schools in the New England states, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The program was intended to enrich the quality of education in the Northeast United States and its Caribbean jurisdictions by sharing information about…

Creating an effective and efficient program for continuing education and staff development among elementary and secondary teachers has become an important issue. Unfortunately, problems inherent to the current system have sabotaged the best of these individual efforts, leaving little in the way of productivity to show for the efforts that have…

Although much is written about the importance of parent/teacher communication with emphasis on the significant impact of parent/teacher conferences, teachers report a lack of formal training. Neither institutions of higher education nor the public schools appear to provide clear policy and procedure for parent/teacher conferences. Thus, teachers…

This paper examines the problem of automatic explanation of reasoning, or the ability of a program to discuss what it is doing in some understandable way, particularly as part of an expert system. An introduction presents a general framework in which to view explanation and reviews some of the research in this area. This is followed by a…