Reports on a study conducted by the Two-Year College Development Center to evaluate contract courses delivered by New York community colleges. Discusses findings related to the effectiveness of contract courses, implications of training opportunities, perceived value of training, and employer recommendations. (DMM)

Describes a cross-national action research project involving 8 schools in the United States and 11 schools in 5 other countries studying family-community-school partnerships and the policies or political contexts that shape, and are shaped by, them. Early results suggest the usefulness of action research in emerging dialog. (SLD)

Discusses some of the instructional approaches advocated by the California International Studies Project (CISP). CISP proposes integrating global perspectives throughout the entire curriculum. They recommend examining the interdependence between different countries, resources, social issues, and academic subjects. Includes a complete list of CISP…

The effectiveness of three substance-abuse-prevention videotapes derived from contrasting theoretical frameworks was evaluated using 312 rural Mexican-American students in grades seven through eight. The assertion-training video produced higher levels of assertiveness among ninth-graders; the others had no impact. Discusses the importance of…

Some colleges and universities claim they can't find "eligible" African-American undergraduates to recruit into science and engineering graduate programs. Those that find and enroll students sometimes fail to graduate them. Experts who are succeeding say it is primarily a matter of will. Statistical and anecdotal information are used in…

Explores benefits derived from the "Gardendale Family" (a vertically aligned team of K-6 classrooms). Describes how older students give guidance, feedback, and validation to those in lower grades as the younger children become active members of the literacy community; and how students use written and oral language in authentic and…

This study evaluated a professional development program for 179 Australian teachers, teacher aides, and speech pathologists working with students having severe disabilities. Emphasis was on their role as communication partners in the implementation of strategies to enhance students' communicative behavior. Teachers and teacher aides reported…

Comments on the new National Council on Economic Education standards and calls for more clarification and detail as well as additional standards. Argues that the almost-exclusive focus on principles-based standards ignores that need for explicit skill standards. Discusses possible difficulties for social studies teachers not trained in economics.…

Highlights the differences between American and Australian undergraduate economics instruction and indicates those aspects of the American teaching model likely to be adapted. Specifically, Australian teachers favored deemphasizing the traditional lecture/tutorial model in favor of a more student-oriented approach. (MJP)

Reviews post 1980 research on inclusion and the effectiveness of special education in general and argues that there is no compelling evidence showing that placement, rather than instruction, is the critical factor in student academic or social success. Research reveals a clear need for special education programs and does not support full-time…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 14 studies examining whether whole-language instruction increases the reading skills of low-SES students in grades K-3. Evidence suggested that low-SES primary school children do not benefit from whole-language instruction, compared to basal instruction. Findings indicated that there may be some advantages to the…

Tested the efficacy of a modified nutrition education program for elementary students. Sixteen nutrition lessons were taught alternately by special resource teachers (SRTs) and classroom teachers (as opposed to 24 lessons taught by SRTs). Surveys, observations, interviews, and plate waste data indicated that treatment students had greater…

Reports the results of research investigating the effectiveness of three types of English-as-Second-Language (ESL) programs in Quebec. Equivalent ESL curricula were taught over the regular 10-month school year in "distributed" programs, over a 5-month period in "massed" programs, and over a 5-month period along with…

The study assesses the effects of a hypertext learning aid and GPA on performance in advanced financial accounting. Results indicate that the type of learning aid and GPA significantly affect performance. High GPA students performed better than did the low GPA students. In the study, two versions of the hypertext learning aid were utilized by two…

As part of a larger project aimed at promoting science and literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse elementary students, this study has two objectives: (a) to describe teachers' initial beliefs and practices about inquiry-based science and (b) to examine the impact of the professional development intervention (primarily through…