The Multicultural Reading and Thinking (McRAT) Program of the Arkansas public schools is described, and results of a study of its effectiveness are reported. The McRAT Program is a process that empowers teachers to refocus instruction and restructure standard curricula for higher order thinking. The multicultural emphasis provides a meaningful…

An evaluation of Manitoba's French immersion programs at the levels of grades 3, 6, and 9 focused on program effectiveness in teaching listening comprehension and speech skills. The results for grade 9 are presented here. The first section describes the framework of the immersion curriculum and the listening and oral skills targeted in it. The…

This paper evaluates a program for educators, youth workers, and parents in four Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools designed to teach African American children the positive aspects of their cultural heritage and to increase their self-esteem and desire to learn. Although the Self-Esteem Through Culture Leads to Academic Excellence (SETCLAE) program…

The title question is discussed in six sections. Structural variables and issues are discussed in subsections concerning: the sex of child, the kindergarten program's day length, type, entrance age, group size, classroom aides and arrangements, and policies on promotion, failure, and retention. Interpersonal variables are explored in terms of…

The first year of the Japanese Language Magnet Program, an elementary school immersion program providing a total language experience in a multicultural setting, is evaluated. The evaluation study assessed the program in terms of program planning, student population, and parent involvement. Data were gathered through interviews, document analysis,…

The ninth volume of this 10-volume report summarizes and synthesizes the outcome of the study, describing the design, sample, analysis procedures, and findings from the examination of federal and state dissemination strategies and from the survey and field studies of local sites. The examinations of the federal and state components result in one…

A multicultural enrichment program in which selected fifth- and sixth-grade students from Washington, District of Columbia, public schools learned about other countries by studying a foreign embassy is evaluated. Chapter I outlines the main components of the program: joint educator-embassy planning, student research, student field visits and…

The New York City Russian Bilingual Program, evaluated here, serves students in grades 9-12 in three public and eight private schools. Three groups of subjects are included in the program: English as a second language, native language arts, and content-area subjects. All students take some mainstream classes from the beginning of the program. In…

The Supplementary Services for Previously Non-Public-School Institutionalized Students in New York City was designed to assist students who were formerly educated at state-operated or state-supported schools to adapt to public school education. The 1982-83 program served 1054 students in 367 sites, which included community schools, high schools, a…

The decision by the National Institute of Education panel on the effects of school desegregation to select (for meta-analysis) a small group of preferred studies based upon criteria chosen in advance of examining the studies was, in principle, a mistake. One usually cannot know until the data have been examined which of several competing…

The focus of this paper is on the methodology used in analyzing studies on the effects of school desegregation on black achievement. The paper also addresses a number of substantive issues, including the overall effectiveness of school desegregation, the impact of type of achievement (math or reading), and time of desegregation (early or later…

To compare the effects of two different comprehension treatments on the reading of university students enrolled in a developmental reading laboratory, 74 students were administered pretests measuring reading achievement and reading attitudes and were given five weeks of instruction in text organizing strategies and vocabulary development. After…

Two alternative programs for students seeking secondary school teacher certification were compared for cost effectiveness. The most pronounced difference between individuals majoring in education and non-majors seeking teacher certification while completing degree requirements in their chosen field is the number of required semester hours of…

The Rural Outreach Chemistry for Kids (R.O.C.K.) program was designed as a service-learning project for students at Saint Francis University to serve the local communities by organizing chemistry activities in high schools. It was initiated in 1995 and has involved a large number of Saint Francis University students and local high school students.…

This special issue of the "Courier" has been produced to mark the beginning of International Literacy Year 1990. It brings together papers from adult educators involved in literacy work about who needs literacy and why, what literacy is, who can help in creating the right conditions for literacy to succeed, and how to evaluate literacy…