This discussion of the uniqueness of the middle school focuses on the characteristics of the early adolescent student. It is pointed out that the special needs of these students are infrequently met by the traditional junior high school. Middle schools should be characterized by six unique elements: (1) specific individual counseling; (2) a…

Two papers are presented as part of the Effects on Testing Project. The first paper, "The Effects of Testing on Teaching and Learning" (Joan Herman, Shari Golan, and Jeanne Dreyfus), describes a study focusing on standardized, norm-referenced tests. A questionnaire was administered to 85 teachers (kindergarten through grade 12 levels)…

An inservice program was developed for elementary school teachers who requested help because of their students' apparent lack of written language abilities. Preliminary planning, involving the teachers (trainees) working with a trainer, determined a way in which student learning needs could be related to teacher training needs. The inservice…

Component-building research on practical issues of instructional design can make a substantial contribution to research-based school improvement. Component-building research consists of rigorous within-school experiments that test various components of instruction for effects on student achievement. Research would address practical issues that…

Sparetime education has been developed in the Shanyang People's Commune to accomplish three major tasks. These are to wipe out illiteracy among the young and middle-aged, to disseminate knowledge about society and about agricultural technology, and to train personnel with knowledge in various social, economic, and technological fields. To meet the…

Intended for regular education teachers of mainstreamed handicapped students, the booklet offers nontechnical information about dealing with children who have a variety of disabilities. A brief introduction traces the evolution of society's attitudes and school practices involving handicapped students. The second unit contains definitions,…

This handbook provides educators with a practical planning and implementation guide for K-12 curriculum improvement in a context called career education. It also gives some direction for planning beyond the high school experience for continued learning and work placement. Chapter 1 establishes a rationale explaining the value of career education.…

The summer institute phase of the Hartford Effective Schools Initiative is evaluated in this report. Part 1 includes (1) an overview of training content; (2) a section on trainers' methods, assessing strengths and weaknesses; (3) participants' responses to training based on observations by the evaluation staff and informal interviews with…

This book explores the meaning of learning in science at the primary level and uses it as a basis for discussion of the content, methods, organization, resources, and the teacher's role. The first five chapters address how learning in science takes place, what aims are appropriate for elementary students, and how opportunities for learning can be…

Secondary and postsecondary students can be taught writing skills using a step-by-step examination of a television news or documentary program that can be undertaken in a single class period. The procedure consists of a series of strategies to facilitate the instructional process, as follows: (1) as a warm-up mechanism, the teacher introduces the…

This guide is designed to provide teachers with guidelines and suggested activities for teaching a one-semester advanced programming course--BASIC Programming II--for the ninth through twelfth grades. Although primarily oriented toward mathematics, the guide does offer sample applications in business that also address the needs of students with a…

Although it is clear that adult education has existed much longer as a field of practice than as a field of study, little research exists to identify the contribution that an understanding of the field of adult education, particularly adult learning and techniques for teaching adult students, makes to the effectiveness of an adult educator. To…

Noting that the principles of writing process instruction typically offered to elementary teachers are less readily adaptable to intermediate classrooms emphasizing content area learning rather than basic skills, this paper explores two key themes important to the successful implementation of writing process instruction: (1) teachers' needs to…

This handbook is intended to help teachers of pre-employment shop courses in organizing and delivering instruction in both the shop and classroom. Addressed in the guide are the following topics: the instructor's place in the local school organization; the instructor's job (objectives, advisory committees, occupational analysis, shop/classroom and…

Economics lessons and suggestions on how to organize and teach high school economics courses are provided. An overview discusses how to organize an economics course, key economic concepts, how to choose instructional materials, and how to evaluate students. A bibliography of resource materials and addresses of resource organizations are also…