In spring 1991, a survey was conducted of chief academic officers (CAO's) at two-year colleges to identify the instructional improvement categories and strategies that received the highest levels of support. The study replicated a 1987 survey of CAO's at four-year institutions and asked respondents to rate their commitment to practices in five…

A sense of efficacy, the extent to which teachers believe that they have the capacity to affect pupil performance, is related to both teaching behaviors and pupil performance. This study was designed to test the developmental hypothesis that teachers' sense of efficacy would increase during their successful progression through preservice training…

Recent literature emphasizing the relationship of content knowledge to teaching performance has provided an inducement for some evaluators to use formal tests to assess teachers' understanding of subject matter. This study, conducted at a laboratory school connected with the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), examines the relationship…

To reduce Army training costs, the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) investigated use of training at civilian secondary and postsecondary vocational-technical (VOTEC) institutions as an alternative to initial job training in Army service schools. Three models were used in the pilot study: the preservice training model in which…

In response to declining state resources, institutions often increase faculty/student ratios and teaching loads to help balance budgets. In order to gain a clearer sense of the consequences of such courses of action, the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) undertook a survey of the total workload of all full-time…

In 1992, surveys of the educational and employment status of 1991-1992 Associate of Arts degree program graduates were conducted by the seven community colleges in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota: Anoka-Ramsey, Cambridge Center, Inver Hills, Lakewood, Minneapolis, North Hennepin, and Normandale. All the colleges used the same survey…

In fall 1992, a survey was conducted of two subgroups of students who had enrolled for less than six credits in one of the seven community colleges in the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota during fall quarter 1990, and who had not re-enrolled as of fall quarter 1992. The two subgroups surveyed included those classified as "completers"…

The effects of an extra-year transition program after kindergarten on fourth grade students' achievement and self-esteem levels were examined in this study using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and the Stanford Achievement Test. Fourth grade students from a school district in central Alabama who had participated in the extra-year…

An analysis of literature on second language learning identifies four approaches in the literature, each of which can make a unique contribution to the understanding of the second language learning process, particularly as it pertains to limited-English-proficient students. The four approaches are explained and illustrated with examples from the…

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the teaching concerns of two groups of preservice teachers who were taught language arts methodology through the use of different approaches. A traditional approach (lectures and demonstrations by the professor) was used with one group (n=43) and a field-experience approach (lectures by the…

A seminar collected, shared, and discussed the consensus on definitions, standards, methods, and current problems in research methodology in comparative andragogy. Alfred Hierold opened the seminar with a brief history of the evolution of the University of Bamberg. The opening session focused on the importance of the researcher as a tool in…

This revised report presents a look at national and state-level findings of students' overall proficiency in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 reading assessment for grades 4, 8, and 12 and provides comparisons with the performance of their 1992 counterparts. The first chapter introduces the report, discussing topics such…

In fall 1994, Westchester Community College (WCC), in New York, conducted a study of the 1,018 students who graduated in summer or fall 1993 or spring 1994 to determine educational and work-related outcomes and compare findings to outcomes for previous years' graduates. Study findings, based on responses from 436 (42.8%) of the graduates, included…

One method used by Alabama's Snead State Community College (SSCC) to measure student learning is to compare student scores on placement exams, taken before core course work, to results from evaluation exams, taken upon completion of core courses. All incoming freshmen are required to provide scores from American College Testing (ACT) assessment…

Although ample research has investigated critical-thinking skills among college students from state-supported higher education institutions of nonreligious affiliation, virtually none has examined critical thinking among students enrolled in private Christian colleges, nor the effect of prior educational setting on students' critical-thinking…