Based on insights gained from an Australian program of adult migrant English language education, it is argued that independent learning centers (ILCs) can be effective in assisting adult learners to develop both independent learning skills and language skills. The principles of independent learning and contemporary understanding about learning…

Replicating a 1979 study, a survey of school library media specialists in 440 Iowa school districts was conducted in the spring of 1983 to determine the influence of a model policy published by the Iowa Department of Public Instruction (DPI) on the development, adoption, and provisions of school district policies for the selection of instructional…

Fiscal year appropriations for 1982-1983 and supporting data are presented for comparative analysis of state financing of public higher education. M. M. Chamber's annual data on state higher education appropriations are used. The data are based on a model of state rankings for seven independent factors plus eight derived measurements, which…

A study examined the linguistic strategies of strong and weak readers in grades three and six within the context of D. E. Rumelhart's interactive model of the reading process. A linguistic prediction task was set up to investigate students' use of orthographic constraints, syntactic redundancy, and syntactic and semantic knowledge. A program was…

Under development in a Maryland district, the Competency-Based Systems Oriented Guidance Program described here combines (1) a focus on helping all students become competent in knowledge, attitude, and skills and (2) a systems orientation addressing the entire spectrum of student life by providing a common language, methods of information…

This volume consists of nine conference papers and journal articles concerned with microcomputer applications in the teaching of writing. After a general introduction entitled "Computer-Assisted Composition Instruction: The State of the Art," by Robert Shostak, four papers are devoted to how computers may help with the writing process. In…

Issues concerning mentoring for women in higher education are discussed. After identifying benefits of mentoring for the protege, the mentor, and the institution, barriers to traditional mentoring for women are considered. Attention is directed to why men may hesitate to mentor women students and faculty, why female mentors are hard to find on…

John Carroll's concept of mastery learning (ML) is described, and an ML model which can be used by directors of music-performing groups is presented. According to Carroll, any student, when given direction and time to follow that direction, can move along a time line from a state of inability to a state of ability. Tasks defined in behavioral…

This paper speculates about research findings that can be potentially powerful as content for preservice teacher education and influential upon the delivery of that content to prospective teachers. The primary source for the research findings which appear in the paper is the body of information prepared for the conference "Research on…

A recent model for the design of staff development programs for educators includes 5 stages--readiness, planning, training, implementation, and maintenance--each of which is defined by a set of 4 to 11 practices. To test this model and the relative merits of its 38 practices and its underlying assumptions, a national questionnaire survey of over…

This vocational guidance training model is designed for vocational and technical education teachers who need special instruction in order to function effectively as members of vocational guidance teams in schools that have competency-based vocational education programs. The model defines vocational guidance, vocational education, competency-based…

In an effort to create a multilevel, interactive, and hypothesis-based model of the reading comprehension process that bridges interdisciplinary gaps in the theory of learning, this report focuses on descriptions of cognitive processes developed in the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, sociolinguistics, linguistics, and…

Parenthood is a normal event in which the birth of a baby temporarily upsets the internal structure of the family system as boundaries, roles, and tasks are reorganized to accommodate the new member. In understanding how interactions between and within spousal and parental relationships affect parental adjustment, concepts of development need to…

A model is presented for the improvement of compensatory early childhood education through more effective use of student and staff time. A framework for research to test the model is also suggested. Sections of the document prefacing discussion of the model include (1) an overview of the historical antecedents and development of early childhood…

This report describes a simulation of adults' retrieval of arithmetic facts from a network-based memory representation. The goals of the simulation project are to: demonstrate in specific form the nature of a spreading activation model of mental arithmetic; account for three important reaction time effects observed in laboratory investigations;…