An empirical test of the service-profit chain in a large United Kingdom retail business explored how employee attitudes and behavior can improve customer retention and, consequently, company sales performance. Data were collected from 65,000 employees and 25,000 customers from almost 100 stores. The business collected customer satisfaction for…

This paper describes the development work and research findings of an initiative to create a statewide literacy assessment in New York to inform teaching and learning and report on group performance trends. The Early Literacy Profile (ELP) is a classroom-based, standards-referenced performance assessment for students in the primary grades…

This study investigated the association between college students' engagement of learning strategies and their academic performance in a freshman psychology course. Three groups of students participated in the study: 22 at-risk freshmen who were taught learning strategies in a linked strategy-instruction course; 22 students who had previously taken…

This study sought to develop a valid and reliable instrument to measure student perceptions of good college teaching from a cross-cultural perspective. A total of 63 graduate and undergraduate students from various ethnic and racial groups (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American) completed a set of open-ended questions…

Noting studies showing a critical link between students' relation to the school environment and their academic performance, attendance, attitudes, motivation, and post-high school success, particularly for at-risk students, this guide compiles widely recognized strategies to develop students' sense of connection to their school environment. The…

This book provides a practical approach to using and developing performance assessments. There are 13 chapters: (1) "Determining Goals, Targets, and Objectives" (what students should be able to do as a result of being in the class); (2) "How Will Assessment Be Used?" (how assessment can help or hinder the instructional process…

This book focuses on the professional practices of elementary and secondary school teachers. It can serve as the textbook for an undergraduate or first graduate course in educational assessment, and no formal work in statistics or college mathematics is necessary to understand the text. The chapters are: (1) "Classroom Decision Making and Using…

This is the first annual Results Report for the Illinois Community College System. For each of the six statewide goals, the report provides information on stated Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and college priorities, common and individual college initiatives and actions, and state-level initiatives that support the goal. ICCB staff review…

Until recently, fathers were the hidden parents in research on children's well-being. Research stimulated by the new interest in fathers suggests that fathers' involvement in their children's schools does make a difference in their children's education. Using data from the 1996 National Household Education Survey (NHES:96), this Digest looks at…

This study examined whether or not selected recently endorsed and currently practicing school library media specialists are using job competencies taught to them in three schools of higher education training programs. Based on a review of literature, the research hypothesis is that there is a disparity between job competencies as taught and the…

Describes the "relatively successful" efforts of the Pennsylvania State Educational Association (PSEA) to curtail anticipated layoffs by pressing for a seniority law, enacted in November 1979, that effectively removed performance ratings as a factor in teacher layoffs. (JBM)

Determined relationships between college/secondary earth science teachers' confidence in ability to teach field-based earth science cognitive objectives and perceived sources of that confidence, discussing objectives teachers felt confident/unconfident in teaching. Indicates that inservice education ranked behind preservice education or teaching…

The creation and evolution of an internal medicine clerkship in three large teaching hospitals undergoing transition from affiliated hospitals to the university hospitals of a new medical school, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, is summarized. (Author/MLW)

Surveyed student attitudes on modes of testing and evaluation. Data from 476 college students revealed that multiple-choice test items and short answer essays were most preferred. Found grade point average related to study habits and preparation for and determinant of student preferences regarding tests. (Author/JAC)

Compared conventional biology instruction to personalized system of instruction (PSI) and investigated relationship between achievement and selected variables (age, sex, family income/size, grade point average, motivational factors, treatment group, and California Achievement Test scores) of college students (N=80). Results, among others, indicate…