This textbook for elementary school children is a history of African Americans from 800 A.D. to 1992 in 24 chapters. Each chapter closes with a review that lists vocabulary words to learn, and offers thinking and writing questions. Some chapters also contain activity sheets. Chapter topics include African origins, black explorers and settlers in…

The State University of New York and Instructional Systems, Inc., (ISI) developed a project to combine computer assisted instruction (CAI) and live, interactive videoconferencing with a television teacher, conducted via cable. The project is being pursued by the Syracuse (New York) City School District in conjunction with the State University of…

At the root of the performance assessment movement is fairly widespread dissatisfaction with high-stakes multiple-choice tests. Many critics of multiple-choice tests argue that to improve instruction, tests themselves will have to improve. Hundreds of schools around the country are already experimenting with performance assessments, and many…

This essay discusses the prospect of utilizing well-confirmed knowledge to enhance the chances for the schooling success of every student in today's elementary schools through secondary schools. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the state of practice. The balance of the paper illustrates an efficient way to apply research and practical…

Seventeen studies that linked school characteristics and labor market performance were analyzed. Each met five criteria: labor market characteristics of students after they left high school were used as output measures, quality measures of schools were identified as inputs, reasonably sophisticated statistical procedures were used, "hard" measures…

This study examined the effect of formal instruction on the acquisition of three grammatical structures (simple past tense, present perfect, and passive construction) by Chinese adolescent learners of English. Comparison focused on the effects of two methods: explicit formal and implicit formal instruction. In the explicit method, students are…

This ethnographic study relates the differences reported by student teachers as they experienced teaching in a culturally diverse elementary school that contained a large population of minority students and compared that placement with a rural school that had few or no minority students. The methodology involved preplacement interviews, journals,…

This monograph brings together what has been learned over the past few decades about children at risk, as it analyzes current strategies designed to improve student and school performance and proposes ways of achieving academic excellence with high reliability. Section 1, "Becoming at Risk of Failure in America's Schools," integrates…

The 1994 High School Transcript Study (HSTS) provides the Department of Education and other policymakers with information about current course offerings and students' course-taking patterns in the nation's secondary schools. One objective was to determine changes in course offering and selection patterns since the previous studies in 1982, 1987,…

This paper has been written as a supporting paper to "A Bridge to the Future: Australia's National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 1998-2003" (ED 420 764). Because vocational education and training (VET) activities constitute a major expenditure for Australia's federal, state, and territory governments, effective…

This paper examines research studies of learner control in computer-based instruction (CBI) from 1987-1997. The review evaluates predictions and conclusions from previous literature reviews, in light of current research, and discusses the implications of recent findings for instructional development. Findings suggest that the positions that…

This report presents policies to enhance academic preparation and progress, assist needy students, and keep college costs affordable in Illinois, and indicates the implementation status of these policies. These policies are designed to heighten awareness among students and families of the effect of academic preparation and sustained academic…

The goals of this study of student outcomes were to find ways to better manage enrollments, husband teaching and administrative resources, reduce attrition, and better understand the needs and expectations of students. The study examined data for 2,262 first-time, associate degree-seeking students entering a mid-sized rural college in the…

This document provides information on student performance at the state, regional, and school system levels on end-of-grade multiple choice tests for grades 3 through 8 in reading and mathematics and the end-of-course multiple choice tests administered in high school subjects in 1996-97 as part of the North Carolina Testing Program. The figures and…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in the United States know and can do in various academic subjects. The 1996 NAEP in mathematics assessed the current level of mathematical achievement as a mechanism for informing education reform. In 1996, 44…