Dutchess Community College (DCC) in Poughkeepsie, New York, has developed a series of 1-hour, noncredit study skills courses (CSS), which use the content of introductory credit courses as a vehicle for teaching study skills. These course-specific study skills are taught by the instructors of the related credit courses, and stress practical work…

Marsh and Parker (1984) described the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) whereby equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-ability schools than in low-ability schools. The present investigation, a reanalysis of the Youth in Transition data, supported the generality of the earlier findings and demonstrated new theoretical…

Focusing on reinforcing students' reading skills at home, this pamphlet emphasizes that parents should read aloud to children, talk to them about their experiences, take them places, limit their television-watching, and take an interest in their reading progress. Children's success and interest in reading is said to depend largely on whether they…

The model used to evaluate the mathematics curriculum of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Maryland) involved three phases: the curriculum; instruction, or the implementation of the curriculum; and students' attitudes, performance, and later success. The evaluation was conducted in 1984. Data were collected from seven sources: a review of…

The college careers of students who had participated in the Advanced Placement Program (AP) in secondary school were studied, based on extensive information on 4,814 students who participated in the Personal Qualities Project, a longitudinal study in nine colleges and universities. The project included information on 1,115 AP and 3,699 non-AP…

A series of studies were conducted at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) to determine the relationship of basic skills assessment test scores, sex, and race to student success for the following groups of fall 1985 students: 229 developmental studies (Crossover Program); 501 associate degree level students; 66 business and graphic arts…

Past and current methods used in academic quality rankings of U.S. colleges and universities are discussed. In addition to a literature and historical review, modern quality rankings are compared with early (pre-1959) rankings, including past rankings of medical, dental, legal and black education. Also considered are the exemplary 1982 evaluation…

This research examined student demographic (gender, ethnicity, grades, and previous home economics experience) and geographic (rural/urban school locale and individual school) factors that may be related to performance on a statewide New Mexico achievement test under development in the home economics subject matter area of consumer education and…

To determine if a relationship can be found between school size and academic achievement, a study examined correlations for 566 New Mexico public schools (grades 5, 8, and 11) from 1978 to 1981. The measure of academic achievement used was the schools' average "total scale score" on the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. The two…

This report focuses on effective urban schools in the context of desegregation. The introduction takes a retrospective and prospective look at desegregation in terms of: (1) progress since the last report; (2) the changing focus of equal educational opportunity; (3) an agenda for the 1980s; and (4) equity and choice. The second section provides…

A study examined whether writing modeled from children's picture books would improve reading comprehension of fourth and fifth graders as much as traditional skills instruction. Subjects, 69 children reading at least one year below grade level from six Chapter 1 Colorado schools, were pretested for reading comprehension levels. Subjects were then…

This book, based on the author's theory of "success emulation," presents 12 detailed lessons for school districts in adopting principles and practices that have worked for the best-run companies in America. Each lesson presents a step-by-step practical guide for achieving excellence in education by explaining what businesses are doing to…

The Halstead/Bentley Public School District in south-central Kansas has a long, successful history of administering a comprehensive evaluation program of achievement, scholastic aptitude, and interest tests and inventories in grades K-12. The PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is an…

Two intermediate elementary schools in the Bay Shore District of Bay Shore, New York, were studied to assess the impact upon student achievement of a program in cooperative learning applied to mathematics, reading, and writing. The schools include the Gardiner Manor and South Country Schools; in the 1986-87 school year, 510 students attended the…

Since 1978, annual studies have been conducted of the flow of transfer students from the California community colleges to the University of California and the California State University (CSU). The studies have focused on trends in the numbers of transfers and the ethnicity, majors, and age of transfer students. Findings from the study of fall…