Since the implementation of educational reform in California in 1981, the Oxnard School District's efforts to improve student achievement have included the following areas of staff development: curriculum revision; proficiency testing for reading, math, and composition; grade promotion and retention standards; and intersession remediation…

An overview of the development of a computerized version of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) is presented. It describes the previously existing printed version of the DAT, design of the computerized adaptive edition, calibration of the test items for use in the computerized version, and two field studies that compared the Adaptive and…

In school districts throughout the United States, at-risk students are receiving remedial instruction in learning centers outside the classroom. Because this separation increases the likelihood that students will receive a fragmented education, learning center staff should provide remedial students with "curricular congruence," or content and…

Although ability partly explains why some students are eager to learn in school whereas others are disinterested, motivation is another significant factor. This newsletter discusses factors that affect students' motivation to learn, considers techniques that can increase motivation, and identifies schools that have developed activities to enhance…

There are many problems involved in upgrading scientific literacy in high schools: poorly qualified teachers, the lack of good instructional materials, and economic and academic disadvantages all contribute to the problem. This document describes a project designed to increase the opportunities available to the high school science student to…

This monograph describes the job-related basic skills requirements of the work force and explores ways of developing and improving the reading, writing, and computational abilities of workers. The paper first examines trends that are influencing the demand for basic skills, such as the decline in youth population and the increase in service and…

To investigate how the number of years students spend studying academic subjects affects their achievement, this study compiled data from a nationwide longitudinal study of 58,000 high school students begun in 1980, and from 1982 College Board testing files. Years of instruction in seven subject areas were related, using statewide averages, to…

The Project OMNI curriculum is intended to help students develop necessary prerequisite skills for independent travel. The teacher's guidebook provides an overview of the OMNI curriculum components (individual student inventories, individual student profiles, and curriculum modules); discusses the relation of the module areas to the mobility…

When students make the transition from elementary school to junior high school, they experience abrupt organizational changes in their school environment. The hypothesis that social comparison processes mediate the relation between ability grouping practices in mathematics and students' achievement expectancies was tested in a longitudinal sample…

The economic impact of optimal selection using ability tests is far higher than is commonly known. For small organizations, dollar savings from higher productivity can run into millions of dollars a year. This report estimates the potential savings to the Federal Government as an employer as being 15.61 billion dollars per year if tests were given…

This book is a collection of essays by various authors documenting the development and evaluation of Individually Guided Education (IGE), a planned attempt, involving thousands of scholars and practitioners, to produce more effective elementary schools. Part 1, "An Attempt to Restructure Elementary Schooling," consists of three chapters…

In the spring of 1985, the Oregon Department of Education conducted an assessment of eighth graders' skills in writing, reading, and mathematics. The state reading test consisted of two parts: the first designed to measure students' inferential and evaluative reading comprehension and selected study skills, the second designed to measure students'…

The North York Board of Education established an Early Identification Committee, as directed by the Ministry of Education in 1978, to develop procedures for early identification of children's learning needs and abilities. An initial examination of how Early Identification Procedures were being received in the schools is presented, assessing the…

This revised evaluation supplement to the "DOVACK Method for Teaching Reading Project Report" corrects errors in the report's original evaluation supplement with respect to the results of the 72-day and 108-day DOVACK Random Sample Vocabulary Recognition Tests employed to measure the effectiveness of DOVACK as a language experience…

This study investigated the degree to which 48 seventh and eighth grade students of different abilities acquired strategic planning knowledge from an intellectual computer game ("Wumpus"). Relationships between ability and student performance with two versions of the game were also investigated. The two versions differed in the structure…