The Science Foundation Programme (SFP) at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg attempts to address past educational inequalities by providing disadvantaged matriculants with the skills, resources and self-confidence needed to embark on their tertiary studies. Students entering the Programme typically adopt a surface approach to…

Background: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) affect a significant number of children in this country. This article addresses diagnostic issues related to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other alcohol-related disabilities, discusses associated features and behaviors of FASD, and introduces interventions to support children with FASD in…

The findings of a review of research into setting and streaming (ways of grouping pupils according to ability) in primary and secondary schools in Scotland are presented. The review was conducted according to the best evidence synthesis model, as set out by Slavin (1986). The review relied on findings of Slavin's meta-analyses, as well as adding…

This study investigated how obtaining predicted and actual scores on aptitude tests can provide crucial information regarding personal beliefs about ability. The ACID profile of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Revised) (WAIS-R) was used to collect the subjective and objective scores of 92 college students with severe scholastic deficits…

This paper explores the effect of reviewing items and altering responses on the efficiency of computer adaptive tests (CATs) and the resultant ability measures of examinees. Subjects included 712 medical students: 220 subjects were randomly assigned to the review condition; 492 were randomly assigned to a review control condition (the usual CAT…

In 1970, the City University of New York (CUNY) adopted an open-admissions policy, under which any student with a high school degree has the right of access to CUNY community colleges. Subsequently, CUNY was faced with large numbers of students in need of basic skills instruction. By the end of the 1970's, the Freshman Skills Assessment Program…

This study was conducted to examine high school teachers' perceptions of self-efficacy and ways in which self-perception is affected by: (1) differences in the characteristics of classes taught; (2) differences in the organizational environments in which teachers work; and (3) interactions that neutralize the negative effects of difficult classes.…

A support service for students at Wayne State College is described that is coordinated by the learning center and supported by a network of referrals. The target groups are students who have been placed on academic suspension or probation, the chronically absent, and those who are having difficulty with basic writing, term paper writing, test…

This paper introducing a symposium--Cognitive Style and Microcomputers: A Review and Synthesis of Current and Needed Research and Development--presents issues attendant to research and development in cognitive styles and microcomputer uses within the context of instructional technology, with emphasis on the relationship of cognitive style to…

This study was conducted using archival data for 300 students of the graduating class of 1980 in a public school system which had a minimum competency testing (MCT) program. Data on normative variables (age, sex, race, and ability test scores) and performance variables (high school course of study, grade point average, absenteeism, and truancy)…

Omitted items cannot properly be treated as wrong when estimating ability and item parameters. A convenient method for utilizing the information provided by omissions is presented. Theoretical and empirical justifications are presented for the estimates obtained by the new method. (Author)

To be prepared for a successful college experience, students must know certain academic subjects and have the skills to demonstrate their competencies in these subjects. This booklet outlines what college entrants need to know and be able to do to enter college in Alabama. As of July 1989, admissions standards of all Alabama public colleges and…

This paper examines the ways in which children's beliefs about their abilities influence their academic achievement. These beliefs interact with the demands of different tasks or learning situations. Research is described which deals with children's causal attributions for their academic success or failure and with children's definitions of…

Parents have a pervasive and continual influence on their children's career development, beginning with early childhood and continuing as the child progresses through fantasy, exploration, tentative and trial stages of career development, and as the child responds to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The child's readiness for…

Empire State College (ESC) is an alternative college that uses an individualized degree plan, assessment of prior learning, and a learning contract arrangement. Data were collected from 4,543 entering students at ESC between fall 1974 and January 1977 on a Student Biographical Inventory (SBI). The SBI included items on the students' background,…