This study examined associations between parent-child relationships and adolescents' academic performance. Adolescents in 7th and 10th grade completed self-report questionnaires assessing 6 features of parent-adolescent relationships: time spent together, number of activities, degree of influence, frequency of experiencing positive emotions,…

This study examined the experiences of 15 elementary schools in Washington state demonstrating relatively slow improvement on the reading and mathematics sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Since the passage of educational reform legislation in 1993, Washington has undertaken a systematic overhaul of its K-12 public school…

Establishing a solid standards-and-assessment system is only the first step toward the ultimate goal of bringing all students to the standards. But without this first step, all others will fall short. The paper explains the essential role of standards and assessments in improving student achievement and offers solutions to challenges districts…

This report summarizes the presentations and discussion at a workshop on adolescent sleep. The workshop was organized by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Forum on Adolescence of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The workshop brought together policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to examine research…

Education reform in the 1980s and 1990s emerged from a preoccupation with productivity and economic performance. In the 1980s, the country's education system was blamed for slowing productivity growth and weakening international competitiveness. By the end of the 1990s, the economic context had changed dramatically; unemployment rates were at…

This report presents findings of the third annual survey of state programs that link funding to campus performance, either in the form of performance budgeting or performance funding. The survey found that 30 states now have at least one of these two types of programs, up from 26 states the previous year, although some earlier programs have been…

Assessing student performance is a multidimensional process that involves an assessment of their knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Evaluation of work attitudes/habits as well as knowledge and skills is needed to prepare students for success and satisfaction in agricultural occupations. (SSH)

Cognitive control over impulsive behavior on a Luria-type task was examined for 165 middle- and lower-socioeconomic status (SES) children in nursery school and first grade. Specific impulse control problems were found for both middle- and lower-SES children in nursery school. By first grade, only the lower-SES children continued to exhibit this…

The results of a path analysis revealed the following causal sequence or pathway of influence on the social status of educable mentally retarded children: from observed behavior and achievement, to teacher perceptions of these competencies, to student perceptions of the competencies, and finally, to social status of the handicapped students.…

Intelligence quotients from the Slosson Intelligence Test for 60 Head Start children drawn from three areas of metropolitan St. Louis showed the group to be heterogeneous with respect to intelligence. No significant differences were associated with sex or race. Consideration of such characteristics is needed in planning school programs. (Author/CM)

Reports on a study in which attempts were made to instantiate the same task in a series of classroom lessons and activities and which used two process coding systems to evaluate teacher performance. Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each type of coding system. (FL)

Tenth graders solved mathematical problems assisted by varying amounts of help from their teacher. Significant differences occurred between students receiving aid and the unaided control group. Partial assistance resulted in better immediate performance, but this difference was less observable three weeks later. (Author/GDC)

The hypothesis that the relationship between the technology and social structure of a school or classroom affects teacher behavior is explored with longitudinal data from a case study of faculty who attempted to replace letter grades and report cards with individualized, descriptive student assessment. (Author/GDC)

Some aspects of a study designed to illustrate relations between the size of units and their teaching, research and service outputs, or the structure of their resources are presented. Resources and outputs were measured by total expenditure, hours of teaching, publications, citations, etc. Size was defined by expenditure on staff. (Author/MLW)

The article reviews 22 studies concerned with learning disabled children under 10 years old in which there was a clear attempt to compare auditory and visual modality preferenes to visual and/or auditory methods of teaching words or other written verbal symbols. (PHR)