This study investigated the relationships among achievement, motor engagement, cognitive engagement, and characteristics of initial skill, experience, and sex of students doing the breaststroke. When students were divided by gender, experience, and skill level, all engaged time had positive and negative correlations with achievement. (Author/MT)

Nine handicapped and nine nonhandicapped preschoolers were observed in three settings that differed in grouping, supervision, and teacher direction. Handicapped children spent less time on-task and interacted more frequently with adults and less frequently with peers than did nonhandicapped children. Furthermore, handicapped and nonhandicapped…

Discusses the advantages of psychophysiological relaxation training as an alternative or adjunct to traditional approaches for promoting on-task behaviors. Advantages include improvements in the health of children, ease of integration into the existing health and science curriculum, fast implementation, and increased productivity. (ABL)

The allocation and use of time are considered important in the context of learning because time can be manipulated, measured, and applied to the design of instructional programs. After a clarification of terminology, an overview of current research on time is offered and policy recommendations discussed. (MJL)

Engaged time and its relation to teacher-led versus seatwork activities was investigated through observations of fourth-grade students learning mathematics concepts. Results indicate that the amount of sustained time in a single instructional activity was most closely related to student achievement. (Author/DF)

To examine the immediate and long-term effects of self-recording for on-task responding, data were taken for both on-task and accuracy orformance in handwriting, spelling, and math with three behaviorally disordered elementary students. Overall results revealed increased on-task and academic performance when the students self-recorded their own…

The use of time in school is undergoing close scrutiny. Over the years, educators have sought to enhance learning time through such reforms as block scheduling and year-round schools. School time can be conceived as an inverted pyramid, in which allocated time (total time in the school day or year) forms the top tier, engaged time (time-on-task)…

This study examined the effects of color and light on the learning of eleven 6-year-old elementary school students. The students were videotaped to identify off-task behaviors and had their blood pressure measured while in a standard classroom with white walls and cool-white fluorescent lights, as well as in a classroom with light blue walls and…

The mean production rate for five moderately/severely mentally retarded students (9 to 18 years old) was higher when reinforcement was provided contingent to production than when it was provided contingent to ontask behavior. Data suggested that there may be inherent differences in the susceptibility of simple versus complex tasks to external…

Four vanguard districts are committed to raising academic scores of students by increasing academic learning time; to turning average schools for disadvantaged students into exemplary schools; and, by carefully charting the process, to providing a scenario that can be useful to other schools. (Author/JM)

Academic engaged time of six children with low-incidence disabilities in general education elementary classes was compared to six students without disabilities from the same classes and six students without disabilities from different, non-inclusive classes. No significant differences were found between academic responding and task management…

This study examined effects of an increased rate of opportunities to actively respond to academic requests on the classroom behavior of nine elementary school students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Results indicated the increased response opportunities resulted in increased correct responses and task engagement and decreased…

A study involving three men with autism examined the effects of allowing the men to make their own activity schedules by writing down the order of their tasks. Social praise was provided contingent on the participant's task completion. Client engagement was substantially higher than baseline for all three participants. (Contains references.)…

Antecedent assessment and assessment-based intervention for off-task behavior by an 11-year-old with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is reported. Assessment correlated off-task behavior with difficult academic tasks; intervention included functional communication training that focused on teaching the child to request assistance, as well…

This article, based upon a survey of 3000 teachers in 92 Illinois high schools, presents data on homework use by teachers. Data is provided on the amount, frequency, structure, purposes, and types of homework assigned to students. The level of school and parental support is also assessed. (IAH)