The Appalachia Educational Laboratory qualitative study of the implementation of five aspects of the Kentucky Education Reform Act in four rural school districts is now in its fourth year. This paper focuses on findings concerning the first year of the primary program, which was put into widespread operation in 1992-93. Nongraded primary programs…

This report on the educational needs of American gifted and talented students identifies indicators of an educational crisis, describes the current status of education for these students, and presents recommendations to meet the educational needs of these students. Indicators demonstrating the need for change include the relatively poor…

This report describes the first year evaluation of the implementation and effects of the Project SELF HELP, a family literacy program located in two urban elementary schools and run by a community organization. The program was available to 15 adults from each site who had lower than a fifth grade reading level and whose children were experiencing…

In this predictive study, the variables of College Basic Academic Subjects Examination (C-BASE) Science score, American College Test (ACT) Science score, Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) score, and total number of college science courses completed were investigated as predictors of science process skills and physical science…

The observable effects of curricular tracking were investigated for a cohort of students in six Vermont high schools during the years 1981-89. The outcome variable was persistence in school as predicted by grades in academic subjects from grade 4 through 9, or time of withdrawal, and the level of courses in which students were enrolled. Three…

It is difficult for the students to understand some concepts related to the chemistry education such as complex formation, central ion, ligand, free electron pair, acceptor, donor, stability constant of complex and concealing. In those cases, demonstrating two dimensional models and using various molecular graphics programs on computers could be…

Many teachers struggle with motivating students to learn. This is especially prevalent in social studies classrooms in which students perceive social studies as boring (Schug, Todd, & Berry, 1984; Shaughnessy & Haladyana, 1985). This article advocates the use of technology in social studies as a means to motivate students by engaging…

This paper reviews the hallmark studies of field dependence-independence and considers the evidence for sex and ethnic differences in cognitive style. Research has traditionally linked females' early verbal superiority with field dependence and males' superior visuospatial skills with field independence. Studies challenging this picture cite…

This study examines the North Carolina program for the academically gifted. Students (N=142), parents (N=83), counselors (N=70), teachers (N=71), principals (N=50) and superintendents (N=17) were surveyed. Findings report widespread interest in increased curriculum planning, academics, and science and mathematics. Many criticisms of the…

California law requires sponsors of standardized tests used for admission or placement purposes in higher education to report certain data annually. Data on each of the 10 batteries of standardized tests affected by the law in 1987-88 are reported, and mean test scores are displayed for students nationally and in California if those averages are…

This study was conducted to investigate the relative importance of social and academic factors in influencing the probability of transfer from a community college to a four-year college. The structural model used in the study was composed of the following constructs: the effect of social class, race, and gender on students' academically related…

Children are faced with an increased potential for academic failure due to less stable family lives and career-oriented parents. Cross-cultural reading instruction practices and programs can provide insights that could prevent such failure for children at-risk. One such program is the reading maintenance program used in Denmark, wherein groups of…

In 1985, for the first time, Pennsylvania's student assessment program included measures of a higher order thinking skills goal termed Analytical Thinking. These tests utilize a decision-making model to assess such skills as drawing inferences, identifying appropriate information to gather before making a decision, analogical reasoning,…

There are many unresolved issues in the education of exceptional children and youth. This report addresses four topics of current interest and concern: (1) Gifted education -- the gifted and talented are currently underserved and underachieving, in part because federal support is not available. Problem areas in this context include: defining the…

This study used multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) to assess differences among subgroups defined in terms of sex and undergraduate major area, and ethnic group and undergraduate major area, with respect to patterns of performance on Graduate Record Examination (GRE) item-type part scores. Special subscores based on item types included in the…