Students were randomly assigned to read a text passage displayed on microcomputers in one of four conditions: (1) required reviewing of main; or (2) alternate text when responses to adjunct questions were incorrect; (3) reading with adjunct questions; and (4) reading without adjunct questions. (Author/LMO)

Discusses highlights of a literature review on guidelines for formative evaluation of courseware and the development of a formative evaluation instrument by the Kanata High Technology Training Association (Ottawa). The eight dimensions of the resultant questionnaire are listed and a copy of the evaluation instrument is included. (MBR)

Describes study that investigated whether the use of LOGO accelerates cognitive development of five- and seven-year-old kindergarten students as measured by Piagetian-based tests of conservation of length, number, and ability to identify geometric shapes. Pretests and posttests are described and directions for future research are given.…

Describes study of undergraduate students that was designed to assess the effectiveness of a simulation game in increasing empathic understanding. Dependent measures used to test the effectiveness of the games are described, the discrimination index is explained, results are analyzed, and future research needs are suggested. (31 references) (LRW)

This study compares the reading achievement of beginning readers in kindergarten who were assigned to two reading groups: (1) cipher readers and (2) phonetic-cue readers. Results showed that the first group did better in both reading and spelling. The importance of beginning readers advancing beyond cue reading to cipher reading is emphasized.…

A performance evaluation model is presented to address the need for measuring the effectiveness of educational training programs in institutions of higher learning. The model emphasizes outcomes by assessing the quality of change that occurs in individual and program performance. (Author/LMO)

This article reports the evaluation of a cognitive education course designed for inmates in Canadian federal penitentiaries. Reports from school instructors indicate that participating inmates showed improvement in their ability to communicate and discuss ideas and were more able to stop and think before acting on a problem. (Author/CT)

The purpose of this study was to determise the relative loss in statistical power of traditional methods of analysis when response-shift bias is present. Five methods of analysis (posttest scores only; postminus pretests; postminus retrospective pretest; postcovaried by pretest; postcovaried by retrospective pretest) were compared. (Author/BW)

A total of 160 second-grade children were assigned on the basis of a free-recall pretest to four instructional conditions and were given a series of lists of pictures for free recall. Results focused on different levels of recall displayed by experimental and control groups. (Author/CI)

This study investigated the transfer of four study rules from pictures to a prose recall task by learning disabled adolescents. Subjects receiving extensive direct training that included problem isomorph recognition surpassed the control group on posttests. Instructed subjects did not differ from nondisabled subjects in use of learning strategies.…

Four theoretical models (Substitution, Suppression, Normal, and Remind) of the effects of lexical knowledge on reading comprehension were evaluated using results of a previous study. Fourth graders recalled texts containing words that were either unfamiliar or recently taught through an intensive vocabulary instruction program. (Author/BS)

This paper examines how controlling statistically for baseline covariates (especially pretests) improves the precision of studies that randomize schools to measure the impacts of educational interventions on student achievement. Part I of the paper introduces the concepts, issues, and options involved. Parts II and III present empirical findings…

This study investigated how the online instruction in a graduate instructional technology course affects learners psychological factors, such as locus of control and achievement motivation. It was expected that learners would be more internal at the completion of the course than at the beginning, and that learners would have higher achievement…

In an age of student accountability, public school systems must find procedures for identifying effective schools, classrooms, and teachers that help students continue to learn academically. As a result, researchers have been modeling schools and classrooms to calculate productivity indicators that will withstand not only statistical review but…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated the efficacy of a referential communication task for teaching written language skills to elementary school-aged children with learning disabilities. Participants included five dyads, each consisting of one child with a learning disability and one child with typical language…