This study examined the effects of grouping students by ability or achievement on middle school students' academic achievement. Mathematics achievement scores from the California Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) were obtained from 25 seventh graders randomly selected from a group of 80 who had received instruction in an ability-grouped setting for…

A study compared the effects of a field-based methods course on industrial education (IE) preservice teachers with the effects of a campus-based IE methods course on similar students. Two convenience sample groups were used: eight students enrolled in the IE methods course taught on campus and seven students enrolled in the field-based IE methods…

In both France and Germany, the government, employers' organizations, and unions all participate in defining vocational diplomas based on a national framework of procedures of elaborating and standardizing titles. Important differences between the diploma definition processes in France and Germany may be identified. In Germany, the issue is…

A study examined how government administrators in New Zealand construct their professional identities and power relationships, and how this identity is reflected in patterns of discourse and strategies of interaction. Three levels of discourse analysis (speech functions; discourse strategies; and linguistic forms) and their components and…

This report compares findings from faculty surveys conducted as part of the 1987-88 National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty, which is limited to faculty and staff with instructional responsibilities, and the 1992-93 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, which includes instructional as well as noninstructional faculty. In particular, the report…

This report provides data on withdrawal and success rates and grades earned in fall 1995 at the five campuses of Pima Community College (PCC) in Arizona. Following a literature review on national course grades, descriptions are provided of the following: (1) grades and withdrawals for 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1995, indicating that the number of A…

This report provides data on withdrawal and success rates and grades earned in fall 1996 at the five campuses of Pima Community College (PCC) in Arizona. Following a literature review on national course grades, descriptions are provided of the following: (1) grades and withdrawals for 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996, indicating that the number of A…

Sex-related differences between the employment opportunities available in France to males and females with comparable levels of education were examined through an analysis of data from two types of sources: statistics derived from quantitative surveys conducted on broad samples of graduates 2-4 years after the end of their training and in-depth…

This study compared the effectiveness of Georgia community leadership programs based on leadership skill development to that of programs based on issue discussion and networking. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI-Self) was adapted for community leaders and mailed to a stratified sample of 376 alumni of community leadership programs based on…

A study evaluated the overall evaluative validity of the Four Skills Exam, a Spanish language proficiency test designed to ensure that bilingual education teachers in New Mexico can meet Spanish language demands in the bilingual education classroom. The test's construct validity was limited for several reasons. In designing a test capturing…

The evolution of creative thought was examined, an examination that resulted in the construction of universal criteria for analysis and detailed evidence for the evolution of novelty, i.e. how children create knowledge. The collected data came from 200 students from the United States and 200 from Brazil. Each of the 10 age groups (from 4 to 13…

This document examines the transferability of distance learning qualifications within the 16 member states of the European Union and 18 Eastern European countries. Chapter 1 explains the document's structure, and chapter 2 presents basic information about the legal background regulating the recognition of academic and vocational qualifications in…

A comparative study examined student performance attributed to the mode of literature instruction to determine the validity of increasing auditory-based learning activities in the middle school language arts classroom. Two classes of identified low-achieving students in a middle school reading program participated and were alternately assigned to…

A study analyzed actual use of one type of utterance, the request, at service counters at Southern Illinois University and compared the findings to the request forms found in four commercially available English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) textbooks that emphasize communicative competence. It also compared the requests of native and non-native…

A meta-analysis of research on college students in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) was undertaken to clarify the effects of small-group learning at the undergraduate level. The focus was three broad categories of outcomes among SMET undergraduates: achievement, persistence, and attitudes. Research concerns included:…