This study reports the development and evaluation of a web-based interactive writing environment designed for elementary school students. The environment includes three writing themes, "story pass on", "story chameleon" and "thousand ideas", to encourage reading comprehension, creativity and problem-solving skills of…

In search of better, more cost effective ways to deliver instruction and training, universities and corporations have expanded their use of e-learning. Although several studies suggest that online education and blended instruction (a "blend" of online and traditional approaches) can be as effective as traditional classroom models, few…

Background: It has been proposed that ADHD is an executive control disorder. Little is known however about the maturation of executive control in ADHD. Method: A cross-sectional study of ADHD patients compared to normal controls tested on a computerized neurocognitive test battery. Participants: 175 patients with ADHD, age 10 to 29, compared to…

Computer-based testing (CBT) is typically implemented using one of three general test delivery models: (1) multiple fixed testing (MFT); (2) computer-adaptive testing (CAT); or (3) multistage testing (MSTs). This article reviews some of the real cost drivers associated with CBT implementation--focusing on item production costs, the costs…

The article presents the cultural background, methodological design, theory, and results of a comprehensive research project where the doxa and textual norms of the judges at the national writing exam in Norway were studied. The background of the study is the quite comprehensive reforms in Norway of the way writing is taught in the upper secondary…

This article describes the methodology and program effects of the Secondary Schools Demonstration Project (SSDP) conducted in four Ontario schools. The objective of the study was to evaluate the extent to which a universal program model of three interventions--cooperative learning; classroom management; and peer-helping approaches that included…

This analysis examined the contrasts between online and traditional delivery methods in terms of the impact on student learning and satisfaction for similar course material. It built on the work of other researchers who have asked these types of questions for individual courses and relatively small sample sizes. However, this analysis expanded the…

The IEA Preprimary Project is a longitudinal, cross-national study of preprimary care and education designed to identify how process and structural characteristics of the settings children attended at age 4 are related to their age-7 cognitive and language performance. Investigators collaborated to develop common instruments to measure family…

This study investigated the effects of the Jigsaw II cooperative learning (CL) model and whole class instruction in improving learners' reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read. Forty-four grade five English as a foreign language learners participated in the study, and a posttest-only control group experimental design…

A rapid ethnograhic study of 10 itinerant teachers in two school districts and 21 other professionals working with the itinerants was conducted. Rapid ethnography starts with the same assumptions about culture as conventional ethnography. However, it is not constrained by the assumption of cultural ignorance on the investigator's part. Thus, it…

Children in the United States are exposed to considerable community violence that has been linked to child functioning. However, not all those exposed, experience negative outcomes. Recent research has focused on factors that "buffer" or protect children from negative consequences of violence exposure. The purpose of this investigation…

Perceptions of social support from family, non-family adults, and peers were examined in relation to the psychopathology reported by 220 suicidal adolescents (152 females) during a psychiatric hospitalization. Results of regression analyses showed that, among females, family support was negatively related to hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and…

Objective: This study was designed to examine context effects or provocation ecologies in the daily lives of children with ADHD. Method: Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] taking stimulant medication; 25 children without ADHD; ages 7-12 years) provided electronic diary reports…

This monograph contains 14 papers on the role of higher education in the developing world stimulated by discussion of that issue in "Higher Education: The Lessons of Experience" (World Bank, 1994). The first two papers offer background on the World Bank paper: "World Bank Traditions of Support to Higher Education and…

This book contains the results of a study examining post-secondary education in the South Pacific by surveying the number of educational opportunities currently offered, by analyzing key trends, and by comparing developments in the Cook Islands and the Solomon Islands. Following an introductory section on terminology and the region, the first main…