Using the findings of two studies of the home environments of children who are successful at reading at young ages, this paper suggests ways in which early childhood classrooms can create environments that promote literacy growth and provide children with an appropriate background and interest for later successful experiences in learning to read…

Since 1982-83, Spencerport Central School District (New York) has conducted a project to improve the educational program and student learning in each building of the district. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the project, focusing on five elementary schools. The project's goal for each building is that at least 95 percent of all…

Research on teacher and school effectiveness indicates that higher expectations for student achievement are part of a pattern of differential attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors characterizing teachers and schools that are effective in maximizing their students' learning gains. This resource document reviews research that indicates how differential…

This workbook was developed for an inservice workshop to assist regular education teachers and others in screening and making more appropriate referrals for suspected learning disabilities. The first part of the workbook consists of a series of topic papers that form the theoretical base of the decision-making process used in the workbook for…

Reported are findings of the 1985-86 program evaluation of the prenatal-to-preschool and preschool programs operating under the auspices of the Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate. Evaluation of the prenatal-to-preschool program (the Kupulani Program) included item analysis of the Questions about Pregnancy Test, development of a revised data…

Families from non-English speaking backgrounds who migrated to Australia were surveyed on their opinions about Australian schools and the process of making decisions about schooling and careers for young people. Four types of factors were organized into a framework for conducting the study and analyzing the data: (1) student background factors…

Students were surveyed to determine the outcomes of participation in an introductory social science course at the Open University (England). The 18 students were taking their first Open University course, and most had little recent formal education. Many were unsure about their ability to handle the course and did not know what to expect of it.…

Educators are beginning to address the needs of children living in single-parent families and to recognize that the existing societal ideology of the family as a breadwinning husband and homemaking wife living with their children is problematic. However, single-parented children may suffer discrimination through school policies and teachers'…

Two strategies employed by school administrators to obtain compliance in public schools are examined in terms of their concrete expression in school rules regarding student behavior. Two kinds of rules are specified: comparative rules, which juxtapose some student behavior with an organizational response in an exchange relationship; and definitive…

Focusing on issues and concerns pertaining to teaching and counseling rural women and minority women living in rural environments, the four papers aim to promote a better understanding and more realistic picture of conditions affecting rural/minority women. "Factors Influencing Educational and Occupational Choices of Rural/Minority…

Characteristics of colleges that are related to the achievement of undergraduates in teacher education were studied, based on study of 15 North Carolina institutions, 10 predominantly white and 5 predominantly black public universities. Student performance on the National Teacher Examinations and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores were used as…

Views were surveyed of 24 academics from the Faculties of Arts and Sciences of the University of New South Wales, Australia, on the ways in which their professional lives were being affected by the current recession in higher education. The comments cluster around seven topics: teaching, students, research, colleagues, career prospects, the…

Two questionnaire surveys of 89 Kansas public elementary and secondary schools examined, first, the relationship between school expectancy climate--teachers' expectations that their efforts would lead to positive student results--and school effectiveness, and, second, the change in that relationship through the school year. School effectiveness…

Theoretical and practical implications of the proposition that teachers' differential behavior toward high and low expectation students serves a control function were tested. As predicted, initial performance expectations were found related to later perceptions of control over performance, even when the initial relationship between expectations…

According to participants at Northern Illinois' Spring Colloquium on Adventure Education, adventure programs can spark enthusiasm, inspire vision, and bring to the level of consciousness the underlying questions of life and meaning. Such programs can prepare people to seek adventure safely and without damage to the environment and can be defined…