Describes and evaluates a peer tutoring program in the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools that provided academic assistance to special needs students who were experiencing difficulty in reading and mathematics in vocational education classes. Objective was to provide individualized instruction and support for disadvantaged, special education, and…

Develops a framework for promoting effective coaching, in the sense of encouraging children's achievement, in community settings for children of different ages. Effective coaches perform the following tasks: (1) teach; (2) assess performance; (3) structure the learning environment; and (4) provide social support. (SLD)

Describes one student teacher's experiences developing the literacy skills of a 13-year-old boy from the former Soviet Union who had poorly-developed first-language literacy skills and difficulty with English. After defining and describing linguistic development in general, the paper explains how the student teacher made tutoring effective and fun…

A study of 13 Canadian families investigated the effectiveness of a model of family reunification which had foster parents act as parent aides. Results indicate that although the treatment model has excellent potential with less at-risk families, it could not meet the treatment needs of the majority of families. (Author/CR)

Describes a study conducted at the University of Sheffield (United Kingdom) that measured the learning behavior and performance of 65 postgraduate students using a hypermedia-based tutorial. Considers cognitive style, levels of prior experience, motivation, age, gender, and navigation patterns. (Author/LRW)

The goal of the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program is to provide academic enrichment opportunities and youth development activities for children attending low-performing schools. A look at several rural and urban programs in Oregon and Washington reveals that successful programs mesh with the school culture and partner with…

This case study investigates the effectiveness of online peer dialogue journaling. The authors developed this learning strategy for elementary preservice teachers to reflect on their tutoring experiences and to provide support to their journal partners using an Internet discussion forum. The participants were asked to fill in two questionnaires,…

Too often students who obviously need help in a course choose not to seek help, with predictable consequences. In an effort to encourage our students to get help, we supplemented our regular office hours with a course center, a one- or two-hour block of time in which help was available from us away from our offices. Because students can be…

The article outlines the technical writing tutorial (TWT) that preceded an advanced ESL writing course for students of English Philology at the Jagiellonian University. Having assessed the English skills of those students at the end of the semester, we found a statistically significant increase in the performance of the students who had taken the…

Aims were to identify the demographic, psychopathology, and psychosocial factors predicting time to major depressive disorder (MDD) recovery and moderators of treatment among 114 depressed adolescents recruited from a juvenile justice center and randomized to a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) condition or a life skills-tutoring control…

Although Vygotskian principles involving the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) are hailed as tenets undergirding teaching and learning within a constructivist setting, these principals have not been implemented widely within school classrooms. Tharp and Gallimore, building on the notion that learning can be maximized when a teacher has a…

A year-long study of 131 second and third graders in 12 classrooms compared three daily 20-minute treatments. a) Fifty-eight students in six classrooms used the 1999-2000 version of Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor, a computer program that uses automated speech recognition to listen to a child read aloud, and gives spoken and graphical assistance.…

The teaching and learning of a complex section in "Theoretical Computer Science 1" in a distance-education context at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has been enhanced by a supplementary e-learning application called "Relations," which interactively teaches mathematical skills in a cognitive domain. It has tutorial and…

Formative computer-based assessments (CBAs) for self-instruction were introduced into a Year-2 field biology module. These CBAs were provided in "tutorial" mode where each question had context-related diagnostic feedback and tutorial pages, and a self-test mode where the same CBA returned only a score. The summative assessments remained…

This article evaluates the role of the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS), created at universities in the Canary Islands, Spain, in staff development. The evaluation indicates that the system helped staff in learning to teach curriculum and teaching capacities. The tasks, online resources and opportunities for discussions…