This issue of the Center's "Systems Newsletter" will be the last one published under the aegis of Dr. JoyceVanTassel-Baska, the Center's founder and current Executive Director. As of this August Dr. VanTassel-Baska will officially retire from the College of William and Mary and the Center. She will still be an integral part of the Center…

This study examines tracking--the practice of grouping students into separate classes or courses based on their prior academic achievement--at the middle-school level, and the percentage of high-achieving students in tracked and untracked schools. It focuses on Massachusetts, a leader in "reforming" tracking, and the changes that have…

This document contains four papers presented at a conference on technological literacy and technology education in Taiwan. The papers are the following: "Technological Literacy: An Engineering Perspective" (Ming H. Land); "Implementation of Technology Education in Japan--(Revised Edition)" (Shoji Murata); "Evaluation of…

This report presents an executive summary, in Spanish, of a study which examined the effects of curriculum compacting, a curriculum modification technique for gifted and talented students. The study involved approximately 436 elementary teachers and 783 students in 27 school districts throughout the United States. The study was designed to…

The 15 essays in this book reveal the complexity of teaching writing, with some contributors calling into question the gap between classroom theory and classroom practice as seen through students' and tutors' perspectives. The book analyzes the cornerstone of theory and proposes a reexamination of some taken-for-granted composition practices.…

This study, conducted at the University of Memphis (Tennessee), compared the effects of a self-paced method of instruction on the attitudes and perceptions of students enrolled in an undergraduate statistics course with those of a comparable group of students taking statistics in a traditional lecture setting. The non-traditional course used a…

As education engages in reform at all levels, an underlying theme of inclusive participation in reform has emerged. School renewal needs to be based on recognition of some unifying principles or a paradigm that will coherently direct renewal. The new paradigm is conceptualized in terms of a change from the homogeneous, melting-pot philosophy to…

Some research indicates that individuals learn more when given control over their instruction, while other data suggests that individuals learn less effectively when given control over their instruction. This document describes a study which investigated the effects of matching university-level learners with the amount of instruction they prefer.…

At Humber College (HC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Digital Electronics (DE) program utilizes a computerized learning infrastructure called Computer Managed Learning (CML). The program, which has been under development for several years, is flexible enough to build a unique program of studies for each individual student and allows for the…

This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting, a curriculum modification technique for gifted and talented students, with approximately 436 elementary teachers and 783 students in 27 school districts throughout the United States. The study was designed to investigate the types and amount of curriculum content that could be eliminated…

This book presents the theory and application of the Supportive Play Model (SPM), an intervention approach that incorporates best practices of the therapeutic, educational, and mental health fields. The model provides a systematic process for observing and understanding the play and development of young children with special needs and a…

This compilation presents material related to the Reading English Rotation program, an individualized, diagnostic, prescriptive language arts program designed to meet the needs of secondary school students who score lowest in reading achievement. The compilation begins with a comparison of three years of evaluation data, noting that the average…

An individualized approach to second language reading instruction in a large class is described. First, characteristics of the large class as a teaching and learning environment are examined, and the instructional advantages of individualizing assignments are noted. Two forms of reading materials used with first-year college students are then…

At Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) in Massachusetts, the Learning Center is the heart of the college's instructional program. The Center houses programs for credit at all academic levels, including some classroom work for 40% of the faculty. The Center is a delivery system for individualized, personalized curriculum at both remedial and…

The educational program of a student with autism most easily and beneficially begins with manipulation of objects. Short periods of time should be allotted to each activity to hold attention and ensure success. Partial participation and an individualized reinforcement schedule are important elements in the instructional design. Assistance in…