This check list contains tips for parents to help students reinforce and build upon what children learn at school: (1) Set a consistent time each day for doing homework; (2) Encourage children to make a homework checklist; (3) Provide assistance to help get started on a task; (4) Help children make a list of all needed materials before starting…

Despite the importance of first grade as a crucial period in a young student's academic development, little is known nationally about how much time first-graders actually spend in class on various subjects or about the kinds of activities and skills that they work on in class. This Issue Brief details how often per week and how much time per day…

This study examined the effects of different recess timing regimens on preschoolers classroom attention. Using cognitive immaturity theory, we predicted that attention to a classroom task would be greater after a recess break. We also examined the extent to which different recess timing regimens related to post-recess attention. Participants were…

It is found that individuals with visual impairments have levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and amotivation that influence their use of free time and lead to adaptive or maladaptive outcomes. As such, inactive individuals with visual impairments, lacking motivation to engage in physical activity, become dependent members of society who…

The optimal stimulaton theory (which proposes that hyperactive children are more readily underaroused than nonhyperactive children and should thus derive greater gains from stimulation added to repetitive copying tasks than comparisons) was tested with 16 adolescents, rating high on attention and behavior problems, and 16 controls. Matched pairs…

This research proposed and tested a causal model of time-on-task as a mediating variable in the anxiety/achievement association. The study was conducted in 4 seventh-grade Chicago inner-city classrooms in 2 all-black elementary schools. A negative relationship was found between anxiety and time-on-task; a positive relationship between time-on-task…

For simple vocabulary items, the amount that subjects can learn during a given period of study is markedly underestimated when unusually slow presentation rates are imposed. That disadvantage apparently is less when subjects use the keyword mnemonic. The use of self-pacing or of multiple-rate conditions is suggested. (Author/LMO)

Examination of on-task behavior and academic performance of eight behavior problem second and third graders revealed that an all-positive approach relying primarily on praise was not effective. Ss' rates of on-task behavior were high and stable when an individualized reward system was used, however. (CL)

Reviewing the concerns expressed in an educational article written 100 years ago, the author shows that these same areas concern educators today. The article provides a perspective on the problems of education. (MD)

A survey of middle and high school family and consumer sciences teachers (99 of 300 responded) about financial topics identified by the National Jump$tart Coalition indicated that most high schools provided more instruction time than middle schools. Problem solving and decision making were most frequent processes. Only 46 schools offered separate…

Forty-eight individuals sorted picture cards according to basic (easy) or superordinate (difficult) categories, while being measured on response time to auditory probes (as an index of attention to the primary task). Subjects without mental retardation allocated more attention to difficult tasks. Those with mental retardation gave similar…

Data from the State Trait Anxiety Inventory completed by 74 older adult participants in a memory improvement program revealed state anxiety to be a significant predictor of recall. State anxiety and age were negatively associated with recall; study time and vocabulary were positively associated. (SK)

Describes a study that examined the instructional effect varying the positions of advance organizers, practice exercises, and feedback in an instructional environment. The effect of varied advance organizer strategies and students' locus of control orientation on instructional and testing time were also investigated. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of performance improvement focuses on the effect of emotions on performance. Topics include the emotional intelligence of the performers; how people deal with emotional demands and the stress of their performance; and emotional states that affect attention, focus, perception, and time on task. (LRW)

This column discusses the art of engaging text while reading. To read closely, students must get beyond impressionist reading. They must come to see that simply deciphering words on a page and getting some vague sense of what is there does not translate into substantive learning. Instead, they must learn that to read well is to engage in a…