This study chronicles the responses of middle school students to their teachers' efforts to re-engage them in school. Working with two teachers and their team of 42 eighth graders selected as at-risk of failure, researchers interviewed participants, observed interactions, and gathered data from students' first semester of high school. Teachers…

This study examines the effects of using response cost in combination with positive reinforcement procedures in helping two second grade students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder maintain their attention in the classroom. This involved the loss of reinforcers/points contingent upon inappropriate behavior in the classroom, in addition…

Studies comparing computer-assisted instruction with traditional print were reviewed in order to determine what researchers have discovered about using computers in reading. The research findings were then compared and integrated through using the following five categories: interaction, attitude, instructional control, time on task, and…

In response to legislative mandate intended to curb a national trend toward students taking longer than the traditional two- and four-year time frame to complete educational degrees, the Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges conducted a study of factors in this trend; options for encouraging students to carry full credit loads; and…

This policy brief was written to provide the North Carolina State Board of Education with a summary of research on enhancing effective instructional time. The impetus for extending school time appears to stem from two primary sources: international comparisons, and research on the relationship between time and learning. Research findings indicate…

A description is given of the Classroom Organization and Management Program, designed to help teachers in grades 1-9 and staff developers improve their overall instructional and behavioral management skills through planning, implementing, and maintaining effective classroom practices. It also seeks to improve student task engagement and reduction…

This literature review briefly lists the findings of studies on effective schools. The findings are organized under the following categories (which correspond to the Indicator of Quality Schools Assessment instrument categories): curricular congruence, assessment, leadership of the principal, high expectations, school wide norms, school climate,…

The study examined how adding students with learning disabilities (LD) to regular education classrooms changed the behavior of nonhandicapped students and their teachers. Initial observations were of mainstream classes containing no learning-disabled students. Observations were again conducted after LD students had been mainstreamed for 8 months.…

Research on the influence of instructional time on student achievement has focused on the concept of academic learning time and its major components--allocated time, engaged time, and level of difficulty. This report reviews three studies that concur that increasing allocated time, in itself, has little influence on student achievement. Walberg…

A study examined (1) whether students whose teachers possess a higher level of professional development exhibit greater time-on-task in reading than students whose teachers exhibit a lower level of professional development, and (2) if any specific aspects of teachers' professional development were related to a significantly greater amount of…

The report summarizes a year long observational study of special education programs in one district's 12 elementary schools (Queens, New York). Data were gathered using observational time samples of teacher, student, and paraprofessional activity and student time on task; descriptive notes of the classroom context; ratings of 15 dimensions of…

A study examined the effectiveness of a program designed to increase literature appreciation and recreational reading of intermediate grade students. Subjects, 460 students an all-black midwestern city, recorded the amount of time spent reading at home, were observed by their teachers during reading periods to evaluate on-task behavior, were…

This guide is designed to present a variety of techniques that can be used in conducting classroom observations. Observation techniques are clustered under four major teaching/learning variables: time on task, teacher talk, classroom interaction, and organization and management. Techniques are presented with an overview that details the rationale…

An 8-week observational study of the behavior, on and off the computer, of a class of seriously emotionally disturbed adolescents was performed. In addition, an in-depth case study of a single student revealed that the student was able to maintain the most on-task behavior when paired with another student on a computer activity. Analysis of the…

This booklet is designed for elementary and middle school teachers to use in teaching students how to improve their test-taking skills. The authors draw the analogy between an athlete preparing for the big race and a young student getting ready for an important test. The central character is an underdeveloped test-taking tiger who, after going…