The master plan in this document, drafted to improve the quality of education in California, is the result of (1) a survey of graduation requirements in the state and elsewhere in the nation and (2) public hearings. With the impetus of state legislation enacted in April 1983, the California State Board of Education has requested each district…

The two major parts of a publication resulting from the 14th annual Arizona Migrant Child Teacher and Aide Institute discuss learning centers and resource units and provide four K-3 resource units, and three resource units for grades 4-8. Institute participants from 1983 and earlier years are listed. The discussion of learning centers as…

Developed to promote conservation awareness in elementary students, each of the six grade-level-sequenced activity guides provides: (1) a list of conservation concepts; (2) a criterion-referenced test; (3) a class record sheet; (4) a content guide; and (5) 90 student worksheets (40 for language arts, 20 for mathematics, 20 for social studies and…

Educational seduction, in which a charismatic, entertaining instructor obtains favorable student ratings while presenting insufficient lecture content, threatens the validity of student ratings and teaching effectiveness research. To examine the effects of one educational seduction variable, instructor expressiveness, on student achievement…

The purpose of these seven handbooks (one for each grade from kindergarten through grade six) is to provide parents with information about their child's school and about the basic instructional requirements of the school. Most of the information in each handbook is identical to all the others and has been included to maintain the continuity of the…

This set of eight appendixes consists of the products that were developed during the Adult Cuban Immigrant Project. (The Adult Cuban Immigrant Project is a prevocational English-as-a-second-language program designed to help students learn English in the context of life-coping skills and job-searching skills.) Included in the individual appendixes…

This report describes the development, operation, maintenance, and future prospects of the item banks pioneered by the Portland (Oregon) School District. At the time of this report, there were 3,500 mathematics, 2,200 reading, and 2,300 language usage items calibrated under the fixed parameter model of item response theory (IRT) for Grades 3-8.…

A description is provided of Project BEST (Building Energy Systems Technology), bilingual vocational training program offered to speakers of Spanish and Polish through Oakton College's adult continuing education program. Part I of the report provides a program overview, indicating that Project BEST teaches limited English proficient students the…

This study looked at the overall situation of the immigrant population, and young immigrants in particular, and analyzed such problem areas as the transition from school to working life and the inadequacies of initial training with relation to the situation in the United Kingdom. The study identified the following problem areas: (1) problems…

The Education for Economic Security Act requires state education agencies to submit comprehensive needs assessments in order to receive the funding provided by Title II of the Act for improvements in mathematics, science, computer learning, and foreign language instruction. Areas of need covered in this summary include: the qualifications of…

Suggestions for improving communication and public relations are offered in this guidebook for school office personnel. Because of the high visibility and accessibility of their positions, such staff serve important public relations functions for the school. Chapter 1 examines the public relations role of school office personnel, and chapter 2…

The evaluation process and results of the 1989-1990 secondary school (grades 6 through 12) English language arts program of the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District are presented. This evaluation gathers, focuses, and communicates information that is useful for continuously monitoring the quality of the language arts program.…

School administrators' uses of subjective understandings and common language to gain and maintain power and predictability in their environments are described. Micropolitical theory, with a focus on language, is utilized to understand administrators' knowledge of the assumptive worlds of their subculture, and how these assumptive worlds constrain…

This discussion of the quality of higher education examines how and why academic institutions are failing to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate education, and what can and should be done about it. It argues that colleges and universities, in an attempt to simultaneously provide an academic education and train students for careers,…

A workplace literacy program was designed to improve the literacy skills of entry-level workers in the housekeeping, food service, and laundry departments of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Classes were held twice per week for 36 weeks at the hospital on job time. Literacy was defined as reading, writing, oral communication, and problem…