A study examined the development of discourse cohesion in first language acquisition within a functional and cross-linguistic perspective. The analyses focused on how children introduce new referents in discourse across four languages: English, French, German, and Mandarin Chinese. The data base consists of narratives produced by children between…

The Public Schools Branch of the Yukon Department of Education provides elementary and secondary education to 4,638 students in 10 urban and 16 rural schools, and provides loans and grants to postsecondary students. In the 1983-84 academic year, major initiatives included development of gifted programs and alternate programing for secondary…

A survey of all New Mexico public schools with students enrolled in grade nine or higher gathered data on the extent and nature of the school dropout problem during the 1986-87 school year. All 88 New Mexico school districts and 100% of the 146 schools surveyed provided information on grade, sex, ethnicity, and reason for dropping out for students…

This paper attempts to dispel stereotypes about black family structures through an examination of the impact of demographic trends on black women. Topics covered include the following: (1) the structure of black families from the arrival of black slaves in North America through the 1950's; (2) the impact that the historical structure and…

A 32-item Computer Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) was developed to measure perceptions of capability regarding specific computer-related knowledge and skills. Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (1986) and Schunk's model of classroom learning (1985) guided the development of the CSE. Each of the skill-related items is preceded by the phrase "I feel…

Recent calls for educational reform have focused on secondary schools, but results emerging from a cross-national study suggest that the reasons for American students' achievement problems lie not only in American schools but also in American homes. In the study, American, Taiwanese, and Japanese first and fifth graders were tested in reading and…

Designed to help understand the cognitive and social effects of children's classroom experiences with LOGO and computers, this study presents an account of the ways in which two elementary school teachers thought about, grappled with, and practiced LOGO in their classrooms over a 2-year period. The account is organized chronologically, first…

This study investigated the ecological factors that affect structural school reform implementation in Israel. The sample used was the whole student population that appeared in the 1972 census. By raising educational achievement levels, restructuring the learning sequence, and rezoning ethnically and economically segregated areas to promote…

A study of the intellectual talents involved in learning a foreign language compared the composite predicted score of high school students on the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery with selected factor scores on the Structure of Intellect-Learning Abilities Test to determine whether any of the factors correlate highly with foreign language…

The vocational rehabilitation agencies in Region V (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) cooperated in a study to determine whether there were systematic gender differences along input, program, and output dimensions among the state vocational rehabilitation programs in the region over a 13-year period, 1972-1984. The…

This project was conducted in order to determine the practicality of using specialized videodisc instruction to help preservice elementary school teachers learn the Language Experience Approach (LEA) to teaching reading more effectively. Texas Tech University students enrolled in an interactive video course planned and produced the interactive…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the achievement of some abstract concepts in "molecular genetics" and prior knowledge, formal reasoning ability, and sex. The major findings of the study were: (1) prior knowledge had a high significant correlation with the achievement of abstract concepts; (2) the…

Student academic performance, racial attitudes, and college satisfaction were examined with a national sample of black students attending selected predominantly white and historically black, state-supported universities. The effect of student background, campus experiences, and personality orientation was investigated. Specific variables included:…

Attention to small schools in Manitoba reflects concern for rural development, recognition of cultural pluralism, awareness of benefits of small town living, and a growing scepticism about benefits of consolidation which have led to an appreciation of traditional small school educational practices. The challenge for small school educators is to…

This "communication lexicon," a new source of information in the field of language and area studies, describes how selected themes such as family, society, work, and entertainment are perceived and understood by members of the Mexican, Colombian, and United States cultures. It identifies broad trends of perceptions and evaluations…