To date, the focus of sex education research has tended to be on the effect of education on behavioral outcomes. There is little data on the felt needs of young people, how well they are met, and how provision might be improved. Here we report on main source of information about sexual matters, adequacy of knowledge, further needs, and preferred…

In an effort to standardize academic application procedures, the Standardized Letter of Recommendation (SLR) was developed to capture important cognitive and noncognitive qualities of graduate school candidates. The SLR consists of seven scales ("knowledge," "analytical skills," "communication skills,"…

This report is based on the assessment of ICT (information and communication technology) literacy conducted in October 2005. It describes the development of a computer-based tool for assessing ICT literacy among school students and the application of that tool with a nationally representative sample of approximately 7,400 students from Years 6 and…

This monograph reviews empirical studies on various aspects of higher education relating to the effectiveness of instruction in regard to four areas: curriculum, instruction, campus psychological climate, and academic advising. After an introduction, the first section describes the development of critical skills, how these skills develop, and the…

This document presents survey questions concerning rights of students with disabilities in postsecondary education and the responsibilities and rights of faculty and staff. The survey is intended to provide necessary information about disability laws and recent legal decisions to faculty and staff in the context of increasing enrollment of…

This paper presents selected findings from a three-year research investigation of general and special education reform initiatives implemented in five local school districts across the United States (including a large urban, predominately minority system; two suburban districts; a small independent city district; a large county-wide system; two…

This is the second of four working papers on dissemination policies, commissioned in 1993 by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. It is intended to stimulate discussion and the exchange of insights on the government's role in empowering educators to contribute to the evaluation of innovations they use to improve education.…

This study evaluated the computer skills and learning expectations of students in an introductory course at a regional university in the southeastern United States. A survey was administered to 595 students enrolled in sections of the Introduction to Computer Information Systems (CIS) course. The survey instrument charted such things as major and…

Given the frequency with which teachers use self-developed tests to evaluate students, and given the paucity of requirements related to developing measurement competencies, some educators and measurement specialists question the adequacy of teachers' training in and knowledge of measurement principles. This study assesses teachers' measurement…

This paper presents a culturally adapted curricular/pedagogical model of a traditional foundations of education course. It was developed as a result of a college of education's commitment to internationalize its curriculum and to broaden global and cross-cultural experiences for preservice teachers, in order to enhance the knowledge, skills, and…

The study discussed in this paper examined the pedagogical content knowledge of prospective secondary mathematics teachers with respect to the content area of functions and graphs. The pedagogical content knowledge was examined through an analysis of the transformation of knowledge and beliefs about the content and the learner into instructional…

This guide is intended to assist caregivers of people with development disabilities in acquiring knowledge about sexuality and skill in expressing sexuality in a safe and appropriate manner. Section 1 provides an overview of the history of sexuality and developmentally disabled individuals. The second section provides exercises for the caregiver…

This study examined whether there were significant differences in the level of knowledge regarding curriculum reform efforts in mathematics and science and the level of incorporation of these new standards and recommendations into the curriculum among districts of varying size in Iowa. Data were gathered from respondents to school surveys of…

This paper discusses the competencies that are required to work effectively with information. It examines the nature of the information resources and how students interact with them. The discussion moves to the types of questions students have asked and suggests that the predominant types may not be assisting students in developing information…

This book reports on the Penn Study of Teenage Pregnancy, which examined issues surrounding adolescent pregnancy, abortion, and childbearing. Participants were African-American teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 from disadvantaged urban backgrounds. Based on individual interviews over 2 years in the early 1980s, the study provided details…