This article discusses the state-of-the-art of vocational education programs for individuals with special needs. Barriers which prohibit student participation in vocational education are discussed, as well as legislative developments, exemplary program elements, teacher education, vocational alternatives for the handicapped, and future directions.…

Factors limiting the effectiveness of school counseling functions include discrepancies between school counselor training and practice, lack of understanding of school counseling roles and functions, school counselor professional isolation, and the poor professional attitude of some school counselors. (MM)

Describes a study, conducted by undergraduates in a research methods course, of faculty attendance at office hours. Results showed that faculty often fail to attend office hours and almost never notify students in the event of their absence. Discusses findings in terms of relevance for faculty-student communication. (Author/AV)

The purposes of this paper are threefold: first, to critically examine student ratings of college instructors' teaching effectiveness; second, to advance a number of pertinent criticisms of student and peer ratings; third, to discuss several possible alternative solutions to the problems delineated, with their advantages and disadvantages. (Author)

The structure and budget for a proposed center for nontraditional learning are delineated. Establishment of sponsored and unsponsored divisions is advocated. The center would help students determine life goals, learning goals, and learning styles. Development of a credentialing procedure for unsponsored learning is described. (Author/LBH)

This article concludes that language mixes do not constitute a major interference in the acquisition of bilingualism since children appear to be able to differentiate their two linguistic systems from an early age. (Author/NCR)

Four procedures to evaluate teaching (by students, peers, video recordings, and direct measurements of student learning) and three uses of the evaluation results (improving teaching, personnel decisions, and course handbooks) are reviewed in the light of empirical evidence. Emphasis is on the timing and validity of student ratings and the…

A pharmacy evaluation instrument was constructed to differentiate the population of pharmacy instructors on several student-rated characteristics. The methodology was designed to assess the stability of the factor structure over time. The relative "efficiency" of the pharmacy instrument was compared to a campus-wide faculty evaluation instrument.…

Effective teaching in an undergraduate mathematics course was measured by students' achievement ratings of instructors using four different instruments. The 799 students rated teaching assistants and full-time faculty in a similar fashion, both in terms of the level of ratings and the framework used in making judgments. (Author/GDC)

Instructors answered questions indicating personal warmth, professorial rank, years of teaching experience, sex, and class size. Students completed the Instructional Improvement Questionnaire. The classes which received high ratings were small in size, were taught by instructors who rated themselves as warm, and had students who expected high…

Some of the problems in evaluating the teaching effectiveness of university nursing teachers are discussed. The importance of clinical nursing experience to successful teaching weighs most heavily with some educators but other attributes are also necessary to determine teaching quality and evaluation criteria. (MF)

Investigates the relationship between science interest and process achievement for seventh, eighth and ninth graders. Results reveal that: (1) science interests are significant predictors of process achievement for only ninth-graders; and (2) science interest scores decrease significantly from pre to posttest across grade levels. (HM)

College students with an internal locus of control favored faculty members with a low control teaching style, while a highly controlling teaching style appealed to students with an external locus of control. (ED)

Six measurement strategies are suggested for assessing different kinds or aspects of competencies: (1) teaching tests; (2) behavior samples; (3) teaching exercises; (4) classroom interaction simulations; (5) projected problem exercises; and (6) paper-and-pencil exercises. (MJB)

College students' ratings of their instructors used for the purpose of promotion were compared with those obtained for the purpose of teachers' self-improvement. The students also provided reasons for rating their instructors as they did. Results indicated that students do not rate their instructors differently for either type of questionnaire.…