Explains how the arrival of the performance contractor, Behavioral Research Laboratories, at Gary, Indiana, was beneficial and why their departure became a necessity. Contends that the tenure of BRL had to be curtailed because they functioned not as a creator of a new program, but as a change agent sufficiently powerful to force change at Gary.…

Stimulated by current interest in performance contracting and accountability, the authors summarize relevant research on the use of incentives to influence student performance. (VW)

Studied contract grading, which emphasizes greater investment of time and effort by student and instructor, but provides benefits to students difficult to develop through conventional methods. Desirable student outcomes are examined and a sample contract is included. (Author/JAC)

Describes a system for grading high school journalism students that depends on keeping a student file that contains student job descriptions, evaluation checklists, and evaluations by the teacher. (RL)

The merger of an innovative private college (New College of Sarasota) into a state institution is described. The instruction contract, innovative approach, and academic quality has been maintained, but the number of students in off-campus programs has declined. Reasons for the decline are discussed. (Author/LBH)

Subjects were classified as external or internal. About half of the externals (internals) were given a traditional method of instruction. The remaining subjects were involved in a contract grading plan. Using an achievement posttest, a strong disordinal interaction was found, with internals performing better under the contract grading plan and…

Discusses the development and use of negotiated written contracts between Ph.D. degree students and faculty supervisors to alleviate many of the problems inherent in the student-adviser relationship. Interviews with 89 supervisors indicated that the most fundamental problem encountered by them was students who displayed inadequate motivation to…

The Dalton Plan, developed by Helen Parkhurst in the 1920s, completely restructured the secondary school day into subject labs, with students determining their daily schedules. Eschewing the usual bell-driven, factory worker model, this approach abolished traditional classrooms and homework and allowed students to select monthly contracts and…

Project questions are real-world problems with multiple solutions, no obvious solution sequence, requiring hands-on data collection, and investigation of topics within and outside mathematics. Discusses evaluation of solution processes, describes a detailed example involving the trajectory of a baseball, and suggests 19 other project questions.…

Suggests the idea of having students and parents sign a statement that identifies the teacher's expectations for the students about discipline and classroom management to improve discipline. Provides an example statement. (MDH)

Proposes offering college students an optional performance contract that requires full class participation and resubmission of incorrect test items to alleviate mathematics anxiety. A comparison of students opting or not opting for the contract indicated that contracted students outperformed their counterparts in the latter stages of the course.…

Describes the Supervised Independent Living Orientation Program (Michigan), which provides a transition into relatively unstructured independent living to adolescents and youths with a history of behavioral and emotional disturbances, including delinquency and psychiatric hospitalization. Discusses contracts used in the program. (BB)

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…