A Missouri study involving performance-based teacher evaluation demonstrated that school personnel and university faculty members can collaborate to prepare beginning teachers to be more effective at designing and implementing teaching models. The keys to success are a shared professional knowledge base and common commitment to implementation…

Describes young people of today as new subculture of youth that is more global and culturally independent than previous generations. Presents eight characteristics that are representative of students in focus groups conducted on college campuses. Suggests four areas in which changes might be made in college placement centers and recruiting…

As scholars explore the way factors like race, class, gender, sexual preference, and geographic location alter Chicano identity, they are being forced to modify reigning interpretations of Chicano history and culture. Feminists were first to challenge existing perceptions, and their interdisciplinary perspective strengthened the force of their…

Reviews the literature on the reasons that students drop out of college. Offers a plan for freshman retention that asks students about their goals at registration, provides them with a six-hour orientation emphasizing academic excellence, teams them with a faculty mentor, and includes a mandatory for-credit seminar on attending college. (DMM)

Reports on a content analysis of 18 manuals designed for college-level teaching assistants. Finds that frequently included topics focused on intellectual and interpersonal tasks. Suggests that the study's results could serve as a model for teaching assistant materials. (CFR)

An analysis is presented of a conceptual change model for describing student learning by applying research on student learning to the process of conceptual change. Four general motivational constructs are suggested as potential mediators of the process. The role of classroom contextual factors is also discussed. (SLD)

W. Edwards Deming rejects school-improvement proposals based on formulating higher standards and enforcing them with performance assessments. To Deming, the Bush Administration's America 2000 education strategy is "a horrible example of numerical goals, tests, rewards, but no method." Emphasizing rationalist performance measures…

Compared three types of orientation programs offered to new students at Salisbury State University (Maryland) traditional, alternative, and outdoor. Findings suggested enrollees in the outdoor program had better adjustment and higher retention rates than enrollees in other programs. The study concluded that interaction/ collaboration among…

The experience of college consortia suggests that success and sustainability depend on high-level leadership and commitment; clear mission and goals; balance mechanisms for assuring parity of participants; decision-making ability; a third-party, neutral function; adequate funding; clear cost-sharing arrangements; mechanisms for measuring success;…

Interviews with 66 students, faculty, and administrators in ten departments of a large public research university revealed a number of factors instrumental in integrating first-year students successfully into graduate programs: a structured departmental orientation complementing the university-wide orientation; a culture of collegiality;…

Some mentees or proteges are not successful because they are not emotionally or professionally ready for full-time teaching, they are philosophically incompatible with the school district, they do not engage with other staff, what they learned at the university is incompatible with district practices, they do not listen to their mentors, or they…

Reviews changes in biopsychosocial development during adolescence. Addresses aspects of individual change during the adolescent decade as well as effects of context on normal development and responses to challenges. Predispositions or vulnerabilities present prior to a developmental transition may be exacerbated. Provides advice on encouraging a…

Specific problems (involving power, implementation, mission, time management, expertise, cultural constraints, avoidance, and motivation) are keeping school-based decision making from improving teaching and learning. Educators must begin with a clear mission, set explicit goals for the decision-making process, alter governance structures to…

A field test was conducted of a student-directed transition planning program designed to enable 53 high school students with mild mental retardation and learning disabilities to participate more meaningfully in their transition planning process. Following training, significant changes in students' scores on self-efficacy and outcome expectancy…

A study was done to identify the level of independent travel considered ideal by three older adults with visual impairments. Results found that the ideal level of functioning is different from that implicitly used in traditional orientation and mobility programs. (CR)