This book addresses contemporary contexts of flexible learning and its practices and provides insights about directions that education and training providers may be required to follow to implement flexible learning in a variety of settings. Key issues and debates include the following: social and economic dimensions of flexible learning and…

This book is for administrators, teachers, policymakers, educational reformers, and community leaders who are concerned with achieving greater social justice in education. It provides an in-depth understanding of the challenges to schools brought about by lingering views of race, gender, ethnicity, and class, showing how the inequalities of the…

This document consists of the first 10 articles of volume 8 of the electronic journal "Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation" published in 2002-2003: (1) "Using Electronic Surveys: Advice from Survey Professionals" (David M. Shannon, Todd E. Johnson, Shelby Searcy, and Alan Lott); (2) "Four Assumptions of Multiple Regression That Researchers…

This summary presents data from seven papers based on six different data sets (three national and three local). Data were collected for different purposes, in different years and places, using different interview techniques. Overall, nearly one in five adolescents has had sex before his/her 15th birthday. In early adolescence, being sexually…

This study investigated factors that contribute to the mathematics and reading achievement of students in Italy. The Walburg Productivity Model (H. Walburg, 1984) served as a framework to analyze the interconnections among family processes, family structure, and socioeconomic status. Campbells Differential Socialization Paradigm (J. Campbell,…

This study examined the impact of an after-school science program that incorporated cooperative learning, hands-on activities, mentoring, and role models on a group of minority female students' attitudes toward science, engineering, and mathematics. Eighteen African American middle school students participated in the study. Seven female engineers…

The Magazine Division of the proceedings contains the following 6 papers: "Henry Luce's Anti-Communist Legacy: A Qualitative Content Analysis of U.S. News Magazines' Coverage of China's Cultural Revolution" (Daniel Marshall Haygood); "Gender Images in Global Versions of 'Gentlemen's Quarterly'" (Hong Ji); "Selling Silicon:…

This study examined the academic success and retention of first-year college students at a small private university to determine which variables (among the following: gender, high school grade point average (GPA), Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) verbal and quantitative scores, and indicators of placement into developmental courses) were…

In 2002, a national opinion poll of 2,463 U.S. adults examined such topics as politics, education, crime and criminal justice policy, globalization, international relations, and race relations. The education poll focused on such issues as school quality, school safety, school vouchers, school violence, and same-sex education. The survey sample…

A study of patterns of health behavior among rural and small-town children surveyed 1,950 K-6 students from seven southern Illinois elementary schools. Findings indicate that less than half of the students ate the recommended amounts of fruits, vegetables, and grain each day. Males and females smoked at about the same rates, but sixth-grade boys…

This study assesses the differential substance use between male and female college students through the administration of a survey of recent use of six commonly used psychoactive substances (cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and caffeine). It investigates the situational contexts associated with use of particular substances…

This paper examines how conceptions regarding the legitimate purposes and day-to-day course of science influence students' evaluations of science in the popular media. The students involved in this project attend a secondary all-girls school. Their concept of science focused on practical, life-enhancing goals pursued through the complex,…

This study analyzed cultural conflicts of Latina educators as reflected in descriptions of literacy learning at home and school and of their teacher education experiences. Tensions are examined in terms of conflicts between authoritative discourses and various strategies for negotiation that these educators used. The study was part of a larger…

The Texas Education Code requires the Texas Education Agency to submit a comprehensive biennial report on the number of students retained in grade level in the Texas public school system. This report presents a summary of the literature on the effects of grade level retention on the academic, social, and psychological development of students,…

The Texas Education Code requires the Texas Education Agency to submit a comprehensive biennial report containing a summary of information related to grade level retention of students in the Texas public school system. This report looks at retention in Texas based on data collected over a 3-year period, beginning with the 1993-94 school year. The…