Based upon the hypothesis that a person's behavior is dictated by the immediate environment, a study was conducted to investigate whether student's perception of their best liked and least liked subjects was affected by their teacher's perception of the subjects they liked to teach best and felt most knowledgeable about. Participants, 47 third…

This report offers an overview of the work of the Institute for Research on Teaching (IRT), the relationship between research and practice, and what has been learned about improving teacher performance. Some difficulties of teacher improvement are noted, and a description is given of how IRT research findings are communicated to the profession. An…

The process used by one researcher in developing an inventory of specific tasks performed by language teachers is described. The objective was to facilitate research on language teachers' jobs in a variety of countries and under differing teaching conditions and to provide job profiles for use in teacher education and by teachers, their unions,…

A bibliography of research on student attrition is presented. The 175 references, most of which are dated 1970 or later, are categorized under the following headings: research design, models of the attrition process, some historical perspectives, recent reviews of research--performance variables, empirical studies for 1970-1987, and intervention…

Employed extensively in some Soviet bloc countries to teach a variety of subjects, the Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching (SALT) method uses a combination of physical and mental relaxation exercises, music, and suggestive principles to increase learning. However, in spite of research showing its effectiveness in teaching reading skills…

This issue of the journal contains abstracts and critical comments for 10 published reports on research in mathematics education. The reports concern children's school mobility and achievement, preservice teachers' sources of decisions, spatial visualization in boys and girls, rote versus conceptual emphases in teaching probability, using drawings…

Advantages of the performance simulation setting are considered, along with what can be studied or developed within this setting. Experiences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and views on future development and research opportunities in the performance simulation setting are also discussed. The benefits of simulating the clinical…

These proceedings contain the texts of the following four papers presented at a conference on research needs for extension education: "4-H Makes a Difference--Or Does It?" by Gerald Parsons; "Research Needs in the Administration and Supervision of Cooperative Extension," by Patrick Boyle; "Research Needs in Extension…

The study described in this report had a threefold purpose: (1) to examine, over time, the development of young adults who, when in the first grade in a midwestern school system, were in the lower third of their classes; (2) to examine the effect of literacy on their educational attainment, occupational level, and achievement; and (3) to examine…

Findings from four lines of inquiry that attempt to identify teaching skills are reviewed. Following a brief introduction, the first section discusses definitions of "skill" and outlines empirical attributes of teaching skills. In the following section, the four lines of inquiry are described. Results are analyzed in the third section.…

This paper examines intersections between mathematical and language performance in light of data collected from Hispanic students at varying stages of acquiring English as a second language at school. Emphasis is on aspects of the developing linguistic system as it affects underlying metacognitive processes related to mathematical performance.…

An ERIC digest considers several approaches to community study within the social studies curriculum. Material is divided into four sections. Following an introduction, "A rationale for community study" outlines skills and concepts that can be presented through community study and presents the rationale that community study can provide…

A research study shows the strong positive relationship between traditional personal values and academic success of students from various disadvantaged backgrounds. Four categories of values were examined: (1) the work ethic, (2) religious commitment, (3) parental support of success in school, and (4) peer group support of success in school. A…

A Monte Carlo study of five indices of dimensionality of binary items used a computer model that allowed sampling of both items and people. Five parameters were systematically varied in a factorial design: (1) number of common factors from one to five; (2) number of items, including 20, 30, 40, and 60; (3) sample sizes of 125 and 500; (4) nearly…

This document is intended to provide evaluation researchers with information about vocational education as a substantive area to be evaluated, existing methodologies for evaluating vocational education programs, and the theoretical basis for a proposed evaluation method termed critical inquiry. Addressed in the individual chapters of the monograph…