The American College Testing Program (ACT) is field testing a portfolio assessment model. The field test is designed to determine whether it is possible to implement a portfolio assessment model on a national level that will result in scores that are of sufficient reliability and validity that they can be used for decisions at the student level.…

This document presents the evaluation results for the Title VII Special Alternative Instructional Program grant to Cicero Public School District 99 (Illinois) for the 1994-95 school year. This was the third year of funding and implementation of this grant, which provided summer school funds with emphasis in building literacy through the use of…

Mathematics educators often despair at math's austere, "abstract" reputation. This paper describes recent work in developing an application named "HyperGami," which is designed to integrate both the abstract and"real-world" aspects of mathematics by allowing children to design and construct polyhedral models and…

Two computer-based categorization tasks were developed and pilot tested. In study 1, the task asked examinees to sort mathematical word problem stems according to prototypes. Results with 9 faculty members and 107 undergraduates showed that those who sorted well tended to have higher Graduate Record Examination General Test scores and college…

The teacher education program at William Woods University (WWU) in central Missouri has developed five partnership projects that have served as the impetus for the gradual restructuring of the university's education program into a more holistic, interdisciplinary experience for the preservice teacher. This restructuring effort has blended…

Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, the expectations for women's achievement have risen. This document presents a snapshot of the progress made toward gender equity in education and the barriers remaining. Females have increasingly enrolled in and completed college, obtained a greater number of graduate and professional degrees, participated in…

The last two decades have seen an increase in the demand for information about school effectiveness. For this paper, school effectiveness is defined as the value-added effectiveness. Value-added indices measure achievement over and above what would have been expected from attendance at a comparable school. They assess school effectiveness after…

To evaluate the implementation of the Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, the Houston Independent School District (Texas) studied the participation and academic achievement of limited English proficient (LEP) students who participated in these programs in the 1995-96 school year. The Fall 1995 database reported…

This study investigates the effects of computer-aided videodisc-based anchored instruction on promoting elementary school students' problem-solving skills in Taiwan. Anchored instruction combines theories such as situated cognition, cognitive apprenticeship, cooperative learning, and constructivist theories. With the help of interactive videodisc…

Noting that many parents who might teach their young children are often discouraged by a lack of information or fear of being labeled "pushy," this book provides parents with a step-by-step program for teaching preschoolers letters and numbers as a way of giving children a head start on formal education. The handbook consists of a…

These proceedings contain papers presented at the 1993 annual meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group. Papers are presented in four sections: (1) invited lectures; (2) working groups; (3) topic groups; and (4) ad hoc groups. Papers include: (1) "What is a Square Root? A Study of Geometrical Representation in Different…

The purpose of this inquiry was to determine the perceptions of certain secondary students in the Greater Cincinnati (Ohio) area who experienced an integrated curriculum that combined the subjects of geometry and visual art. A mathematics teacher and a visual arts teacher collaborated to facilitate student discovery by implementing creative…

In the past, students who knew only a little English (called limited English proficient, or LEP), were usually taught only low-level science and mathematics. Now, new science and mathematics teaching methods can help LEP students get a good education in both fields. This guide will help parents know if their children are learning as much as…

A study was conducted at Florida's Saint Petersburg Junior College to determine the characteristics (i.e., age, ethnicity, and residency) and success rates of college preparatory students enrolled in remedial classes during fall 1995. Data were analyzed by course within the subject areas of mathematics, reading, and English, while comparisons were…

Most restructuring efforts focus on changing the "how" of education. The articles in this book argue that redesign of the curriculum--the "what" of education--should be the main component of school revisioning. The book proposes a new framework for learning communities that views life as an intellectual and personal quest for knowledge and…