This study examined the generalizability of the internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model of academic self-concept development. The "external" component of the model refers to comparing one's achievement with one's peers; in LISREL causal modeling, this external comparison is presented as positive paths. The "internal"…

This report is designed to provide educators who are embarking on the Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) process with an overview of assessment options, a discussion about the alignment of assessment and curriculum, and a compendium of resources for further investigation into the concept of student assessment. The QPA process recognizes that…

The hypothesis that when true group tasks feature ill-structured problems, interaction will predict learning that involves higher-order thinking skills was tested with middle school students with a strategy called complex instruction. Complex instruction is designed for heterogeneous classrooms in which teaching objectives are conceptual and…

Although the Congress of the United States has enacted legislation calling for a conversion to the metric system by October 1992, recent government reports suggest that the country may not be prepared to meet that deadline. In an effort to develop a learning module for instructing community college students in the application of the metric system,…

The Maryland State Department of Education undertook a longitudinal study of the Extended Elementary Education Prekindergarten Program (which covers prekindergarten through grade 3) in order to examine the school performance of program participants and a comparable nonpreschool group. The study: (1) investigated effects of prekindergarten on…

A 3-year project in the University of Arkansas' vocational teacher education program used a problem-solving approach to help vocational teachers develop innovative methods to teach vocational content. The project had four goals: (1) to design inservice teacher workshops for high technology internship programs; (2) to identify and select…

This document provides guidelines for implementing workplace literacy programs. Project leadership selection, characteristics and skills, education and experience, and roles and responsibilities are reviewed. Community and business involvement, partnership development, and the voluntary advisory council components of a marketing workplace literacy…

An innovative instructional intervention model is presented that represents a promising approach to the education of language minority students. One of the four handbooks produced to document and disseminate the findings of the Innovative Approaches Research Project (IARP), this handbook describes the IARP model for providing science and…

Characteristics distinguishing more effective from less effective public primary (grades 1 to 8) schools in Santo Domingo were studied, using a comparative case study design. The effectiveness of the school was determined by expert nomination and achievement tests in reading, mathematics, and writing. Socioeconomic status was controlled and three…

This study examined whether an expert system approach involving intelligent selection of items (EXSPRT-I) is as efficient as item response theory (IRT) based three-parameter adaptive mastery testing (AMT) when there are enough subjects to estimate the three IRT item parameters for all items in the test and when subjects in the item parameter…

The report describes the components of the educational program provided by the Industrial Training Centers of the Training and Career Development Organization of ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company) in Saudi Arabia. ARAMCO provides in-house academic or job skills training to over 15,000 employees. Characteristics of the company's training program…

A survey of prospective teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics and writing to diverse learners was conducted for the purpose of improving teacher education programs. Respondents were 319 elementary education students, 71 prospective secondary math teachers, 52 prospective teachers of secondary English, 23 noneducation math majors, and 19…

In 1989, North Carolina's scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) were the lowest in the nation. The Superintendent of Public Instruction developed a plan to address this situation, and North Carolina scores improved in 1990 to rank above South Carolina. This report is one aspect of the improvement plan. This first of two volumes introduces…

This document is a collection of schoolwide compensatory education project plans for 22 elementary schools in the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Schools system, with funding provided by Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Chapter 1 project plans are included for the following schools: (1) Alfred A. Benesch; (2) Andrew J.…

The articles in this volume are written primarily by classroom teachers who share their experiences and offer practical examples of cooperative learning activities. Lesson and unit plans, games, group projects, samples of student work, worksheets, and evaluation forms are included, as well as cooperative learning activities for several grade…