This report proposes 25 guidelines that should be considered in making productivity improvements in the following five key areas: (1) instruction, (2) research and public service, (3) overall academic functions, (4) administrative functions, and (5) state policies affecting higher education. In some cases, data are presented that illustrate the…

American River College's (California) Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) project is a 2-year project initiated in 1992 to improve the retention and performance of minority students and others in math, biology, and chemistry through increased contact and involvement with their peers. PAL involves a cadre of 24 student Learning Assistants (LA's) who have…

Research results appear inconclusive as to the relationship of student attendance to student achievement, although most practitioners cite increased student attendance as an extremely desirable school outcome. The purpose of the examination of student attendance in the Louisiana public schools was twofold: (1) to determine the relationship of…

This journal presents a collection a essays that offer several new perspectives on teaching practice; give descriptive and narrative accounts of curricular and teaching innovations; and discusses a range of shared learnings obtained from public university, community college, and private college multicultural change processes. Chapters and their…

This document consists of six issues of a bimonthly newsletter that focuses on home schooling, providing parents in the United States and other nations with ideas, activities, research, and resources to teach their children at home. Each issue contains short news items and reports on home schooling, letters from parents, letters on the challenges…

This report examines whether educationally disadvantaged or at-risk preschool children have access to center-based early childhood programs similar to the access enjoyed by advantaged children, and whether the programs are of comparable quality. Eight risk factors that represent gross indications of educational disadvantage are examined, including…

The countries of the European Community represent a commitment to European economic and political unity as part of a trend toward the globalization of the world's economic life. Economic, social, and political challenges are bound up in economic competitiveness. Countries are examining human resource issues in order to compete for the world…

Information is presented about parent involvement in general and, specifically, about practical strategies for developing partnerships with language minority parents. A framework is provided for fostering cooperation between home and school, given the special factors that should be considered as non-native English speaking families become more…

This Contractor Report was prepared as background information for OTA's assessment: "Worker Training: Competing in the New International Economy." A review of workplace basic skills research and practice identified factors contributing to success. The review of the research defined workplace basic skills and found that: (1) there was a scant…

A knowledge base was developed regarding the nature, dynamics, and scope of the induction process for beginning secondary vocational teachers. The research involved the following components: a 2-year ethnographic follow-up of 12 beginning teachers during fall 1988; the case study analysis of the first 2 years of teaching of five beginning teachers…

This report discusses the govenment role in higher education in the United States, particularly in relation to the contribution the state and land-grant universities can make in providing answers to a number of seemingly intractable problems which the country must solve in order to maintain its economic and political position in the world. The…

Intended to encourage promising and fresh ideas in education research, the Field Initiated Studies (FIS) Program in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) supports a varied array of research projects that are proposed and justified by the applicants. Of the 29 projects described here, 12 were funded in 1990 and 17 in 1991. The…

The impact of cohort changes with regard to ethnic group, gender, class rank, and first language learned on yearly average Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) scores was studied. All examinee records, including student test scores and student responses to the Student Descriptive Questionnaire, in the College…

This booklet presents questions that can be used by a college or university task force looking at the freshman year experience and/or the broader undergraduate experience. It can also be utilized to aid the process of campus self-study or assessment. The questions are arranged under three major headings: (1) Campus Policies, Processes, and…

This report combines syntheses of prior research with new analyses of previously collected data to address trends for minority group participation in higher education over the past 25 years. Two chapters focus on the aggregate impact of individual choices and behaviors in college attendance. Chapter 1 describes trends in minority enrollment and…