Presents a list of recommended practices for designing computer-based instruction courseware based on principles derived from learning research. Research-based principles and the corresponding design practices are outlined for the areas of stimulus design, learner responses, feedback, and lesson control. (6 references) (CLB)

Discusses the absence of national standards which are uniformly applicable to health, safety, sanitation, and nutrition aspects of child care programs. Explains the responsive collaborative project of the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Public Health Association to develop national reference standards for out-of-home child care…

Describes "A Guide to Selecting Basal Reading Programs," which was developed to help textbook adoption committees select basal reading texts in elementary schools. Topics discussed include development of booklets that describe various aspects of reading instruction and the role of the guidelines in improving the quality of basal reading…

Argues that librarians who wish to build effective video collections need to know what is available and negotiate with distributors for multiple copies and lower prices. Purchasing practices of a school system and a public library are described, including adherence to copyright law. Duplication rights and off-air taping are explained. (EM)

This review of abstracting policies used by database producers focuses on the degree to which these policies incorporate criteria vital for acceptability of abstracts for free-text searching. Each topic in abstracting policy (abstract type, length, content, and language) is examined to consider its effect on retrieval. (MBR)

A collaborative model of programmatic nursing research is described that was designed to build on individual research and maximize contributions of individual investigators through a carefully designed 4-year program. The program involved faculty in different clinical departments exploring health variables that contribute to nursing theory in…

Discusses the steps for selecting a suitable authoring system for computer-based training. The factors of power, ease of use, productivity and maintenance, embedded within evaluative scenarios, are used as evaluation guidelines. (SED)

Faculty members can facilitate student learning by acting as a committee to evaluate formally the available textbooks and development guidelines for their use. Committee members must review the course objectives and the role that textbooks are to play in the course. (MLW)

Provides a process model for developing educational specifications--precise statements of activities, curriculum, and functions that a proposed school building will house--and highlights specific requirements and features. A graph and a relationship matrix illustrate the process. Includes 12 references. (MLF)

Parents can prepare themselves to participate more effectively in the special education planning process. Guidelines for parents presented in the form of questions to be asked prior to and at the annual review address the need for eliciting clarification, descriptive information, and program implications, and understanding procedures, goals, and…

This discussion of how conditions of the recipient can affect effectiveness of feedback presents an overview of the topic (feedback functions and feedback about what, when, by whom, and types), and discusses factors affecting formative feedback, i.e., recipients' discrimination repertoires and self-monitoring behavior development in…

Every school needs an effective disaster recovery plan that is flexible, comprehensive and designed to take into account unexpected disasters. Presents guidelines for preparing such a plan, with immediate and long-range recovery procedures. (MD)

Briefly discusses the evolution of duties of school media specialists and describes use of an attitudinal questionnaire to survey the school community to see how well media services are being received and whether improvements or adjustments are necessary. Items to be included in such a questionnaire are listed. (MBR)

Describes Statistical Work Analysis Teams (S.W.A.T.), which marry the two factors necessary for successful statistical analysis with the personal nature of attribute data into a single effort. Discusses S.W.A.T. project guidelines, implementation of the first S.W.A.T. projects, team training, and project completion. (CT)

Describes experiences in organizing a program of microform reader and reader/printer maintenance at Texas A & M's Sterling C. Evans Library and offers guidelines for regular machine maintenance and repair. Guidelines discussed relate to maintenance philosophy, general machine cleaning, troubleshooting, service contracts, supplies,…