In recent years, educators have begun to use learning portfolios as a means of evaluating student learning in higher education. Research indicates that learning portfolios can help students understand better the learning process as well as enhancing learning outcomes. They promote reflection on the learning experience and encourage students to…

Twenty-four eleventh grade students attending a month-long, summer civic-leadership institute in a Pacific Northwest city participated in a study that examined their dialectical reasoning on civic issues. This reasoning was elicited through written scaffolding, with students guided explicitly to compose essays arguing for or against a position on…

To illustrate the theoretical dynamics involved in analysis of the process of "metasensing," this paper investigates the language of 22 elementary school principals and their strategic actions during school improvement programs. The study's grounded theory approach frames the principals'"epistemology of practice"--thereby…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 38 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) how writing centers succeed and fail; (2) the effects of scoring method, topic, and mode on grade 12 students' writing scores; (3) analysis of the peer…

A three-year longitudinal study of bilingual curriculum content (BCC) was initiated in the 1983-84 school year to assess alternative strategies for teaching curriculum content to Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in Dade County (Florida) Public Schools. The BCC strategy (in which content subjects are taught bilingually) was contrasted with…

This guide consists of materials for use in developing a vocational agriculture curriculum. Addressed in the individual sections of the guide are the following topics: reviewing program objectives for vocational agriculture; reviewing program coding and taxonomy areas; reviewing community needs with school and advisory committees and recommending…

A study examined the views of various members of the school and business communities toward what the focus of vocational education programs in Illinois actually is and what it should be. A questionnaire dealing with six factors currently stressed in vocational educational programs and five factors that should possibly be stressed was mailed to the…

The paper questions whether followership is a valid goal of education and analyzes a goal statement publication of the New York State Department of Education. Although not actually defined in "Goals for Elementary Secondary and Continuing Education in New York State", followership is interpreted as obedience of students (followers) to…

The booklet summarizes nine recent publications representative of the growing number of reports about arts education in the United States. Selected for reasons of significance and usefulness for policy formation, the publications include descriptions of exemplary programs, summaries of research, and handbooks for effective school-community…

The research design is described for the study of instructional time, conducted as part of the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study. The premise of the study was that certain teacher behaviors are related to student achievement; however, if all teacher behaviors are equal, the students who spend the greatest amount of time in learning activities…

The paper discusses the theoretical basis of elementary social studies curriculum. Using a categorization tool developed by Eisner and Vallance, the author examines recent elementary school social studies literature in order to determine the underlying of curriculum philosophies. Five philosophical positions are revealed. The first, academic…

Family Studies I represents the first part of a consumer and homemaking program focusing on individual and family development, parenting, and the daily tasks of living in a family setting. The course is designed to help students study the family as it exists in day-to-day living and to aid them in understanding themselves in relation to their…

Objectives of the Veterans' Cost-of-Instruction Program (VCIP) evaluation were: (1) to develop profiles describing institutional services for veterans, the Office of Veterans' Affairs (OVA), and demographic characteristics; (2) to identify differences and similarities in institutions' veteran assistance programs; (3) to describe the degree to…

The conference, held in Boston on February 25, 1928, was called by the United States Commissioner of Education to address problems concerned with the professional preparation of rural school teachers. It was attended by persons engaged in the special preparation of teachers, supervisors, and administrators for rural school positions representing…

This book focuses on applying instructional design to development of classroom learning for adults. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the model and addresses concerns about use of instructional design in adult education. Chapter 2 deals with assessing and developing skills as an adult educator; a literature review on behavior, beliefs, knowledge,…