The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a medium to facilitate reflective thinking among preservice teachers. Of particular interest was the extent and manner in which this potential varies with respect to (a) the structure of the ADF, (b) the focus of the ADF, and (c) group dynamics.…

The case study evaluated a distance education program offered by a land-grant university agricultural college. The study used Holmberg's and Moore's theoretical frameworks of didactic conversation and multiple interactions to determine the importance of interaction on the efficacy of distance learning. The mixed methods approach used an original…

This curriculum guide offers suggestions for reading improvement for grades K-12. Following an introduction and statement of philosophy, a section on the theoretical and research basis of the program outlines recommendations from the National Academy of Education's Commission on Education and Public Policy's "Becoming a Nation of…

Reading journals can help college readers successfully meet the demands of complex and sophisticated texts when students use them as a strategy for making meaning rather than simply extracting information. There are three primary reasons for using reading journals at the college level: (1) writing is a way of discovering when students are free to…

A case study examined the effects of primary trait scoring on evaluating seventh grade students' compositions. Primary trait scoring as used in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township in Indianapolis is innovative in that (1) the scoring guide is assignment specific, written after adult raters read and discussed many papers; (2)…

A pilot program at the University of Michigan integrated the teaching of developmental writing and the teaching of introductory psychology based upon the two-fold principles of writing-across-the-curriculum: learning to write and writing to learn. The program consisted of four components: (1) a series of brief autonomous composition assignments…

Based on the idea that journal writing can help students discover gaps in their knowledge and explore relationships by allowing them to reflect on what they have learned, a study examined the usefulness of expressive journal writing in a first grade mathematics program. Subjects, members of a first grade classroom involved in a…

To support arguments for an integrative approach to the study of writing, this report summarizes past and current trends in writing research and the resulting implications. The introduction discusses pre-1970s, 1970s, and 1980s research trends, noting that current research focuses on the context in which writing takes place and points out the…

A study was conducted to assess the potential use of available supply/demand data in planning for secondary vocational education programs in Tennessee. Literature was reviewed for ideas and an analysis was made of the data in the Tennessee Occupational Information System (TOIS). In addition, expert opinion was collected from a selected group of 12…

Data on ten aspects of the institutional effectiveness of Howard Community College (HCC) are presented in this report. Section 1 provides actual and projected enrollment figures. Section 2 assesses quality of instruction in terms of student survey responses, full-/part-time faculty ratios, and faculty salaries. Section 3 focuses on educational…

This document reports on a 30-month study of the Hispanic dropout problem in the Dallas Independent School District (Texas). Information was gathered by the following means: (1) 746 personal, individual interviews and 337 telephone interviews with middle and high school students who had left school, students who had remained in school, and parents…

The National Institute of Education (NIE) initiated this first national study of the means by which school districts actually choose principals. NIE specified two main research goals for this study: (1) describe and characterize common practices in principal selection; and (2) describe and characterize promising alternatives for the improvement of…

To discover how one student learned to produce writing in different academic contexts, a study documented a Loyola College (Maryland) student's experiences with writing for a poetry class and a biology class during his sophomore year. The subject was interviewed several times, observed, and his voice taped during "writing aloud" sessions…

To test a situational leadership model, this study sought to determine (1) whether, among a population of educational administrators in East Tennessee, individuals possessing high flexibility/high effectiveness leadership characteristics can be identified and (2) whether those leaders consciously apply Hersey and Blanchard's concept of maturity…

Ethical dilemmas faced by many academicians in the course of their work activities and role demands are described in eight articles and 24 case illustrations. Article titles and authors are as follows: "The Academician as Good Citizen" (Bruce H. Charnov); "Fundamental Means to Ethical Teaching" (Gordon A. Walter, Mary Ann Von Glinow); "Concern for…