The report summarizies findings of a study of least restrictive environment (LRE) for handicapped students. Reviews are presented of the legal and legislative background of LRE, the conceptual background of research on environments, the concept of environment in special education, and the results and methodological issues in efficacy research.…

To explore the relationship between time and school learning, this paper defines the three kinds of learning time identified by researchers--allocated time, time-on-task, and academic learning time--and relates them to curriculum development. The author cites evidence that time-on-task is related to student achievement and describes two…

Research on teacher effectiveness addresses questions about how teachers bring about desirable student outcomes. Until recently, most research has focused on long-term outcomes, such as achievement gains over one year. Short-term outcomes--students' immediate responses to instruction--are also important. Four categories of short-term student…

This paper reviews the results of research on various programs for learning French as a second language from kindergarten to grade 11 or 12 in selected Canadian school systems. Generally, it examines the effects of a number of factors on French learning, such as student selection procedures and student ability, starting age, total amount of time…

Freshman botany students, graduate students, and student library assistants participated in a study to determine the effectiveness of a self-paced workbook on learning library skills in searching science literature and to determine staff and funding requirements to run larger scale instructional programs. The botany students comprised four groups.…

This booklet describes a foundation for effective classroom management and focuses on some of the basic processes involved in creating a cooperative atmosphere in the classroom. Four topics are considered: the beginning of the school year, selecting and arranging activities, monitoring and timing activities in the classroom, and stopping…

Thirty-six children between four and seven years of age were asked a series of questions to determine their degree of insight (meta-cognitive awareness) regarding the way four common variables influence the ease with which a person can perform the three cognitive tasks of remembering, communicating, and attending. The four variables were the…

This volume describes the process, findings, and implications of a complex research project known as the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES). A major contribution of the study is its focus on Academic Learning Time (ALT) as a measure of learning. ALT is the amount of time a student spends engaged in academic tasks of appropriate difficulty.…

A study of four unusually competent high school writers was undertaken to determine the reasons for varying durations of pause in writing. It was believed that a writer pauses during transcribing to rehearse, plan, and reformulate and to make a number of crucial decisions about syntax, semantics, and discourse. Each student spent a total of 12…

Reports the findings of a comparative study of elementary students in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Contrasts student attitude and behavior, intelligence, and achievement levels, and teacher and parent attitudes. Focuses on the factors behind the relative slowness of American children to acquire mathematics skills. (KH)

Assessed reading achievement of five second-grade girls under two contingencies: (1) teacher contacts were made during on-task behavior; and (2) differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI) with teacher contacts contingent on students' hand-raising behavior. Reading achievement and time on task were greater under the on-task…

A social studies department chairperson describes the case concerning the importance of elementary social studies education that she presented at a school board hearing. As a result of her presentation, the board added 50 minutes to the daily time allotted for intermediate grade social studies instruction. (RM)

Suggests that, in the majority of the aspects of the reading process examined, there was a statistically significant interaction between illustration and difficulty levels. Finds that reading performance in the illustrated conditions was superior to that in the unillustrated conditions at the lower level of difficulty. (JD)

This study of the instructional ecology of 52 high school resource room programs for mildly handicapped students found that teachers instructed in a wide variety of content areas and had high student engagement rates. Instructional practices generally associated with high achievement were not typically employed. Implications for teacher training…

Analyzes the allocation of student time from the perspective of economic theory with an economic model that predicts a small increase in educational achievement relative to substantial increases in instructional time. Predictions are supported by empirical evidence. Policy consequences are examined. (MLF)