This book affirms that the behaviors of young people from culturally diverse populations need to be viewed from a cultural perspective, and that instruction should affirm students and empower them to achieve maximally as well as to benefit others. A theme that underlies the entire book is the advocacy of direct instruction in social skills,…

A program designed to improve higher-order thinking skills in secondary school students of Spanish as a second language is reported. Deficiency in higher order thinking was documented through teacher-constructed tests, students' oral presentations in Spanish, teacher observation journals, and student reflection logs. Analysis showed the students…

ISO 9000 is one of a series of international standards providing guidelines and governing quality of products and services. The ISO 9000 certification demonstrates the capability of a supplier to control the processes that determine the acceptability of the product or service being supplied. This paper focuses on the training aspects of ISO 9000…

A survey was conducted of Colorado secondary career and technical programs in 1995 to gauge how the state has responded to mandates of the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act of 1990. Results were reported for the first three of nine standards developed by a statewide committee in 1992. The three standards require secondary programs…

A study examined the nature of family contributions to adolescent and adult learners' readiness for transition from school to work and any variations between the two groups. It used data from national samples of 1,266 high school seniors and 879 adults in one- and two-year postsecondary occupational education programs. Findings, based on an…

This article discusses the development of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curricula that are consistent across course levels. The article argues that to maintain consistency, teachers must cooperate to form an ongoing, systematic development of subskill-based course guidelines in the skill areas of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and…

Whole language and cooperative learning are effective ways to help students develop and integrate academic skills. The computer makes available the possibility of multimedia opportunities to apply these and other strategies to develop cognitive, affective, and social skills. The project reported in this paper explored a successful strategy for…

This Digest looks at recent research, and then asks and considers some important questions about choosing a handwriting program for young children, i.e.: (1) which alphabet is developmentally appropriate; (2) which alphabet is easier to use; (3) which alphabet is easier to read; (4) which alphabet is more easily integrated; (5) which alphabet is…

This project involved a program for improving student behavior. The targeted population consisted of second and third grade students in a rural community located west of Chicago, Illinois. Data indicated that behavior problems were disrupting instructional time and students' involvement in learning. The evidence for the existence of the problem…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a federally funded study of nine toddlers and preschoolers (ages 29-63 months) with a variety of disabilities. The project investigated the effectiveness of embedding systematic instruction within inclusive, developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), play-based environments to teach young children with…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a research project that examined which training procedures lead to effective acquisition and generalization of social skills of students with serious emotional disturbances and behavior problems. Specifically, goals of the project were: (1) to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of five training…

This document consists of four papers presented during a symposium on learning research moderated by Keith Johansen at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "A Goal-Based Scenario (GBS) as a Unified Approach to Integrated Skills Development Training: Andersen Consulting's BanDS School" (Kurt J. Olson, Jeffrey M.…

This paper discusses the difficulties deaf and hard-of-hearing children (d/hh) have in test taking and the test-taking strategies they use, such as visual matching of words in the text to words in the question. These specific strategies are different from those used by children without disabilities. Also examined are the characteristics and…

This study: (1) examined assumptions made about development of second-language writing skills by the teaching profession, as reflected in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines, and (2) investigated the relationship between those assumptions and actual skills development, as reflected in the work…

This compilation presents material related to the HOSTS (Help One Student To Succeed) Reading Mastery/Learning/Tutorial System, a program consisting of the use of electronic databases, comprehensive diagnostic tests, computer software, instructional materials, staff development, tutorial master plans, and a professional support system to support…