The performance patterns of about 13,000 Asian/Pacific Islander (API) students in mathematics, written composition, and reading in grades 1 through 6 were examined. Student information was obtained through the Los Angeles Unified School District's data base for the Survey of Essential Skills (May 1982). Predominantly English-speaking, the students…

An overview of research studies on the relationship among time factors and student achievement is presented. The California Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study is cited as a seminal work in this area. A brief summary of findings on allocated time, engaged time, and academic learning time includes a discussion on how these studies have been expanded…

A study examined the extent to which various individualized instructional methods were utilized in Navy "A" and "C" courses. During the study, questionnaires were mailed to instructors involved in teaching a random stratified sample of 623 Navy "A" and "C" school courses (a sample that represented 25 percent…

An overview is presented of school effectiveness research which has identified characteristics of academically successful schools. The research reviewed has reexamined such things as the way educators manage time, assign students, define curriculum, determine class size, organize schools, and assess achievement. This report focuses upon three…

An outline is presented of organizational procedures that teachers can use to maximize the use of classroom time. Specific guidelines are given on how to give homework assignments, how to communicate expectations regarding student work, how to distribute instructional materials, and how to allocate time among various classroom activities. Brief…

The premise for an exploratory study of classroom instructional activities was that a positive and substantial correlation exists between achievement and instructional time. The proportion of time that teachers spent on instruction was compared to time devoted to student discipline and control. Three contextual variables were measured through…

This manual describes procedures for collecting data about two classroom elements: (1) teacher-student interactions; and (2) amount and type of student engagement in academic work. Although the system was originally developed from a study of influences on sex-related differences in mathematics, it is designed to be adapted as needed for…

Studies have been undertaken in London, Ontario to assess the effect of increased instructional time in French on grade 8 students' achievement in French language skills. Fifteen eighth grade classes were selected to produce a sample of approximately 400 students. Two subsamples of approximately 150 students each were randomly selected to receive…

This report summarizes and evaluates existing studies of time use in schools. The first section describes theoretical views of time and learning. Two issues are discussed: the sources of variation in learning time (actual days per school year, length of school day, absenteeism), and the effects of learning time on achievement. In the second…

Activities and interactions of teachers and students from high school science classes of Western Australia were investigated. Fifteen teachers from two co-educational high schools (private and public) serving medium socio-economic level families in the metropolitan area of Perth participated in the study. The specific foci were: (1) the…

Examples are given of classroom situations which pose challenges or problems for teachers. The reasons the problems arose are discussed, and alternative suggestions are made for handling them. Discussions include classroom interactions among teachers and students in these areas: (1) using students' time efficiently; (2) classroom arrangement and…

This literature review examines the teaching techniques and school environments that have been linked with high scores on standardized tests. It describes the strategies that might be used to achieve one particular educational goal, while making teachers aware that trade-offs are required when they choose to emphasize one particular goal. The…

This paper advocates categorization of engagement on the basis of a logical relationship with the outcomes of a study and the use of student attributes that are logically related to engagement and/or achievement as covariables. Results from a study involving nine engagement categories, measures of formal reasoning ability, locus of control and…

The importance of appropriate task relevant behaviors as a necessary condition for school learning has long been noted. This paper suggests a multiple measure of one set of student classroom behaviors, presents a brief theoretical basis for the measure, provides some empirical support for the use of the measure, and indicates some educational…

Three strategies for selecting number of instances needed to learn legal concepts were compared. An adaptive strategy required 25 percent less time and resulted in better post test performance than a partially adaptive strategy. The partially adaptive strategy was 16 percent more efficient than the nonadaptive strategy, and resulted in better…