Discussion of performance assessment focuses on a study that was part of the International Evaluation of Achievement of computer education that tested students in grades 8 and 11 on word processing performance tasks. Results are examined to determine the useability, reliability, and validity of the process. (eight references) (LRW)

Describes a study that investigated the effects of using different forms of computer-based feedback on high school students' learning of science material. Hypotheses tested are discussed, five feedback conditions are described, posttests are explained, and results are discussed in terms of the information processing effects of different feedback…

Assessed incidence and risk factors of unwanted sexual activity initiated by peers for 1,149 adolescent females. Twenty percent of sample reported some type of unwanted sexual contact in past year. Over one-third of this group reported having been forced to have sexual intercourse. Boyfriends were most commonly reported perpetrators followed by…

This paper considers some of the benefits of reading and writing e-literature, including its influences on prints texts, challenges to the imagination, and attention to metafictive devices and processes. The less cohesive, more fragmented quality of e-literature creates a subjunctive space for creation where writers can consider interesting…

Argument, debate, discussion, disagreement--most teachers would agree that these skills fall well within their students' repertoire. Students are frequently energized and excited by arguments and will voluntarily elaborate on and defend their ideas. Yet put these same students to the task of writing a persuasive essay and much of that eloquence is…

Over the last several years there have been numerous calls for reforming high school to college transitions. In 2000-2001, the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the National Commission on the High School Senior Year respectively called for a re-thinking of how students moved from secondary to postsecondary education. A widely-discussed…

Chemistry learning involves establishing conceptual relationships among macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representations. Employing the notion of intertextuality to conceptualize these relationships, this study investigates how class members interactionally construct meanings of chemical representations by connecting them to real-life…

The purpose of this study was to try to determine what influences girls to choose science. Forty girls were interviewed in Grades 2, 5, 8, 11 using a semistructured protocol. The interview focused on feelings about science, science careers, peer and parental support, and how science is taught. To determine whether their responses were based on…

This study examined the continued gender imbalance in mathematics participation in senior high, which has implications for adolescents' future careers. It confirms persisting greater male participation in maths-related educational and occupational choices among this sample of Australian youth. Gendered course-taking in maths, along with…

Despite a growing body of literature on the causes of heavy episodic drinking, little attention has been paid to this phenomenon in the sociological and criminological literature. This research assesses the extent to which a popular theory of crime and deviance, control theory, can explain heavy episodic drinking. Analysis of data collected from a…

Whether there were differences in motivational and learning environment perceptions of students selected based on their performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) was studied over 3 years in a public school district in Texas. The degree to which affective elements of student behavior varied according to their success on this…

In 1988, the New Jersey Legislature passed legislation that moved the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT) from ninth to eleventh grade. This test of basic skills in reading, mathematics, and writing will be a graduation requirement for all students in New Jersey who enter high school on or after September 1, 1991. In October 1994 the test was…

Describing the characteristics and attitudes of a nationally representative sample of 36,000 students in grades 3, 7, and 11, this report details the specific features of reading instruction, how students approach their reading tasks, student reading experiences, and the home and school supports to academic achievement. The report is based the…

This practicum was designed because out of school suspensions as a disciplinary procedure were not effective in changing students' behaviors. The students felt angry and rejected by the teachers, and they did not feel part of the school culture. The practicum offered a peace curriculum designed to be used in content academic areas, small groups,…

This paper discusses a study that compared enrollment patterns in advanced math and science courses of (n=720) junior and senior girls in public coed and parochial all-girls high schools in Louisiana. The study also examined survey responses regarding career goals and positive and negative career influences on girls. The same survey responses from…