Reports on a naturalistic study conducted with 24 low-achieving high school biology students that determined how the teacher and students used two computer-based videodisk programs, a print-based activity, and a dissection laboratory to learn about frog anatomy and to conduct a frog dissection. Future research is suggested. (Contains 14…

Implementation of schoolwide projects in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) illustrates some of the conceptual problems associated with the Hawkins Stafford accountability amendments to the Chapter 1 supplementary education program. Unintended negative consequences are discussed, and recommendations are made to overcome these problems, including the…

Describes a research project in which 20 potential candidates for remedial programs in junior high school used desktop publishing to design, write, and produce their own magazine. Finds that students wrote as they had never written before, although the transfer of demonstrated skills to test situations was disappointing. (SR)

The usefulness of latent class modeling in addressing several measurement issues is demonstrated via a study of 74 good and 74 poor readers in grades 5 and 6. Procedures were particularly useful for assessing the hierarchical relation among skills and for exploring issues related to item domains. (SLD)

National survey identified home environmental characteristics that differentiated low-achieving African-American eighth graders with low academic expectations from those with unrealistically high expectations. Family influence differed among groups. Low achievers with high expectations came from homes with greater parental involvement, higher…

Average performance on subtests of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development was compared for 177 high school students taking the test under silent reading (standardized) conditions and time limits and students listening to audiotapes of test material as they read the test. Poor readers were helped by the tapes. (SLD)

Proposes engaging low achievers in science activities that appeal to their interests. Describes an example involving fishing that explores scientific concepts related to the search for bait, the fishing equipment, the use of solunar tables to determine the best time to go, processing the catch, and survival tips for the trip. (MDH)

Examines how lower-track science students understand shifts in standard classroom discourse patterns. Finds that students insert struggles for social status into classroom arguments about scientific ideas, making it difficult to separate in a group discussion whether evidence or the social politics of the class convinces students to accept an…

A recent project collected and analyzed student success indicators generated by six high schools from a large, midwestern school corporation. Schools with clear student goals and enhanced professional-development opportunities made more successful transitions to block schedules. High achievers remained successful; low-achievers struggled under…

Examines four case study pairings of college student volunteer tutors with fourth-grade at-risk children. Notes that the efforts of these tutors and their students all resulted in significant literacy gains. Describes in detail the social interactions of these dyads and identifies common themes, characteristics, and categories which emerged from…

The Central Valley (California) Educational Research Consortium asked 118 area principals what they were doing to improve their lowest achieving students' education. Respondents are focusing on individualizing instruction, aligning curricula to standards, advocating teaching to standards and tests, promoting new curriculum methodologies, and…

A U.S. Department of Education study shows that the average 12th-grade African-American student is reading and doing math at around the level of the average 8th-grade white or Asian student. Hispanic students are about as far behind. Both African-Americans and Hispanic college students obtain diplomas at half the rate of white or Asian students.…

The most important asset of any enterprise is the talent and enthusiasm of its workforce. In operating a successful business, there is no greater challenge than to attract and retain the best-qualified, hardest-working employees. And perhaps the most important factors in keeping the best people are providing workers with the tools to succeed at…

The Freedom to Learn (FTL) program is a statewide initiative coordinated by the Michigan Department of Education and Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Now beginning its third year, the program targets underperforming middle schools in 100 of the state's 500 districts. More than 23,000 students and 1,500 teachers have been issued HP nx9010…

Two years ago, Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Washington, committed to making each student's sojourn a personalized learning experience, even in a school of 1,500. The teachers at Shorecrest took a closer look at their student population and found out several unmet needs of the significant minority group of students. Among those findings…