The New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute studied the internal and external factors influencing adult students enrolled in a tertiary-level distance education management course to abandon their studies. A literature review afforded definitions of: (1) distance education; (2) educational technology; and (3) drop out. Although research has…

Focusing on encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning and giving them a sense of control over their efforts, this book explores how the response approach to writing instruction can be put to good use in teaching children to read. Respectively, chapters discuss (1) how the author learned about writing, reading, teaching,…

This report compares two approaches to measuring task interdependence, a theoretically fruitful concept for analyzing an organization's technical system. Task interdependence exists among operating personnel in the degree that task performance of one operative constrains, augments, or otherwise poses contingencies for the performance of another.…

Intended for classroom teachers who are interested in but apprehensive about starting a writing program, this journal article addresses some of the most common questions asked at workshops. The specific questions answered in the article are as follows: (1) How do I start? (2) What materials are needed? (3) How do I find time for student writing?…

The application of communicative and grammatical approaches to syllabus design for conversational English for specific purposes is discussed. Each approach is examined, and applications are suggested for each at different stages of instruction, based on learner readiness and the linguistic organization of the target language variety. At the early…

By building up the confidence of student writers, writing teachers hope to reduce the hostility and anxiety so often found in authoritarian introductory college composition classes. Process oriented writing theory implicitly defines confidence as a wholly personal quality resulting from students' discovery that they do have "something to…

One of the seven correlates of an effective school, as identified by the Effective Schools Research, is a positive school climate: a positive attitude on the part of the entire staff and student body exhibited through overt behavior that creates a warm, orderly learning environment. Development of such an environment depends upon: (1) strong…

This report updates information on private schools and provides nationally representative data on private school teachers. Two separate questionnaires were administered, one collecting information on school characteristics from administrators in a nationally representative sample of 1,174 private schools, and the second collecting information from…

Evaluating the longitudinal effects of a 5-year secondary school composition curriculum, a study investigated students' perceptions of their ability to use essay-level and syntax-level skills. Student questionnaires provided perception, definition, and usefulness data about the curriculum. Results showed that 3 years elapsed before students became…

Numbers 1 through 5 of the 1985 TECFORS newsletter include these articles: "Working with the E.S.L. and the Developmental Student in the Same Classroom" (Dorothy Farris Findlen); "Academic Writing Standards: A Questionnaire" (Ann M. Johns); "ESL for the Deaf: Part I, the Importance of the First Language" (D.…

This paper, prepared as a chapter for the "Handbook of Research on Teaching" (third edition), reviews correlational and experimental research linking teacher behavior to student achievement. It focuses on research done in K-12 classrooms during 1973-83, highlighting several large-scale, programmatic efforts. Attention is drawn to design, sampling,…

The 1984 edition of the United States Virgin Islands School Statistical Summary presents narratives, 48 tables, and 7 graphic illustrations of education in public and private elementary and secondary schools during the 1983-84 school year. Tables provide data on the U.S. Virgin Islands demography and economy, enrollment and average daily…

This book comprises papers on effectively educating black children. The foreword is by U.S. Representative Augustus F. Hawkins; the introduction is by Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Section I, "School Policy: Formation and Implementation," includes the following papers: (1) "Revisiting…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a natural environment language training procedure that combined the mand-model procedure and the time delay procedure for the acquisition of noun signs and for the spontaneous use of the signs acquired. One autistic boy, aged 5 years, 4 months with no verbal imitation skills and few movement imitation…

The Maryland Longitudinal Study (MLS) participants are categorized into one of two categories (preferred or regular admits) based on their academic experiences while at the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP). Preferred admits are students who earned both a high school grade point average (GPA) of "B" or higher and a combined…