This study investigated the accuracy and types of interpretations that fifth, eighth, and eleventh graders gave to 24 editorial cartoons in four issue areas and the effect of intelligence on political cartoon interpretation. Numerous misinterpretations and no interpretations indicates assumptions that cartoons are an effective teaching medium…

A survey of the socio-political attitudes of Swedish high school students showed that male students were more systematically conservative than female students, except for the religiosity dimension, in almost all political party preference groups. Sex was shown to have a weaker effect on attitudes than political party preference. (Author/RM)

Provides rationale for using trade books rather than textbooks for instruction in content areas. Describes a specific teaching strategy, which includes readiness, reading, and responses for encouraging the development of thinking skills and independent learning. (DST)

A survey of medical, law, and chemistry and psychology graduate students' perceived stresses (academic activities, personal relationships, time pressures, and financial concerns) contradicted the expectation that medical students' stress level would be highest. Time restrictions and economic and academic issues produced the highest stress. (MSE)

The design and findings of three surveys describing art teachers--who they are, what they teach, how they teach, and what they value--are discussed and compared, and the need for ongoing studies of this nature is established. Data-gathering roles are also suggested for professional agencies and associations. (Author/RM)

The overall purpose of this Report is to present the findings of the "National Dispute Resolution Use and Effectiveness Study" conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), under subcontract with Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE), regarding the use and…

The federal government recently enacted its first school voucher program as a pilot project in the District of Columbia. To be eligible, students need to be entering grades K-12 and have a family income at or below 185 percent of the poverty level. Although a rigorous analysis of the Opportunity Scholarship Program's impact on student achievement…

Ever since the publication of "A Nation At Risk" in 1983, Americans have been preoccupied with two problems regarding public education: (1) student performance is unsatisfactory to most Americans despite large increases in real spending per student; and despite several attempts at reforming curricula, teacher training, testing, and other…

For decades it has been a commonly held belief that high school students planning to go to college need to take more rigorous coursework than those going directly into the workforce. Today, however, many employers are convinced that in an expanding global economy, entry-level workers need much the same knowledge and skills as college-going…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" discusses family-based interventions and how they may have both direct and indirect effects. While the measurement of direct outcomes for a targeted group is important, a…

This is the 4th annual report from a 5-year longitudinal project that examines diverse and promising programs for integrating career and technical education (CTE, previously called vocational education) with whole-school reform in schools that serve predominantly disadvantaged students. Prior annual reports have reviewed the research base on the…

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) is a combination of two separate tests. One test is AIMS, which measures how well the student knows the reading, writing, and mathematics content that all Arizona students in the student's grade level are expected to know and be able to do. AIMS DPA includes…

This paper is a report of a study that investigated whether increased private-school competition results in enhanced performance of public schools. Data for the study came from a pooled data set from Georgia Department of Education documents and directories, which included socioeconomic data on students and test scores from Georgia school systems…

This paper briefly describes two projects--one in the United States, one in England--that studied professional learning communities (PLCs). Part I of the paper describes the two projects. The American project is called the Creating Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement project. The purpose of this study was to document and examine…

This summative evaluation of magnet programs employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate whether or not students enrolled in magnet programs gained any achievement advantage over students who were not enrolled in a magnet program. Researchers used Zero-One Linear Programming to draw multiple sets of matched samples from the non-magnet…