Examines research indicating that while homework assigned at the middle school level does improve achievement, homework in the lower grades appears to undermine children's school attitudes and to have little effect on their school performance. Suggests goals and characteristics of useful homework assignments. (HTH)

A study examined the educational performance of 56 children (ages 6-15) receiving services from an urban child care service agency that emphasized family preservation and reunification. Although the majority of participants were performing poorly in math, reading, and science, no relationships were found between school performance and family…

A study investigated the lives of six underachieving high-ability males in an inner-city high school to understand how their urban life experiences influenced their underachievement. Results found they experienced inappropriate curricular and counseling experiences, problematic family issues, a negative peer group and environmental influences, and…

Two experiments tested predictions of dual-route-cascaded and triangle frameworks regarding effect among first-graders of having a word in oral vocabulary prior to reading that same word. Results suggest that word-specific phonological information is represented in the reading system independently of semantic or articulatory influences. Results…

Twenty-four adolescents participated in conversations with a same-sex peer, an opposite-sex peer, or a speech-language pathologist. Significant differences were found in linguistic behaviors between conversations with peers and those with clinicians. Conversations with opposite-sex peers tended to have fewer direct questions, reduced listener eye…

Investigated degree to which two shape dimensions were represented categorically by children and adults when learning object names. Found that adults accepted names more often to objects that fell within proposed shape boundaries than to objects that crossed boundaries. Children were just as likely to generalize names to novel objects that fell…

Three experiments explored change toward more flexible reliance on combinations of spatial and nonspatial landmark information to reorient oneself. Identified 5-7 years as age for this developmental change. Results suggest that language production skills play a causal role in allowing humans to construct novel representations rapidly, which can…

Within the framework of the body as a significant site for learning, case studies of staff in an eldercare facility and of adult learners of English as a second language are used to support the claim of ontological performance (practical embodied actions) as a way to approach adult learning for and at work. (Contains 38 references.) (SK)

Accountability policy research relies on systems theory, objectivism, and logical empiricism to identify learning performance indicators. Policy knowledge production should permit a more holistic, causally interdependent view of teaching, learning, and leadership services. Presents an accountability policy methodology stressing formative…

Discussion of the role of academic librarians and faculty status highlights the importance of a holistic view of the academic model of librarianship and suggests a system for providing support and judging performance. Topics addressed include activities in teaching, research, and service; performance criteria; scheduling; training; and evaluation…

Proposes a text-driven method for the deletion procedure in cloze passages. An appropriate passage for the proficiency level of the subjects was developed, with the standard cloze and eight different versions. Results suggest that this method is superior to the fixed-ratio deletion method on some grounds and that the differences among subjects'…

The development of sports medicine was influenced by medicalization and increasing competitiveness in modern sport, with sports physicians helping to develop performance enhancing drugs and techniques. This paper discusses sports medicine and drug use in Eastern European countries, early development of anabolic steroids in the United States, and…

A study of 300 children in kindergarten, grade 2, and grade 6 found that background music improved visual discrimination task performance at the youngest and middle ages and had no effect on the oldest participants. On a square identification task, background music had no influence on easy and difficult tasks but lowered performance on…

Forty children (ages 7-11) referred for evaluation of learning problems, who had normal scores on measures of academic achievement, were compared to 81 similarly referred children who had scored low. Children with normal achievement scores had higher IQs and better decoding skills, however, the two groups showed similar neuropsychological…

A study examined the effects of providing the accommodation of reading the mathematics items to 115 fourth-grade students, 38 with learning disabilities, on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Students with learning disabilities benefited from having the mathematics items read to them, although typical students had higher test scores.…