The validity of seven extenuating circumstances which college teachers provided as explanations for poor ratings by their students was investigated. Class size was the only circumstance producing a statistically significant difference in student ratings of their instructors. (CP)

Describes a study of the impact of innovative teaching techniques on students' cognitive achievement. After adjusting for differences in characteristics between users and nonusers, the effect of computer-assisted instruction on student achievement was found to be negative but small. (Author/AV)

Suggests that test performance can be improved through test administration procedures that inform students when they are responding to instruments that assess socially desirable attributes (such as aptitude and achievement) and that take into account children's feelings about school tasks. (Author)

Norma Kuder's teaching career was in jeopardy. Her personal life had been a mess for a long time, and it affected her teaching. Her principal believed that Norma didn't belong in teaching, and he warned her that her contract might not be renewed. Discusses how intelligent action by the school counselor, the principal, and fellow teachers saved a…

Covert assessment strategies not usually reported in psychological testing are described and their implications for educational diagnosticians, school psychologists, and clinical psychologists are discussed. Covert assessment is a procedure which does not violate standardized testing procedures, but rather complements and enhances the assessment…

The authors discuss skills required by human resources development (HRD) professionals to act in the capacity of an in-house consultant. They provide a self-assessment tool to identify skills that must be acquired or sharpened. (Author/CH)

Discusses five ways to make goal setting effective: set difficult and specific goals, monitor results, reward performance, participate in goal setting, and challenge individual self-confidence and goal dissatisfaction. A model showing internal and environmental factors related to performance and a list of management strategies for enhancing…

Examined the influence of selected factors on secondary student's performance in practical chemistry for a sample of students and teachers from 39 Nigerian schools. Student participation in laboratory activities and students attitudes to chemistry were identified as being the most important factors affecting performance in chemistry. (ML)

Twelve learning-handicapped elementary students were exposed to synthetic speech. Subsequently, the children identified a higher percentage of stimulus words presented by a speech synthesizer than did children in a limited exposure group. Both groups correctly identified more words presented by a tape recording than presented by the speech…

This article briefly interprets the major findings of Peters and Waterman's themes about corporate excellence; describes the theoretical framework of two outcome-based education programs; discusses the messages common to excellence in management and in education; and interprets key elements in the emerging excellence paradigm. (JL)

The motivational dynamics of recently arrived Central Americans are explored. Issues facing this population are framed in the context of a psychosocial model for understanding minority status and educational functioning in a plural society. A key implication of the findings is that not all minorities share the same problems. (Author/VM)

Reprint of Corey's classic satire written in the first person of a student who is discussing his overview of his educational experiences in elementary school. From a seventh grader's perspective, the article speaks sensitively and clearly to the dynamics underpinning the dichotomy between a student operating within a rigid academic structure and…

Explores, in two independent replications one year apart, the possiblility that (a) the actions of three-year-old children are guided and accompanied by self-evaluations and withdrawal, (b) that self-evaluations and withdrawal have a motivational function for persistence, and (c) that they are influenced by the mother's behavior when interacting…

Literacy, reasoning, and civility in education are discussed from the perspective of social organization and cultural patterning. Schools are part of the larger social environment and perpetuate social class and rank as well as teach the curriculum. Reforms should change the social relations between teachers and students as well as instructional…

Investigates whether 53 mothers' beliefs about achievement were related to their seventh grade children's sex differences, and the association between these beliefs and their children's performance in mathematics. (HOD)