Nineteen secondary school teachers in a mid-sized Florida school district participated in a single-group pretest/posttest design to explore the relationship between essential and higher order teaching skills. Correlations between two sets of teacher performance variables were computed before and after training in teaching for higher order thinking…

This study of gender differences in mathematics learning examined two 4-year-olds who attended a Melbourne, Australia preschool. The study traces the experiences of the students, one female and one male, during their first formal exposure to mathematics in kindergarten. Of particular concern was how the preschoolers interacted with their teacher,…

Two studies of influences on self-regulated performance were conducted. The purpose of the first was to determine if the level of performance of college students would be higher if the allowable length of the assignment was greater or smaller. Subjects were 126 education majors at a large state university participating in an extra-credit program…

Many tests which attempt to produce intelligence quotient or mental age scores for children rely on time taken to complete the task for a valid result to be obtained. A number of tests were carried out with both Down's Syndrome and normal children (128 Down's Syndrome; 162 normal) in order to determine (1) relative abilities to complete the tasks…

Intended for use by state library officials with policy responsibilities, this report presents a process for determining state levels of adequacy of public library services, measuring the current statewide performance, and planning statewide strategies for improving performance. Several facets of library service and resources are addressed, and…

Preschool and first-grade children's story production was studied. Participants were 96 children who were asked to relate stories about two familiar events: baking cookies and taking a trip to the beach. Story events were depicted in line drawings in a coloring book. Half the sample was assigned to a preview condition in which children narrated…

There is a paucity of information on college outcomes of Native Americans, matriculation and retention rates, factors that contribute to institutional holding power, and barriers to Native American achievement. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey of 79 two- and four-year colleges and universities that serve the largest…

This issue of "ETS Policy Notes" discusses gender differences in educational achievement. The first article--"The Gender Gap in Education: How Early and How Large?"--discusses the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which first measures achievement at age 9 years. Gender differences at that age are generally…

The institutional assessment model described in this report is used by Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) to collect current information needed to update the goals of service and instructional units, identify opportunities for improvement and growth, and assess the resources of the college. The first sections of the paper explain the…

In order to evaluate the most effective delivery format for providing gifted/talented education, 247 elementary students in gifted programs in Evansville, Indiana, were divided into experimental students, who received instruction in self-contained classrooms of fellow gifted students, and control students, who received instruction in a pull-out…

The Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) was developed to evaluate the study and learning behavior of urban Black and Hispanic students in ways not measured by existing study skills instruments. The instrument attempts to deal effectively with "non-intellectual" factors identified previously as having an impact on study and learning…

The term "pre-doctoral syndrome" is used to define behaviors of doctoral students during the research and dissertation stage of their program, when they typically become intense, single-minded, over-sensitive, less receptive to criticism, and exhibit stress-related behaviors. A study was conducted to examine the perceptions of University…

This study examined the relationship between the changes introduced in a course syllabus for a course titled "Instructional Strategies" and the final grades obtained by freshman and sophomore students in three successive academic periods. A sample of 150 subjects was randomly selected from students enrolled in the course at the…

Two approaches to the measurement of teacher efficacy were investigated to determine whether teachers' sense of self-efficacy is a self-referenced or norm-referenced construct. Two forms of an instrument consisting of 25 teaching problem situations were developed: one required self-referenced responses, while the other required norm-referenced…

This experiment investigated how sex of model and type of modeled behavior influenced achievement outcomes among elementary school children who had experienced difficulties learning mathematical skills in school. Children observed either a same- or opposite-sex peer model demonstrate either rapid (mastery model) or gradual (coping model)…