A report is presented of a national assessment of young Americans' achievement of citizenship goals. Conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the study measured achievement of six behavioral objectives. These were: (1) show concern for the well-being and dignity of others, (2) support just law and the rights of all…

A two-year research project was conducted to investigate factors that promote second language acquisition and to monitor changes in these factors associated with increased training and proficiency in the second language. Two French programs in London, Ontario second language program beginning in grade 7 and the secondary school French program in…

This grant application describes the theoretical background and research design of a project intended to study the interaction between children's styles of functioning and the opportunities and requirements of an open classroom environment. A major assumption to be tested is that exploratory children function more effectively in open classrooms.…

The report summarizes the results of a number of studies which have been performed in an attempt to develop a technology for using human resources data as criteria in engineering design studies. Eight investigations conducted during the period 1966-1975 are briefly described. The results of the eight studies are integrated around six topics of:…

This paper presents a study which related teachers expectations of student achievement after two weeks of classroom contact to several possible sources: student classroom performance, prior school performance, parental involvement, and student status characteristics. Their temporal order and relative influence are examined via a path model and…

One of the many criticisms leveled at standardized testing is that the time limits commonly used require a speed component of performance which may act to the disadvantaged of certain culturally defined groups. Recent studies by the authors examined the question of differential time limits and group performance for standardized academic aptitude…

The Yale Summer High School (YSHS) is an experimental program addressed to the development of high-potential, underachieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds. To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the intervention, an experimental design including random selection of samples, two control groups (one matched for a test of…

This project was designed (1) to identify superior and poor writers of expository composition from the ninth-grade students in Burroughs Jr. High School in Detroit who received mental ratings of A through C- on the California Test of Mental Maturity, and (2) to determine the qualities that are characteristic of superior writers. Three evaluators…

A prevailing concern of leadership development is the extent to which performance-oriented training increases the ability of an individual to define and implement a process to accomplish stated objectives. The systems approach provides an analytic strategy for task decomposition into sequentially, temporally ordered activities without necessarily…

A 10-year educational experiment being conducted in England in which 18,000 elementary school students are taught French by non-specialist teachers is described. The methods used rely extensively on audiovisual materials. Discussion focuses on the following factors affecting the program: (1) sex of the student, (2) socioeconomic status, (3)…

An empirical study investigated whether personality characteristics have a bearing on an individual's success with particular modes of instruction, in this case, computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and the programed text (PT). The study was developed in an attempt to establish useful criteria on which to base a rationale for choosing suitable…

This conference report contains a keynote address by Dr. Howard Altman, entitled "Individualizing Foreign Language Instruction: Theoretical and Practical Considerations," and five reports of the conference group sessions. Reports include: (1) "Techniques for Implementing Individualized Instruction," (2) "Performance Objectives," (3) "Developing…

This research contrasts the learning effects of an affective dimension of meaningfulness with the word-quality of consonant-vowel-consonant trigrams. Subject rated trigrams for both "association value"--having word-quality versus lacking word-quality--and "reinforcement value"--liking versus disliking the trigram regardless of word quality. Paired…

This paper summarizes evaluations of 28 preschool intervention programs designed to train parents to prepare their young children for school achievement. Evaluations selected for review were internal assessments by program staffs. The summary is organized around three questions: (1) Do parent training programs affect children's cognitive…

This report presents a description of the Title I Elementary and Secondary Education Act program in New York State. The report describes the evaluation of programs in reading, mathematics and bilingual education. The project participants were 150,000 Upstate New York children and 150,000 New York City children. Among the findings of the report are…