In an effort to determine differences between the reading scores of students taught by a traditional basal approach and a more structured direct instruction approach, 31 problem readers from two first grade classrooms in a low income Southeastern rural community were examined and tested over a year-long period. The two groups were found to be…

The economic effect of the recognized prior learning (RPL) component of the University of Toledo's Adult Liberal Studies baccalaureate degree program was studied. The degree program, which is targeted at adults over 25 years old who have never attended college, provides credit for prior learning. A survey of 169 students who received credit for…

A study was conducted to identify the contributions of both prior knowledge and prereading vocabulary instruction to passage comprehension. In addition, semantic mapping and semantic feature analysis--instructional strategies that build upon students' prior knowledge--were compared with a modified basal approach for effectiveness as prereading…

This article discusses inductee music service teachers (to 25 years of age). It explores how their lives, as perceived, shape current identities in teaching and result in several career problems. Respondents were drawn from a comprehensive life history study of 28 Local Education Authority employees. Of this larger cohort, four were age 25 years…

A study examined whether pictures presented in advance of reading a text (advance organizers) as compared to pictures presented after reading a text (postorganizers) would significantly enhance the reader's retention of the text's content. Sixty college students rated their familiarity with six topics, then read materials presented on the three…

A study was conducted to gain insight into the question answering abilities of good and poor readers by comparing how well they answered questions when their prior knowledge was at two different levels (high, low) and in four different states. These states of prior knowledge consisted of the ways in which answers to the questions were stored in…

A study was conducted to compare five different techniques for determining the best means of assessing a reader's background knowledge and for discovering if it is possible to elicit different amounts of information from the same subject by simply varying techniques. Subjects were 32 third through sixth grade students, divided into groups of…

The influx of an unprecedented number of reentry women into educational programs and paid work requires more research on the transferability of women's competencies and life experiences to specific occupations. A questionnaire was developed to survey the life experiences of adult women (N=131) who were participating in various programs of career…

The purpose of this Massachusetts Department of Education document is to create an awareness of, and to provide information about, adult high school credentialing programs based upon assessment of skills, which augment existing ways to earn a high school diploma. It is intended for staffs of adult learning centers, adult education programs, CETA…

The ways that Wisconsin colleges, technical institutes and high schools award credit for learning acquired through work experience are described. This guide was written after a statewide study of the policies and procedures of both postsecondary and secondary schools. Data were gathered in interviews with nearly every postsecondary school in…

With the increase in mature, highly (although informally) educated students returning to or beginning high school or college, the need for a system of crediting prior experiential learning has also increased. Prior experiential learning refers to knowledge for which no course corresponding to a student's learning exists in a curriculum, but that…

The concept of lifelong education is discussed in this the last of four transcripts of radio programs on college today. Dialogue is presented in the following area: Ronald Gross on lifelong learning; the old view of lifelong learning; the view of the President of the University of Rhode Island; classes on the Long Island Railroad (Adelphi…

Begun when a student challenged a statement in the college catalog, Wisconsin's workable system for giving credit for prior learning is described. Suggestions are offered for having faculty set policy, involving maximum faculty, establish a review mechanism, and keep individuals away from their traditional roles. (Author/LBH)

Current practices of assessing prior learning are reported. Both faculty and staff are heavily involved in the total crediting procedure, dealing with: information student advisement, tutorials or seminar instruction, program planning, and the actual evaluation process itself. (Author/LBH)

The premise behind the cognitive approach to teaching is that understanding results when new learning is integrated with existing knowledge. But the goal of science instruction is to replace existing ideas with new theories. Current research in science education seeks to resolve these conflicting instructional approaches. (Author/VM)