While the policy of rural school and district consolidation is not totally devoid of worth, its strengths were greatly exaggerated, its weaknesses simply ignored, and its overall merits as a strategy for educational reform grievously oversold. Despite the massive investments made on its behalf, consolidation has not dramatically alleviated the…

This study examined oral-reading characteristics associated with language development in second-grade children, working on the suppositions that oral syntactic proficiency influences a child's use of syntax while reading and that this influence can be seen in oral reading, particularly in the contextual appropriateness of errors. It was also…

The recent test score declines should initiate a reconsideration of basic and advanced skills, skills necessary for a rounded life, consumption, employment, leisure and political action. The importance of achievement test score declines requires a thorough consideration of these issues and questions. (JY) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt…

Two Groups of educable mentally retarded primary and secondary pupils were compared on measures of self-esteem and intelligence to determine whether scores on a self-drawing test and those on a self-perception test were related. A significant correlation was found for the secondary pupils only. (Author/JKS)

The effectiveness of six years of nongraded and graded elementary schooling was studied in seventh-grade students at four intelligence levels. All pupils profited equally cognitively. Pupils with lower IQ's benefitted affectively from nongraded schooling, while higher-IQ pupils profited from graded schooling. All pupils experienced affective…

Sixth-grade students were measured on fluid and crystallized ability, given instructions stressing one of the abilities, and pre- and posttested on a mathematical concept. Results suggest that students with lower general ability benefit most by instruction focused on fluid ability, and students with higher general ability by instruction focused on…

Social science instruments are not neutral. That school psychologists need to pay close attention to the sociopolitical implications of their assessment instruments is illustrated through the woeful history of the use and misuse of the concept of intelligence in the United States during the first third of this century. (Author)

This research was an attempt to identify teaching style preferences that were perceived to be effective in promoting learning among college students. Results indicated the nature in five distinct teaching styles. Effective teaching was shown to have implications in areas of student evaluation of teaching and research in teacher effectiveness.…

This study was designed to assess the relative contributions of selected personality characteristics, school achievement, intelligence, sex, and ethnic background to self-concept in a fourth-grade sample. Personality variables were found to be more predictive than achievement ability or demographic factors. (Author)

Construct validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised using 189 Black, 184 Hispanic, and 187 White 6- to 11-year-olds was investigated. A two-factor solution yielded similar loadings corresponding to verbal comprehension and perceptual organization for all three groups. Three-factor solutions yielded similar loadings for…

Evaluates several views of the relationship between computers and education, and criticizes the use of artificial intelligence and natural language processing software for evaluating student writing. Recommends utilizing programs that use heuristic methods to ask students a series of questions to help them organize and compose papers. (SKC)

Describes a study of 323 fifth and sixth grade students which was conducted in Australia to examine cognitive processing of gifted children compared with normal and above average ability children. Highlights include the role of planning in cognition, tests used, and a factor analysis of results. Fifty-one references are listed. (Author/LRW)

Suggests a method for solving verbal problems in chemistry using a linguistic algorithm that is partly adapted from two artificial intelligence languages. Provides examples of problems solved using the mental concepts of translation, rotation, mirror image symmetry, superpositioning, disjoininng, and conjoining. (TW)

Discusses some of the future trends in the use of the computer in our society, suggesting that computing is now entering a new phase in which it will grow exponentially more powerful, flexible, and sophisticated in the next decade. Describes some of the latest breakthroughs in computer hardware and software technology. (TW)

Discussion of the potential of computers in education focuses on the need for experiential learning and developing creativity in students. Learning processes are explained in light of artificial intelligence research, problems with current uses of computers in education are discussed, and possible solutions using intelligent simulation software…