A guide for faculty who want to improve their lecturing skills is presented. After identifying advantages and disadvantages of the lecture method, suggestions are offered for effective lecture preparation, with attention to organizing the body of the lecture, and beginning and closing the lecture. Vocal aspects of lecture delivery are addressed,…

The Regional Skills Program at Big Bend Community College (BBCC) was developed to offer vocational skills training to high school students within BBCC's 5,000 square miles district. The objectives of the program were to identify training needs and priorities, determine the availability of transportation to BBCC, survey college and district…

Some of the ways authentic writing assessment can be used in education are discussed. Using the Illinois Writing Program (IWP) as an example, this digest also looks at some of the goals, solutions, and experiences of a program that is implementing authentic writing assessment. New directions in authentic assessment are aimed at going beyond…

The suspension of Pennsylvania's educational employees due to declining enrollment is examined in this paper. The controversy over whether teacher suspension should be based on seniority or on evaluation criteria has resulted in intervention by the judicial system to establish legal precedents for reduction-in-force policy. Methodology is based on…

The effectiveness of a state-mandated set of evaluation criteria to identify potential dropouts is evaluated in this study. The selection criteria, based on unsatisfactory academic performance, excluded special education and limited language proficient students. Data analysis of school records and various test scores of 55,666 students in grades…

Personnel management constitutes a substantial proportion of the elementary school principal's responsibilities. Constructive ways in which principals can identify and effectively confront deterioration of staff job performance are discussed in this newsletter. Effective interpersonal confrontation involves preparation, active listening,…

In June 1990, a statewide telephone survey was conducted of 1,200 full- and part-time students from the 29 Michigan community colleges as a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in 1988. As in the previous study, the 29 colleges were classified as rural, urban, and suburban institutions and a total of 200 part-time and 200 full-time students…

An exploratory study examined how administrators (department heads/chairs) perceive faculty members, as well as themselves, in the performance appraisal interview. Subjects, 450 faculty members and 200 administrators at a midwestern university, answered an Appraisal Interview Questionnaire in which they rated administrator performance, content and…

This unit of instruction on personal characteristics needed for successful employment is designed especially for use with all levels of vocational agriculture students. Special emphasis is given to the 10 most important personal characteristics as identified through recent research. A unit plan discusses the general aims and goals, lesson titles,…

This report describes a youth competency model that was developed to help trainers involved in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs in Kansas to evaluate program participants' competency in four major areas: pre-employment, work maturity, basic education, and job-specific skills. Discussed in the first section, which provides background on…

To provide administrators and teachers with a set of essential elements and principles to consider in using inservice programs for school improvement, this document presents a model comprised of 27 dimensions identified as important elements of effective inservice programs. These dimensions were identified through a review of the research…

This paper suggests that the occupational hierarchy is based on functionally important differences among workers and their jobs and proposes a modified functional theory of occupational stratification. Section I examines the role of education in social stratification. Sections II, III, and IV review (1) functions of schooling, (2) evidence about…

This study investigated what factors in the experiences of black, inner-city 10th and 11th graders enabled them to succeed in spite of the often debilitating factors and circumstances that surrounded them. Interviews with students, teachers, and administrators at an urban all-black high school selected by the National Center on Effective Secondary…

The purposes of this conference were: (1) to present research representing a variety of topics and study designs; (2) to disseminate findings of nursing research; and (3) to stimulate the use of research and theory as a basis for clinical, educational, and administrative practice. The keynote address and two invited presentations are presented in…

Educators are now focusing on the improvement of reasoning skills. A key to success in improving such skills will be the ability of the individual teacher to measure skills in a valid and reliable manner. This guide will help teachers acquire the needed assessment skills. Major topics include measuring thinking skills, learning to plan an…