The optimal stimulaton theory (which proposes that hyperactive children are more readily underaroused than nonhyperactive children and should thus derive greater gains from stimulation added to repetitive copying tasks than comparisons) was tested with 16 adolescents, rating high on attention and behavior problems, and 16 controls. Matched pairs…

This research proposed and tested a causal model of time-on-task as a mediating variable in the anxiety/achievement association. The study was conducted in 4 seventh-grade Chicago inner-city classrooms in 2 all-black elementary schools. A negative relationship was found between anxiety and time-on-task; a positive relationship between time-on-task…

For simple vocabulary items, the amount that subjects can learn during a given period of study is markedly underestimated when unusually slow presentation rates are imposed. That disadvantage apparently is less when subjects use the keyword mnemonic. The use of self-pacing or of multiple-rate conditions is suggested. (Author/LMO)

Examination of on-task behavior and academic performance of eight behavior problem second and third graders revealed that an all-positive approach relying primarily on praise was not effective. Ss' rates of on-task behavior were high and stable when an individualized reward system was used, however. (CL)

Reviewing the concerns expressed in an educational article written 100 years ago, the author shows that these same areas concern educators today. The article provides a perspective on the problems of education. (MD)

A survey of middle and high school family and consumer sciences teachers (99 of 300 responded) about financial topics identified by the National Jump$tart Coalition indicated that most high schools provided more instruction time than middle schools. Problem solving and decision making were most frequent processes. Only 46 schools offered separate…

Forty-eight individuals sorted picture cards according to basic (easy) or superordinate (difficult) categories, while being measured on response time to auditory probes (as an index of attention to the primary task). Subjects without mental retardation allocated more attention to difficult tasks. Those with mental retardation gave similar…

Data from the State Trait Anxiety Inventory completed by 74 older adult participants in a memory improvement program revealed state anxiety to be a significant predictor of recall. State anxiety and age were negatively associated with recall; study time and vocabulary were positively associated. (SK)

Describes a study that examined the instructional effect varying the positions of advance organizers, practice exercises, and feedback in an instructional environment. The effect of varied advance organizer strategies and students' locus of control orientation on instructional and testing time were also investigated. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of performance improvement focuses on the effect of emotions on performance. Topics include the emotional intelligence of the performers; how people deal with emotional demands and the stress of their performance; and emotional states that affect attention, focus, perception, and time on task. (LRW)

This column discusses the art of engaging text while reading. To read closely, students must get beyond impressionist reading. They must come to see that simply deciphering words on a page and getting some vague sense of what is there does not translate into substantive learning. Instead, they must learn that to read well is to engage in a…

The effects on child engagement of adult use of systematic, naturalistic instructional strategies within an embedded instruction context were examined. Following baseline observations of two children with disabilities and same-age classmates without disabilities, three different instructional strategies were implemented with each child with a…

This study examined the effects of task difficulty on on-task behavior for four students exhibiting low levels of math performance and on-task behavior. Curriculum-based assessments were conducted with each student to define the difficulty level of math tasks for each student based on the individual's rate of accurate performance on computational…

Achievement, engagement, and students' quality of experience were compared by racial and ethnic group in a sample of students (N = 586) drawn from 13 high schools with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic student populations. Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 3,529 samples of classroom experiences were analyzed along with self-reported…

Foremost in an effective curriculum for students with emotional and behavioral disorder (E/BD) is a high level of engaged time--time spent doing meaningful learning activities. Engaged time (time-on-task) is the portion of instructional time that students spend directly involved in learning activities. Walker and Severson (1992) defined the…