This study tested the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in reading achievement among children in grades 2 through 5 related to family structure. Researchers administered the Stanford Achievement Test to 119 students in an Alabama city suburban school system. Of the sample, 69 children lived in intact families and 50 lived in…

This issue of "Focus" includes seven essays addressing various concerns related to community college curriculum, instruction, and instructors. "Money, and the Good of Humanities," by Dr. Demont H. Howell, explores the utility of humanities education in preparing students for coping with the present and the future. "Teaching High Level Thinking in…

Affective communication behavior is central to the teaching-learning process. A review of literature reveals that the affective domain has been viewed primarily as a teacher property rather than as an interactive variable in the process of student learning. However, there is a need for research that explores how affective behavior is negotiated…

Two elementary school teachers were members of a large sample participating in a study of changing teacher practices through intervention with staff developers. In October, one teacher was transferred to a similar school in another part of the district. The other teacher accepted an assignment in another school at the end of the first semester.…

Defining emergent as the process of becoming and literacy as the interrelatedness of reading and writing in young children's development, this paper reviews emergent literacy research and relates it to beginning reading and writing instruction. The first section of the paper describes the social and linguistic contexts for literacy, reviewing…

Two groups of teachers of English as a second language (ESL), a California group of 133 and a Venezuelan group of 55, were surveyed about their perceived areas of instructional need. The three top needs of the California group were ESL instruction in the content areas, program design for preliterate students, and materials development. The needs…

This analysis of how to educate information professionals in the work of educating users, and why it is desirable to do so, begins by presenting a general discussion of who the information users are, why they use information, and how information professionals can contribute to educating and helping citizens in Latin America to achieve a better way…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The eight titles deal with the following topics: (1) the relationship of training in self-generated questioning with passage difficulty and immediate and delayed retention; (2) the influence of previewing techniques on the reading…

An intensive case study in learning a second foreign language, which is part of an applied linguistics course for teachers/teacher trainees offered at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) is described. Attention is directed to: case study rationale and objectives; student orientation and preparation; and areas of focus and the…

In 1980, the Maryland State Education Agency initiated a statewide effort, School Improvement Through Instructional Process (SITIP), to put into practice the results of research on classroom management and school effectiveness. SITIP was intended to provide training and technical support to all local education agencies (LEA's) during the adoption…

Intended to provide a publication outlet for systematic and substantive reviews and syntheses, both empirical and theoretical, and for integrative reports of programatic research, this volume focuses on what children learn when learning to read, and how this learning can be facilitated. The first chapter of the volume offers an analysis of writing…

Designed to help teachers, especially Title I teachers, improve reading programs, this handbook presents guidelines for (1) enhancing the diagnostic-prescriptive reading system approach to teaching and learning, (2) promoting the continuity of learning from level to level, (3) broadening the range of skills taught, and (4) developing interest in…

A group of adult learners in Tennessee who were in various stages of learning to read were interviewed in order to determine their assumptions concerning the acquisition of literacy skills. The focus of the interviews was on the students' motives for wanting to learn how to read and write, their concepts about the nature of the learning process,…

A self-report scale was constructed and validated that measures individual differences in objectivism--the tendency to base one's judgments and beliefs upon empirical information and rational considerations. Validity data showed that, compared to people who score low on the Objectivism Scale, highly objective individuals enjoy thinking more, rely…

The manual designed as a guide for trainers in a seminar for teachers concerning some of the central issues in contemporary foreign language teaching and learning presents notes on each of the five seminar sessions, including overall goals and goals for the prescribed session activity, time and procedural notes, and reading lists. (MSE)