Customer focus groups at Lakeshore Technical College, Wisconsin, were hindered by inadequate levels of participation. A study explored the effectiveness of using network meeting management software to increase focus group participation and the number of ideas generated as well as reduce the amount of time spent on conducting the focus group…

A study explored whether the intake process met the needs of employed adults seeking upgrade training market segment at Lakeshore Technical College, Wisconsin. Study procedures included the following: a literature review, criteria identification, drawing a sample of students, organization and conducting of focus groups and collecting data, and…

A practicum project implemented a developmentally appropriate intervention to increase school success for at-risk children in kindergarten through grade 3. Two corollary aims of the project were to determine the causes of at-risk status before retention or school failure occurs, and to involve parents in their children's educational process. An…

This practicum aimed to provide nonverbal students with a communication program to increase expressive language for daily living skills. Target students were four children (ages 6 to 7) with cerebral palsy. The practicum involved introducing children to pleasurable activities that encouraged communication behaviors, showing the children…

A study was conducted at the Community College of Allegheny County, in Pennsylvania, to compared the level of preparedness in an intermediate algebra course for students who placed directly into the course and those who had tested into and completed a basic algebra course. Placement test scores, algebra course grades, and repeat status were…

This practicum was designed to increase the number of elementary school students eligible for placement in a gifted program by improving the prescreening process. Major goals were to: (1) improve teachers' ability to identify giftedness in children; (2) improve the referral rate for gifted screening; and (3) increase the identification and…

This practicum project addressed the need to improve antisocial behavior in disruptive elementary school children, using a skill deficit perspective. Six student participants were selected on the basis of a high number of school suspensions and their identification as disrespectful, confrontational, and self-absorbed, as well as behaviors that…

A practicum was designed to increase the utilization of an elementary school media center whose wealth of materials were seldom checked out or used, and whose facilities were used mostly for fixed library scheduled classes. Moreover, the media center's facilities were unattractive and uninviting to visit. The solution strategies involved…

This 12-week practicum intervention was designed to enhance the listening skills of 22 kindergartners by means of a cooperative home-school developmental program. In the class, stories and poetry with listening themes were read aloud on a daily basis. Story structure was stressed. Puppets, flannel board stories, and dramatics were used. In…

This study examined the effect of a social skills training intervention on the behavior of 18 noncompliant second graders who exhibited poor study skills and experienced academic failure. Teachers selected students for intervention and rated them on the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist before and after the intervention. Pre- and post-test…

An experienced teacher, certified in the education of the gifted, designed and implemented a practicum that offered opportunities for enhancing the cultural literacy and creative play of preschool children who received little individual, reading-related attention from their working parents and caregivers. Play that enriched the imaginative…

This study examined the effectiveness of a program with three basic features--high interest plays, oral reading, and high readability level--designed to aid middle school students scoring two or more years below grade level in reading comprehension. Subjects, 13 boys and two girls enrolled in a basic English class in a suburban middle school…

An exceptional student education specialist implemented a 10-week practicium intervention designed to decrease the inappropriate behavior and increase the appropriate behavior of exceptional students who had been mainstreamed into regular fourth- and fifth-grade classes. A total of 16 students classified as learning disabled or emotionally…

Alcohol and drug abuse were viewed as a clear way of demonstrating personal or social sophistication in a Canadian secondary school. Neither the school nor the local community had developed a strategy for dealing with the problem of substance abuse among the students. The program described in this report was designed to reduce the level of alcohol…

This paper describes a project to improve the responsibility levels of 16 gifted students in fourth grade attending a daily 2-hour language arts gifted education class. Students had become inconsistent about completing assignments, maintaining an orderly environment, and communicating necessary information to parents. A teacher-developed checklist…