To help young adolescents reach their potential, middle schools must provide high quality intellectual climates that foster the development of adaptive skills which students can use throughout their lives. Accordingly, practical advice is presented for 12 interrelated dimensions of schooling at the middle level that merit the highest priority…

A project researched a process and generated a sample product to facilitate the teaching of English to adults who have limited proficiency in reading, speaking, or writing the language. Specific areas of interest included using a videocassette recorder (VCR) as a supplemental delivery system, using home video equipment to develop instructional…

Three conference papers on rehabilitation technology, authored by staff members of the Trace Research and Development Center, form this collection. The first, "Keyboard Equivalent for Mouse Input" by Charles Lee and Gregg Vanderheiden, describes implementation of a keyboard mouse input device using the numeric keypad. The paper discusses…

Efforts to evaluate the use of technology in education tend to be inconclusive because they lack specificity about what types of technology are being considered, what types of evaluation are being used, or both. While different evaluative studies focus on different valid objectives, the studies will provide generalizable information of practical…

The standards-based reform movement in education that began in the 1980s has evolved. In the 1990s, the focus was on producing subject-area content standards and modifying instruction. Today, the focus has shifted to assessment, and for technology education, demonstrating the impact on children and the efficacy of the discipline within general…

This report summarizes the proceedings and presents the papers discussed at a national conference on effective aspects of urban education. The first paper discusses the development of the San Francisco (California) Redesign Program, a five year master plan for educational reform which aimed to improve the physical educational environment,…

The purpose of this hearing was to examine the Federal Communications Commission's management and oversight of the E-Rate program. This subcommittee has done much to expose for Congress a range of problems in the E-Rate program management--problems that raise questions about the program's effectiveness and whether the Nation's taxpayers can be…

This document presents the final evaluation of the second phase of the Community Action Programme for Education and Training for Technology (COMETT), which was called COMETT II and ran from 1990 to 1994, and centered on cooperation between universities and industry regarding training in the field of technology. Included are the following: overview…

The Insuring Information Technology Competence project explored ways to improve skills and retrain individuals to exploit information technology (IT) for more effective delivery of financial services. Seven organizations working in the financial services sector in Britain participated. The project was dependent on the organizations' ability to…

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln study evaluated use of a campus compensatory technology program, particularly compensatory communications systems, by students with disabilities. Results indicate a high level of student use, student perceptions that the compensatory systems were helpful, and improved student academic performance. (Author/MSE)

A 1998 National Science Foundation report says minorities and women are still underrepresented in science and technology fields. "Saturday Science," an enrichment program designed by the School Board of Broward County (Florida) and Broward Community College, substantially increased racial/gender participation and GPAs in nonintroductory…

The Veterans Health Administration (VA) provides a case study for linking performance measurement, information technology, and aligned research efforts to facilitate quality improvement in a large, complex health system. Dialogue between clinical researchers and VA leaders occurs through structured activities (e.g., the Quality Enhancement…

The Freedom to Learn (FTL) program is a statewide initiative coordinated by the Michigan Department of Education and Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Now beginning its third year, the program targets underperforming middle schools in 100 of the state's 500 districts. More than 23,000 students and 1,500 teachers have been issued HP nx9010…

This paper presents the results of some research that was intended to evaluate the use of videoconferencing as a teaching and learning tool in the context of doctoral training in medicine at a Canadian university hospital center. The evaluation was conducted by identifying the factors that influence the training of students, their satisfaction…

Workshops are currently one of the most popular ways for instructors in STEM fields to learn more about teaching and learning. Yet research shows we often do not know what participants gain from attending. This article suggests ways of measuring impact of instructional improvement workshops that will help not only workshop providers with designing…