Launched in June 2016, the Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) provides access to the digital resources from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, 9 major research centers, and the National Zoo, to be used as real-world learning experiences. It is designed to aid students in building lasting knowledge and critical skills that take learners from simply…

Religion in public schools has long been a controversial issue. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that teachers and administrators cannot lead prayers in public schools, and a decision in 2000 barred school districts from sponsoring student-led prayers at football games. At the same time, the court has held that students retain a First…

This annual report describes self-reported attitudes and motivations of today's first-year college students throughout the nation, based on survey responses from a sizable sample of freshmen attending college during the current academic year, 2011-2012. Among the highlights: (1) Compared to their female counterparts, many more incoming first-year…

This paper presents additional information from the 2009 survey of young people's reading and writing; for more information see the full report "Young People's Reading and Writing Today", to be published July 2010. This paper explores the types of resources young people have at home that support literacy and how this differs according to…

At the end of 2009 the National Literacy Trust surveyed 17,000 children and young people online in the United Kingdom's largest ever study of young people's attitudes to literacy and literate behaviour. This survey was of special interest as it repeated questions asked by the National Literacy Trust in a survey of attitudes and reading behaviour…

A study investigating poetry in elementary school programs had three purposes: (1) to examine young children's (K-3) poetry concepts and attitudes; (2) to develop a poetry program for use by teachers; and (3) to field-test that program to determine its effects on poetry concepts and attitudes. Three hundred forty K-3 students were pretested and…

A study of the goals of an accelerated composition and literature curriculum was subdivided into a "concurrence" strand designed to determine the agreement on course objectives by students, parents, and teachers, and an "attainment" strand to determine the extent to which students attained existing objectives. The study involved 269 tenth and…

Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress are examined in the context of male and female differences. Considered are the first four years, beginning in 1969 and ending in 1973. Data were gathered in the learning areas of science, citizenship and writing the first year; reading and literature the second year; social studies and…

A study was conducted at the College of Alameda to assess the factors contributing to math anxiety and to determine methods of fostering positive attitudes toward math among women and non-traditional students. During the study, 150 students in three introductory algebra sections were administered a series of attitude scales designed to measure…

A study explored changing family patterns among married middle and upper middle class women students over thirty with family intact. Eighty-seven homemaker-students enrolled at the Universlty of Maryland, College Park campus, during the spring semester, 1975, responded to a written questionnaire regarding their family patterns of decision making…

Second in a series, the monograph presents detailed evaluation data on the cultural instruction component of the Indian Education Act Part A program and assesses its impact and relevancy for staff, faculty, students, parents, and Indian community members. Of 74 sampled projects employing culturally related instruction, 96% used multitribal topics…