Instructional systems design (ISD) is the integration of general systems theory, instructional theory, and communications theory. Edgar Dale, a leader in the fields of reading and journalism and a pioneer in the humanistic/communications tradition of the field of instructional technology, related the concrete to abstract continuum to media…

In response to a position paper that called upon the ministry of education in each Canadian province to provide a balanced selection to offerings on the province's authorized list of language arts textbooks, several ministries claimed that a balanced approach to teaching reading was being followed. A letter received from Alberta Education even…

Data about managerial positions and applicants were collected in an attempt to draw conclusions about the extent to which gender and ethnicity relate to the outcomes of the search and screen process for middle and senior management positions in academic libraries, and to determine any effects of affirmative action on promotion from within.…

This program was developed and implemented to help prepare the members of a high school football team for the academic expectations of college admission. The program had three goals: (1) to insure that student athletes took proper college preparatory classes during high school; (2) to provide evaluation and tutoring for the students; and (3) to…

The Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation (GSP) test is administered to students in the College of Communication at the University of Texas, Austin, as a means of determining eligibility to register for certain courses in journalism, broadcasting, and advertising. The test was administered in a paper-and-pencil version to 16 students and in a…

A study was conducted at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to examine the course-taking patterns of 94 graduates of the associate in arts (AA) curriculum, 1,957 graduates of the association in general studies (AGS) curriculum, and 99 graduates of the associate in science (AS) curriculum. Using a computer-based approach to transcript…

The hypothesis that faulty classical psychometric and sampling procedures in test construction could generate systematic bias against ethnic groups with smaller representation in the test construction sample was studied empirically. Two test construction models were developed: one with differential representation of ethnic groups (White, African…

Although there are efforts to equalize educational methods and materials, some differences between males and females may be better served by emphasizing rather than neutralizing gender. One such point is in the area of visual imagery. Studies have shown that imagery preferred by males and females differs in certain visual characteristics. The…

A practicum was designed to devise a system of literacy instruction to train teachers to select appropriate text for at-risk students by an authentic assessment of the 'running record' as a starting point for meeting the literacy needs of each individual student. (The 'running record' is a written record of the student's reading as observed and…

Three prison librarians were interviewed about the ways they handle major issues in their libraries. Two of the three librarians were females and one was male; one was Caucasian, one was Afro-American, and one was of Asian descent. A case study approach was used to examine their methods. Issues examined included: (1) materials selection and…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a gap exists between the perceived expectation that Georgia elementary media specialists support intellectual freedom and their practice of materials selection. Randomly chosen media specialists were sent a questionnaire, results of which were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The majority of the…

Hiring qualified teachers is one of the most important steps toward providing a good education to students. Because of the large investment of time and money, teacher hiring is one of the costliest administrative duties. Inexperienced and unskilled interviewers can make poor hiring decisions. Research on hiring interviews shows that they are often…

The presence of the computer in the classroom is no longer considered an oddity; it has become an ordinary resource for teachers to use for the enhancement of instruction. This paper presents an examination of software infusion, i.e., the use of computer software to enrich instruction in an academic curriculum. The process occurs when a chosen…

The National Center for Education Statistics conducts surveys which require the coding of the respondent's major field of study. This paper presents a new system for the coding of major field of study. It operates on-line i a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) environment and allows conversational checks to verify coding directly from…

Suggesting that literature dealing with the Vietnam War can have a dramatic impact on students, this paper assists teachers in selecting young adult literature on the war, discusses a variety of assignments, and presents student responses to the literature. The paper begins with a discussion of the three main types of young adult literature:…