Thirteen subjects with autism and 13 with Down's syndrome (ages 5-27) were compared on their ability to respond appropriately to conversational "social scripts" concerning another person's distress. Compared to autistic subjects, subjects with Down's syndrome gave a greater percentage of relevant suggestions and sympathetic comments, and…

Consequences were withheld for high-rate gesture requests of 6 mentally handicapped individuals (ages 12-40), to increase the proportion of gestures used spontaneously. Results suggest that the teacher's nonresponding to high-rate spontaneous gesture requests increased individuals' use of previously taught but unused gesture requests. (Author/JDD)

A study of the relationship between first-year results for 115 Dutch medical students and achievement during medical school was studied using an item-response theory model for the longitudinal measure of change with stochastic parameters (developed by Albers et al., 1989) indicates that a low rate of growth in the first year persists. (SLD)

Retrospective questionnaires and prospective monitoring measures were used to test the trait of coping styles of 105 college students as predictors of their weekly alcohol consumption. Individuals reporting deficits in emotion focused and avoidant coping strategies drank more often than subjects with other styles of coping. Measurement methodology…

The cognitive structure of an algebra test was defined and validated using the linear logistic test model (LLTM) and quadratic assignment (QA). A 29-item test was administered to 235 ninth graders. Results suggest the benefits of applying both LLTM and QA to test construction and analysis. (SLD)

Test taking and scoring are examined from the normative and descriptive perspectives of judgment and decision theory. The number-right scoring rule is endorsed because it discourages omissions and is robust against variability in respondent motivations, item vagaries, and limitations in judgments of uncertainty. (SLD)

Summarizes research into the positive and negative views about school-based management (local management of schools) held by senior managers, governors, and classroom teachers in 11 schools within 1 British local education authority. LMS has concentrated financial tasks within a small elite group of senior managers and governors, with governors…

Educational change must be facilitated, not dictated, to be successful. Since most new curriculum programs ignore complex classroom realities, teachers usually view them negatively. Facilitative principals create the necessary conditions for change by progressing through three stages: creating new roles and expectations, mobilizing proponents for…

Describes a comprehension strategies instruction program called Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL). Relates the program to reader response and transactional theories of reading. Shows how the program works in one school system. Compares SAIL with basal series instruction programs. (HB)

Explores the impact of an in-school curriculum designed to teach children 10-12 years of age to become more discriminate consumers of violent crime series seen on television. Results show children perceiving the good guys' violent actions more critically and increasing their understanding of the differences between television and real life…

Used least squares analysis and simultaneous structural equation modeling to examine the bidirectional relationship between day-care teachers' lax, overreactive discipline and young children's behavior problems. Found that teachers' laxness strongly influenced child misbehavior and child misbehavior influenced teachers' overreactivity and laxness.…

The most successful science-and-technology center exhibits owe as much to the evaluation of visitor reactions as they do to budgets and planning. Explores different types of visitor-evaluation studies and shares examples of successful exhibit designs built upon visitor evaluations, including children's physics exhibits and jellyfish as living art.…

Finds that with teacher scaffolding (modeling, explicit instruction, feedback, and the creation of contexts for sharing), first graders can write thoughtful, personal, and extended responses to books in their literature-response journals. Discusses teacher and peer scaffolding, and literacy development. Describes in detail the children's…

Describes how children develop a concept of death, and presents suggestions for classroom experiences to help young children cope with death. Considers children's attendance at funerals and how to answer children's questions about death. Lists 14 children's books about death. (KB)

Puts forth Louise Rosenblatt's 1938 Reader-Response Theory as a dominant teaching approach in English education, with Rosenblatt's influence readily apparent in contemporary research. Asserts that English professors today can work the magic of the literary experience through the use of the Reader-Response Theory in the teaching of literature.…