Discusses methods of improving the performance of integrated learning systems (ILSs). Topics addressed include the theoretical basis of ILSs; appropriate level of instruction; academic learning time; motivation; quality of instruction; a study of elementary students' use of ILSs; individualized and homogeneous group activities; mixed-ability…

A holistic approach was used to evaluate student writing skills in a high school that is part of a residential treatment program. Faculty members scored 740 writing samples in the fall and spring of the 1990-91 school year. Good interrater reliability and significant skill gains for students were found. (SLD)

This study investigated the relationship between characteristics and views of 35 middle school sexuality education teachers and their students' responses to the course. Teacher and student questionnaires indicated a variety of teacher variables were significantly related to students' sexual knowledge, attitudes, and anticipated behaviors and to…

Initiatives at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) to improve instructional quality include identification of teaching skills through consultation with expert teachers, specification of teaching standards, use of student feedback on teaching, awarding of distinguished teaching awards, assessment of teaching competence upon hiring, a…

A total of 318 students in preschool, kindergarten and first grade used the Primary Grade Pupil Report to report on their teachers. Preschool students' reports on teachers were more negative than those of kindergarten and first grade students. Factor analysis identified different significant factors for the two groups. (Author/BB)

Experiences of the Des Moines (Iowa) public schools as they work for educational improvement and school restructuring are described. The school system will be considered successful only if what is taught is learned at an acceptable level by all students. Restructuring is traced from its 1989 inception to the present. (SLD)

A study of 56 inner-city Canadian teachers found they believed that student behavior and attitude combined with familial situations were strongly related to students becoming at risk for school failure. School violence and gangs, large class sizes, and limited school resources and programs were rated as moderately contributing to student risk. (CR)

The blurring of the boundary between Australian vocational education and training and higher education is leading to a reconsideration of the current structure of Australian tertiary education. This paper starts with the main overlap of the Australian tertiary education sectors, diplomas and advanced diplomas. The ambiguous treatment of these…

Sport and recreation-based approaches to the social problems of "at-risk" urban youth have become very popular in recent years. Yet the lack of a proper theoretical understanding of these initiatives threatens to minimize their effectiveness and could generate a backlash against them. To begin to fill this void, this paper presents a…

A range of factors has impinged on the provision of teacher education programs in the last decade. Largely emanating from governmental demands for increased accountability, these have included the setting of standards for student achievement, proof of program impact, and state and national testing. These legislative reforms and school district…

This case study explores the question of whether school personnel are using the technology available to communicate effectively with the members of their communities? A plethora of communications technology is now accessible to schools, but the question remains whether it is being used to connect with the different members of one's school…

Understanding abstract concepts and ideas in mathematics, if instruction takes place in the first language of the student, is difficult. Yet worldwide students often have to master mathematics via a second or third language. The majority of students in South Africa--a country with eleven official languages--has to face this difficulty. In a…

The work provides guidelines for instructors who wish to incorporate green engineering concepts into a typical non-green engineering course without diluting course content or modifying the course syllabus by identifying 5 critical elements necessary to the successful integration of green engineering concepts into any traditional, design-oriented,…

This article reports on a 6-year study that examined the association between pre-admission variables and field placement performance in an Australian bachelor of social work program (N=463). Very few of the pre-admission variables were found to be significantly associated with performance. These findings and the role of the admissions process are…

This study followed a small but diverse group of biology teachers through the first two years of the pilot for a new Advanced Level Biology course--Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology. SNAB aims to modernise A-level Biology using real world contexts and examples as the starting point, promoting conceptual understanding rather than factual recall,…