As a first step in developing a research program that united several individual strands of comprehension research, this paper describes studies that relate to the effectiveness of direct instruction. Various sections of the paper discuss the following topics: (1) variables in the direct instruction model, (2) teacher performance variables, (3)…

When people experience failures they search for an explanation of why the failure occurred. The process of seeking an explanatory cause is the basis of attribution theory. Causal attributions include the dimensions of locus of causality (internal or external), stability of the cause over time, and the degree of personal control over the outcome.…

Until recently the Holocaust was largely ignored in history books and literature, leaving most students without even the basic knowledge of an event that can and should have meaning for them. Nothing can really "explain" it, but literature, because it is concerned with feelings and conveys emotions, can move young people to an empathetic…

Interactive decision making (IDM) refers to teachers' selection and rejection of alternative courses of action during instruction. Previous research indicates that teachers report making interactive decisions when their plans are disrupted. A study generated hypotheses about teachers' IDM using the grounded theory approach--an inductive system for…

The purpose of this study was to assess differences in demographic variables, mean attitude score, reliability of response, variability of response, and level of item completion among respondents to an initial survey mailing, to the first follow-up, to the second follow-up, and to a telephone interview. The first mailing included a cover letter,…

In response to the tradition of examining a new test's validity by comparing it with a well-established multiple-choice test, a study investigated whether multiple-choice tests with one right answer can measure the reading comprehension process as defined by constructivists. The study compared the information obtained from two different…

Since the emergence of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) there have been calls for improved methods of assessing economics. Oral assessment has been suggested as a possible technique and this study investigated whether it might be used to allow students to demonstrate achievement in GCSE economics. The empirical study compared…

Third of a four-part series, this article presents an instructional plan for teaching the place value notation concept, base ten, to preschool and elementary school children. After a brief review of the place value notation concept, contents describe an integrated and progressive series of four game-like activities which are fundamentally overt…

The English teacher encountering a student of English as a second language (ESL) with significant writing problems must find an appropriate way of responding, finding a balance between being overly sympathetic and being overly concerned with correctness. ESL students are learning English from many sources, not just the teacher, and the teacher's…

One type of adaptation made by each student teacher is the development of attitudes toward controlling pupils. The student teachers' attitudes toward pupil control may be at odds with those of other educators and this difference in attitude, particularly in the case of the cooperating teacher, can cause stress. Attitudes toward pupil control can…

Case studies of six college freshmen enrolled in freshman composition courses that used sequenced assignments addressed to the same topic all term were used to investigate how students define revision, how their teachers define it, and what is important about the differences in these definitions. The students possessed a common theory of revision…

Eight elementary school teachers, judged outstanding in ability to deal with difficult students but differing in socialization style (behavior modification, which involves rewards, or induction approaches, which emphasize rationales for behavior change), were the subjects of a study on classroom management strategies. The teachers nominated one…

Measurement disturbances, such as guessing, startup, and plodding, often result in an examinee's ability being either over- or under-estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation employed in latent trait psychometric models. Several authors have suggested methods to lessen the impact of unexpected responses on the ability estimation process. This…

Testwiseness (TW) and its effect on the reading comprehension scores in four ethnic populations (Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo) from the Tucson Unified School District were investigated. Inservice-trained teachers presented seven classroom TW teaching and practicing sessions of 15 minutes each to students in grades 3, 5, and 7.…

Although the experience of jealously is among the most common of experiences in intimate relationships, little theoretical or empirical work has been done from a sociologial perspective to increase our understanding of this aspect of male-female relationships. An investigation of marital jealousy as a sociological rather than a psychological…