Semistructured interviews with 47 unemployed teenagers and 49 Youth Training Scheme (YTS) trainees in Great Britain suggest that beyond directly vocational aspects of YTS, psychosocial factors (social roles/status, peer influences, leisure pursuits) are important to self/social development of youth in transition to adult life. Implications for…

Assessed reading achievement of five second-grade girls under two contingencies: (1) teacher contacts were made during on-task behavior; and (2) differential reinforcement of an incompatible behavior (DRI) with teacher contacts contingent on students' hand-raising behavior. Reading achievement and time on task were greater under the on-task…

A social studies department chairperson describes the case concerning the importance of elementary social studies education that she presented at a school board hearing. As a result of her presentation, the board added 50 minutes to the daily time allotted for intermediate grade social studies instruction. (RM)

Data on test familiarity effects on Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) analytical ability scores (EJ 304 980) were reanalyzed. Little difference was found among subgroups: age, ethnic groups, degree aspiration, English language dominance, and GRE scores. Test preparation included practice, knowledge of results, and strategies for each item type.…

Compares written expression of temporal relationships by American and Mexican children fourth- and ninth-grade children (N=80) receiving long-term second language instruction to that of native speaker children of the same grade level. Nonnative speakers use the same general patterns of syntactic, lexical, and discursive devices for expressing…

Suggests that, in the majority of the aspects of the reading process examined, there was a statistically significant interaction between illustration and difficulty levels. Finds that reading performance in the illustrated conditions was superior to that in the unillustrated conditions at the lower level of difficulty. (JD)

To examine use of antecedent cues to complete a sequence of vocational tasks, five mildly to moderately mentally retarded students (aged 16-19) served as subjects. Written and pictorial prompts, introduced in a least intrusive manner, enabled the students to learn and maintain a sequenced time-based schedule that changed daily. (Author/JDD)

This study of the instructional ecology of 52 high school resource room programs for mildly handicapped students found that teachers instructed in a wide variety of content areas and had high student engagement rates. Instructional practices generally associated with high achievement were not typically employed. Implications for teacher training…

The article presents an overview of the current state of the art of vocational assessment for people with severe disabilities. Definitions of "Severely Handicapped" and "Vocational Assessment" are suggested. The literature on the following specific assessment areas is reviewed: adaptive behavior, cognitive ability, physical condition, academic…

Students enrolled in high school "college prep" English courses (N=107) were compared to students enrolled in "regular" English courses (N=95). The gifted students were employed fewer hours, reported fewer incidents of conflict among family members, and rated the quality of their family relationships significantly higher than nongifted students.…

Investigated relationship between levels of participation and levels of interest in leisure activities via analysis of comprehensive 77-item questionnaire administered to 247 adolescents. Found adolescents engaged in and were interested in activities characterized by their sex-stereotyped nature, although popular pursuits were neither physically…

This study was conducted to test three hypotheses: that moderate levels of external pacing of a microcomputer instructional program would result in more effective learning; that moderate levels of external pacing would improve learning time efficiency; and that lower achievers may have to be forced into further instruction. (MBR)

Three conditions of self-monitoring of private study were compared for their effects on academic performance and intrinsic motivation. In end-of-year examinations, a group who self-monitored subgoals outperformed groups who self-monitored either time or study or distal goals on the target course of the investigation. (Author/LMO)

This study investigated the effects of presentation mode--microcomputer versus paper text presentation--school grade, and reading ability on third and fifth graders' attention to and comprehension of simple reading tasks. Results indicate that despite the fact children overwhelmingly preferred the computer presentation, it did not result in better…

Studies of time needed for initial curriculum-based measurement (CBM) training and classroom use, administration of CBM tasks, measurement schedules, and teacher-selected independent variables among special education resource teachers (N=10) indicated that several factors can increase teacher efficiency in CBM and decrease the time initially…