Like all learners, new online instructors need hands-on experience, feedback, and ongoing support to become comfortable and proficient in the virtual classroom. It is unrealistic to expect even the most self-motivated, creatively pedagogical, and technically inclined instructor to fly solo after just a few hours of training. With the authors'…

This book provides practical strategies and tools for assessing and teaching even the most hard to reach English language learners across the content areas. Syrja offers educators the latest information on working with ELLs (including using formative assessments) and provides a wealth of classroom-tested models and measures. These tools have…

This paper discusses the nature and implications of problems that language teachers believe to exist in excessively large classes. A review of the literature on class size indicates three categories of problems, namely pedagogical, management, and affective. Pedagogical problems include: difficulties with speaking, reading, and writing tasks;…

This handbook for Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) adjunct faculty presents a variety of information designed for adjunct lecturers in English. Three short introductory sections focus on general information, helpful hints, and the use of office machines. The body of the handbook contains the following sections: (1) Services, including…

Some of the major research in the area of assessment, concentrating on distance learning, is reviewed, and a strategy that can be used as a guideline for assessment of distance learning, and particularly World Wide Web-based courses, is introduced. A review of assessment strategies confirms that a balance between knowledge acquisition and…

Criteria that teachers include in grading and the weight given each were investigated in a sample of 827 elementary school and high school teachers from 18 school districts. A three-section survey was administered to the subjects. Underlying dimensions of grading criteria were studied, and the relationship between including a specific criterion…

A study investigated the effect of discourse style adopted by students on the way in which the assignment was graded. Subjects were three foreign college students, all non-native speakers of English, in an introductory business course. The assignment was a case study of organizational behavior in two competing companies; the students were to…

A survey of curriculum and instructional practices in high school classrooms (N=151) in 82 school districts serving seriously emotionally disturbed (SED) and emotionally disturbed/learning disabled students in Virginia was conducted for the purpose of identifying the roles, responsibilities, and teaching skills for which SED teachers need to be…

The lead article of this pamphlet examines means of motivating public school (especially high school) students to accept greater academic challenge, without relying on budget increases. Measures being applied in school systems nationwide include special diplomas for students who meet exceptional standards in prescribed curricula; "weighted…

A series of research studies were examined to investigate the relative effectiveness of teaching evaluations at the college level. The six research variables considered are: teaching effectiveness and its relationship to research productivity; grades given and the relationship to teaching effectiveness evaluation; immediately administered…

The impact on some student behavior of the no pass/no play rule enacted in Texas was studied for the variables of: (1) grades; (2) enrollment in honors courses; and (3) dropping out. Under the rule, enacted in 1985, a student must pass every course (with an average of at least 70) or sit out extracurricular activities in the next 6-week grading…

This monograph attempts to clarify the relationship between desegregated education and effective education. The first part of the monograph concentrates on desegregation as it has been assumed to, as well as it actually appears to, relate to school academic effectiveness. The second part of the monograph addresses what is known about school…

In 1988, a quantitative and qualitative analysis was conducted to determine the effectiveness, quality, and image of Patrick Henry Community College's (PHCC's) nursing program. The study was initiated in response to faculty and administrator concern about the low passing rates of nursing graduates on the state licensing board examination. The…

A total of 326 public school teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 responded to a survey about teacher-made tests, testing practices, and the availability of testing resources and guidelines. Testing practices and preferences were found to vary significantly by grade level, subject area, and length of teaching experience. School testing…

In Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, foreign language tests have been used rarely in schools, because more traditional oral and written examinations are preferred. However, recent changes in socialist pedagogical theory support a trend toward increasing efficiency in the instructional process, increased use of diagnostics, development of more…