Research indicates that lower levels of school commitment may be one potential outcome of policy initiatives such as high-stakes testing and exit exams. Such outcomes may lead these policy initiatives to have unintended consequences for students, particularly racial or ethnic minority students. This study examines whether race or ethnicity…

Drawing from past research on women's motives for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, correlates of women's perpetration, and correlates of nonviolent conflict, we created a scale containing 125 possible motives, representing 14 broad domains (e.g., self-defense, retaliation). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of women who…

The experience of one group engaged in classroom research is recounted, focusing on the variety of uses to which the results were put. The report begins with an overview of classroom research principles, then describes the project in question. The researchers were seven teachers of English as a Second Language at the University of Hong Kong who…

This study explored whether classroom teachers were involved in research, what role teachers should play in educational research, and what educational issues teachers think should be addressed in a newly restructured educational research infrastructure. The project included more than 6,000 educators nationwide with the majority in the Midwest.…

This study examined different course delivery formats for an introductory special education course, focusing on their impact on student motivation, learning, and attitudes toward helping. The 3-credit course was offered in two formats: a traditional course format (one large lecture section that met for 100 minutes once a week for 150 students and…

An investigation was designed to reveal, describe, and assess the rote-level and meaningful-level understandings students attained as they progressed through the learning of new concepts. This study used an assessment technique used in previous research called "mental modeling" to ascertain the nature (meaningful, rote) of the…

This 1-week study explored the extent to which high school students (n=140) acquired meaningful understanding of selected biological topics (meiosis and the Punnett square method) and the relationship between these topics. This study: (1) examined "mental modeling" as a technique for measuring students' meaningful understanding of the…

This study investigated the retention of meaningful understanding of the biological topics of meiosis, the Punnett square method and the relations between these two topics. This study also explored the predictive influence of students' general tendency to learn meaningfully or by rote (meaningful learning orientation), prior knowledge of meiosis,…

Dropout Reduction through Education, Achievement, and Motivation (Project DREAM) was designed to serve the needs of Latino immigrants who had scored at or below the 40th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery. The design-incorporating plans for group and individual guidance sessions to help students improve their interpersonal skills. It…

This collection explores the range of uses of autobiography from the 19th century to the present and from Africa, the United States, Middle East, France, New Zealand, and Britain. The chapters draw on a number of approaches, including historical and literary methods. They are frequently about the retrieval and reclamation of previously hidden or…

The Research for Better Schools Urban Education Project is working with teachers in Baltimore (Maryland) and Washington (District of Columbia) to reduce the alienation of many urban students by exploring how to align what students bring to school with classroom learning. This effort is centered around the concept of learner experience, an…

The Research for Better Schools Urban Education Project is working with educators in Baltimore (Maryland) and Washington (District of Columbia) to explore how to align what students bring to school with classroom learning. This effort is centered around the concept of learner experience, an outgrowth of the project's Urban Learner Framework (ULF),…

This report examines factors that influenced low-income Mexican-Americans from homes with little formal education to achieve high academic status. Although over one third of students in California's public schools are Hispanic, only a small fraction of these students complete a university education. Fifty Mexican-Americans (30 men and 20 women)…

This book explores concepts and methods of self-directed learning (SDL), documenting and illustrating the SDL methodology with practical examples. SDL is a synergistic process in which a teacher helps learners use various strategies and perceptual skills to learn on their own, become more responsible for their learning, and take charge of their…

At the University of Minnesota, a model, visual representation or "graphic" that incorporated both a systematic design process and a constructivist approach was used as a framework for course design. This paper describes experiences of applying the Instructional Context Design (ICD) framework in both the K-12 and higher education…