A program was implemented in an elementary school to improve students' social skills, thereby reducing physically and verbally aggressive behavior and reducing off-task behavior. The targeted population consisted of second, third, and sixth graders in two northern Illinois elementary schools, one situated in a low socioeconomic neighborhood, the…

The purposes of this study were to: (1) investigate the process of development of young children's ideas when (and if) they appropriate science from the conceptual area (i.e., light) during whole-class and small-group interactions; and (2) advance understanding of relationships between a collaboratively designed learning and teaching model and…

This qualitative study determined the behaviors and strategies used by 12 high potential, middle school students when they did not feel challenged in school. Teacher reaction to these behaviors was also documented. Data analysis revealed that these students engaged in the following behaviors: (1) selective attention, (2) focused curricular…

This manual offers practical guidelines, based on the work of K. P. Cross (1988) and T. A. Angelo (1991), on implementing a Classroom Assessment Training Project (CATP) at a high school or college. The manual contains information on planning, budgeting, training, and content. The Cross/Angelo Classroom Assessment Model relies on quick, anonymous…

A study determined the relationship, if any, between students' learning styles and the types of books they choose to read independently, as well as the amount of time they spend reading independently. Study participants were 72 seventh-grade students attending a middle school in Cobb County, Georgia, who had scored 70 or above in any of the four…

This report summarizes the results of a statewide survey of nonreturning freshmen (n=621) at Maryland public 4-year campuses. The former students were asked about the factors that were most instrumental in their departure from their institution, their reaction to their college experience, their likelihood of re-enrolling, and their level of…

This report presents a summary of information about the use in Massachusetts of open-ended questions in the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program's biennial assessment of mathematics at grades 4, 8, and 12. These questions appeared in one form of the tests in each grade. One-twelfth of the fourth-graders, one-sixteenth of the…

An ethnographic study of two mainstreamed, multicultural day care centers was conducted over a school year. Children's responses to formal and informal curricula dealing with aspects of human diversity such as race, ethnicity, gender, and exceptionality, were analyzed, as were children's interaction patterns. The data revealed that although both…

The 3-year research and development project described in this paper was conducted (1) to develop new knowledge about sex equity in classroom interactions, and (2) to develop successful techniques for reducing or eliminating sex-biased interaction. Two interventions were developed to train teachers in more equitable instructional behaviors. In the…

To document the extent of special preparation for taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), two surveys were conducted. The first survey covered a stratified random sample of 1986-87 SAT examinees (1,364 high school seniors and 911 high school juniors), while the second survey covered a stratified random sample of 508 secondary schools whose…

In summer 1986, a study was conducted at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) to determine former CCP students' educational and career outcomes. Surveys were mailed to 1,000 graduates from the class of 1983, to 1,000 graduates from the class of 1985, and to 2,000 non-returning students. Study findings, based on responses from 100 1983…

Both on-level and out-of-level tests were administered to third and fifth grade children in order to compare the scaled scores of different level tests of the same testing program and to discover whether the relationship between levels might be distorted by ceiling or floor effects. Only reading tests were used in this study. The Stanford…

Two components in making decisions about selecting courses are examined: course descriptions by instructors and evaluation of instruction by students. Faculty attitudes toward student evaluations in general and their attitudes about evaluations being used for instructional improvement, administrative decisions, and course selection are discussed,…

The problems associated with standardized testing are illustrated in this collection of articles. Alternatives to current practices and strategies for change are suggested. The contributors discuss the roles and responsibilities of groups concerned with student evaluation systems, the testing of minority group and non-English-speaking students,…

The report examines the use of student activity sheets in evaluating the performance of students in the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Employer-Based Career Education (AEL/EBCE) program. All activity sheets completed during the second semester of 1972-73 for selected participants in the following subject areas were examined and are analyzed…