This book represents an attempt to summarize those ideas, opinions, and facts that are influential in education and to compare and evaluate them on the basis of present-day knowledge and the author's personal experiences in the classroom. Part 1 examines the causes of learning difficulties, applications of neurophysiologic research, and the…

Three environmental elements--messages, events, and perceived consequences of choices--cause varying amounts of stress on an individual and affect his capacity to deal with his environment. There is a nonmonotonic relationship between environmental pressures ("event press") and persuasibility in that the number and importance of…

This book is a compilation of literature and research concerning how children learn. The first chapter is a historical introduction to research in learning that summarizes the major developments of the last 100 years and relates these developments specifically to children's learning. The main body of the text is divided into six major topics: (1)…

Described are eight early childhood education progrms for handicapped children selected as exemplary because of elements worthy of further study or replication. Each program (in the form of a case study) is presented in terms of program operations, notable features, people, evaluation, recommendations, and informational sources. Described are the…

A total of 60 students in teacher training enrolled in a Principles of Teaching Methods course participated in this study. The course consisted of four-hour weekly sessions, in which the students attended two-hour lecture sessions and taught eight to ten micro-lessons. In the microteaching laboratory, the student-teachers were arranged into groups…

Outlined are plans for a 9-month elementary school-wide program of token reinforcement for the trainable mentally retarded (TMR), which is said to allow for later additional components. Program focus is to be application of reinforcement to TMR academic work. All children will take the Metropolitan Readiness Test in pretest and posttest design for…

The relationship between teacher questions and a series of supervisory conferences designed to modify those questions from recall and recognition to higher levels of comprehension was investigated. Five Toronto, Ontario, third-grade teachers were randomly selected to participate in the study, and their progress was recorded through individual…

Instructional supervision is regarded as a resource to be managed by teachers for the improvement of instruction. Major problems in research on teaching effectiveness--operational definition of teaching effectiveness; systematic description and observation of teaching behavior; and systematic modification of teaching behavior in specified…

Three levels of evaluation that can be used in the assessment of educational products and processes are: 1) Unvalidated Form of Experience, 2) Validated Form of Experience, 3) Direct Performance Evaluation. Each of these evaluation models is described in detail, and factors involved in selection of the evaluation model are discussed. (MS)

Four conference presentations in this report provide insights into and understandings of both the process of curriculum change and the direction that such change should take. Professor John I. Goodlad, in the first address, urges the development of a "humanistic curriculum." In the second presentation, Dr. William G. Hollister, a mental health…

Four studies were conducted to examine the manner in which cognitively impulsive and reflective children use private speech to control their behaviors. The first study was a naturalistic observation of a group of impulsive (N=8) and reflective (N=8) nursery school children, identified by the Matching Familiar Figures Test. The Impulsive and…

This project originally began as a direct result of counselor activities and difficulties in the Model Cities areas. The Providence and Pawtucket Model Cities areas proved to be a source of frustration for the counselors involved due to the multiplicity of problems found there and the inadequacy of the usual Division of Vocational Rehabilitation…

Rules were established, improved behavior was rewarded, and undesirable behavior was ignored to change disruptive classroom behavior of 25 slow learning 10-year-olds and 13 controls in a classroom setting. Experimental teachers were instructed in application of behavior modification principles. Burk's Behaviour Rating Scale (included) was used to…

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of behavioral objectives and criterion evaluation upon the classroom progress of adolescents. Classroom behavior and academic achievement were examined within the experimental setting. In assessing the importance of this study, consideration was given to classroom behavior and achievement…

Presented are 14 papers from an institute intended to provide teachers with exposure to various methods of pupil assessment and materials to use once a student profile is developed. Papers generally include an outline of the topic discussed followed by samples of the instructional materials presented. An overview of an itinerant learning…