A discussion of the many reasons why some educational innovations fail, and suggestions for bringing about success. (Author/HB)

Deans of Instruction or Presidents of 94 junior colleges were asked what percentage of their faculty used a non-punitive A, B, C, W (withdraw) grading system, with no failing or F grade. The data shows a growing interest in such grading practices. There are three main arguments in favor of non-punitive grading: (1) an F grade is a double penalty,…

Contrary to lamentations concerning "recent" decline of public education, there is evidence that the public school began to self-destruct as early as the third decade of this century. Testing and progressive attempts to expand programs and diversify activities and curriculum actually undermined the standardization, consolidation and centralization…

Management by objectives (MBO) has generally not succeeded because of what appears to be an inherent conceptual problem. If MBO is to leave us any kind of legacy, it will be to serve as a guideline to the mistakes new concepts should avoid. Available from Business Horizons, School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405; sc $3.00.…

Seven pitfalls to avoid when designing training programs using television. (LS)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of kindergarten students at-risk for reading failure to a two-tiered vocabulary intervention delivered in the context of a shared storybook reading activity employing rich and robust vocabulary instruction. Rich vocabulary instruction is defined as explicit vocabulary instruction in which…

To be effective instructional leaders, school administrators need an understanding of the specific educational and social issues of their students (Matthews & Crow, 2003). Migrant students are no exception. Without an understanding of migrant students and their unique needs, they may overlook critical accommodations or necessary practices that…

The current investigation studied the effects of a computer software program of the oral reading fluency and comprehension of eight, first grade students. These students were identified as being either "at-risk" or "some-risk" for reading failure on the DIBELS oral reading fluency winter benchmark assessment. A multiple probe…

Little is known about the relative effects of post-secondary learning services for students with learning disabilities. We compared outcomes for students with learning disabilities who selected to: (1) take an academic learning success course (course-intervention), (2) have regular individual interventions (high-intervention) or (3) use services…

Fluent oral reading is essential for success in elementary school. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of enhanced reading fluency instruction for struggling readers. The intervention was provided to small groups of students at risk for reading difficulties. Students were assessed on key early literacy skills. Second-grade students…

While much discussion about student success as it relates to access, equity, and underpreparedness at the collegiate level is taking place nationally and statewide, a strong and specific concern prompted some of the faculty at Pasadena City College (PCC), a large urban community college located northeast of downtown Los Angeles, to address the…

This study was designed to determine the contributions of metalinguistic skill and psycholinguistic processing ability to children's ability to detect the ambiguity of sentences and the relationship among all three factors to early reading ability. A total of 20 first graders and 20 second graders were given tasks testing the following abilities:…

Despite the popularity of leadership education on college campuses, little is known about what individual participants learn and remember. This longitudinal study examines the impact of a leadership education retreat through the eyes of six undergraduate college men. Entry and exit interviews, along with intensive one and two year follow-up…

The growing prominence of high-stakes exit examinations has made questions about their effects on student outcomes increasingly important. We take advantage of a natural experiment to evaluate the causal effects of failing a high-stakes test on high school completion for the cohort scheduled to graduate from Massachusetts high schools in 2006.…