Five indicators of failure suggest mistakes in program design or delivery: aborted planning, insufficient enrollment, negative reactions, unattained objectives, and incomplete transfer of learning. Learning from these mistakes requires deliberate reflection and systematic analysis. (SK)

Interviews with 32 adult education practitioners elicited success/failure factors. Practice-related observations included (1) reflecting on success/failure helps clarify values and assumptions; (2) new ways of perceiving, planning, and evaluating are stimulated; (3) integrating past experiences with changing demands promotes flexibility; (4)…

Discusses individuals as producers of their life span developments, and examines individuals' selection of their life paths and their proneness to failure. Considers a model that explains individuals' optimization of their life course management in terms of selection of life paths and compensation for age-related losses such that potential for…

Conducted survey of philosophies and practices of rejection letters from broad spectrum of selective colleges and universities. Surveyed high school counselors, students, and parents to determine their feelings about rejection letters and practices. Many counselors and students agreed that such letters were warm and compassionate but lacked…

An analysis of apparent program failure should determine whether the fault lies with the program model, implementation strategy, expectations, or evaluation methods. The evaluation should be planned before completing and carrying out the program design. (SK)

Describes a cost-benefit analysis study that resulted in unfavorable financial outcomes and discusses how this result became a learning opportunity for human-performance development/performance-improvement professionals in the organization. Considers failure in organizations and learning from failure. (Author/LRW)

Reviews current studies predicting risk for reading disability. Studies indicate children at risk for reading failure can be identified early in their school career. Measures of phonological skills are useful components of prediction batteries, but other factors should be considered. Describes tools for early identification and discusses methods…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an early intervention program based on the Reading Recovery (RR) format could be developed for pairs of struggling readers that would allow them to make accelerated progress similar to that experienced in the 1-to-1 RR tutorial. A preliminary pilot study showed that the RR lesson format could be…

'Underachievement' is now a widely used term in education policy and practice. It is used routinely to refer to nations, home nations and regions, to types and sectors of schooling, to physiological, ethnic and social groups, and to individuals. It has been used to mean simply low achievement, also lower achievement relative to another of these…

The present study set out to develop a self-report instrument, the Depressive Symptoms Questionnaire (DSQ), for assessing depressed mood in school-aged children. Included were items based on research that reported symptoms of depressed mood in children, items related to negative psychosocial functioning, and items related to self-perceived…

The image of the schools and the teaching profession according to the media is usually negative. The negative picture is one reflecting the social problems of society and the failure of schools to educate, that is, drop-outs, teenage pregnancies, substance abuse, guns, knives, and attacks on students and teachers. Occasionally, the positive…

The purpose of this study was to determine if phonemic awareness skills improved for first grade students classified as at-risk whose teachers used the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS; Lindamood & Lindamood, 1998). Students' scores on a Kindergarten screening tool (Learning Disabilities Working Committee-LDWC, 2005) were compared to…

There is a recent interest in volunteer tutoring programs and research has suggested effectiveness in improving reading skills. Previous research found that the Help One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) volunteer tutoring program increased reading fluency and comprehension over a 5-month interval (Burns, Senesac, & Symington, 2004). The current…

This study analyzed the degree to which state education funding systems supported social justice for the 1998-99 school year, where social justice was operationalized using the theory of vertical equity and research-based factors that placed students at risk of academic failure. The results of the study combined content analysis and statistical…

A decade-long push by states to make high school students pass an exit exam before getting their diplomas has stalled as politically sensitive student-failure rates contribute to a growing public backlash against high-stakes testing. Though 26 states have adopted such mandates--most of them since 2000--that number has remained static since last…