Discusses specific new laws and programs to strengthen family life suggested in the (N=34) detailed reforms proposed and endorsed by the 1980 White House Conference on Families. Explores four reform possibilities including high school marriage preparation classes, a mandated marriage readiness test, family incorporation, and support for prenatal…

Two studies related content coverage to pupil achievement. With ability and socioeconomic status controlled, a correlation of .40 was obtained between content and coverage and achievement. Significant correlations were also obtained between teacher coverage and achievement for two groups of teachers covering two units two months apart. (Author/RD)

Swedish longitudinal studies of twins support Scarr-Salapatek's explanation of nature-nurture influences on intelligence. This model predicts more genetic variance in test results for advantaged than disadvantaged groups. Jensen's work, however, suggests equal amounts of variance among different social classes. (Author/CP)

The need for valid and reliable neuropsychological assessment procedures for differential assessment of learning disorders in children is emphasized. The neuropsychological procedures outlined are based on the theory that learning acquisition represents a hierarchy of information processing skills. A hierarchical model along with related…

The utilization of state educational assessment information at local, state, and national levels for program evaluation, resource allocation, and research purposes is examined. The author creates a structure for researching, studying, and describing the outcomes of state assessment programs and illustrates each function with examples drawn from…

A play practicum involving kindergarten children was provided to 24 student teachers who completed a communication skills course. Comparisons were made among participants, students having only the course, and a control group. The play practicum proved more effective in assisting students to learn and to apply communication skills. (Author/BH)

The author responds to alarm over declining national test scores by outlining possible improvements for educational practice and policy. (LH)

The influence of visual and auditory factors and intonational emphasis on sentence comprehension skills of young normal and mentally handicapped children was studied, using the Sentence Comprehension Test. (Sample items are appended). (Author/MH)

The article briefly reviews the factors that may contribute to the relatively low educational achievement of Mexican American students, and focuses more specifically on recent literature that illuminates what may be a style of learning and problem solving that is unique to members of this group. (DLS)

A cross-validation study of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) was conducted with 256 professional employees from three applied research and development organizations. The KAI correlated well with both direct and indirect measures of innovativeness in all three organizations. (Author/MH)

The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the Meaning and Value of Work Scale were administered to a sample of disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged, male and female, eleventh grade students in Kansas City, Missouri, to investigate the extent to which students' perception of self and work differed. Study results were displayed and discussed. (MF)

Argues that data analysis problems can be used successfully in large introductory microbiology courses, even when exams consist entirely of multiple-choice questions and out-of-class contact with the instructor is limited. Discusses course organization, problem structure, student performance and response, advantages of using data analysis…

Outlines and discusses four unique and major challenges facing the undergraduate statistics instructor. These are motivating students to study material they think is uninteresting, handling mathematics anxiety, dealing with performance extremes, and making the learning memorable. Offers solutions for each challenge. (MJP)

Reports on a test of a risk-stress process model. Examines the influence of mothers' supportive parenting and inconsistent discipline practices on risk factors and family conflict as these affect children's conduct disorder and depression. Tests on 121 families indicate that mothers' supportive patenting partially mediated family conflict effects…

Examines methodology used to determine a hierarchy of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students' written error gravity and describes a new error substitution methodology for identifying the communicative interference effect of ESL errors on naive native speakers of English. Findings indicate that lexical and verb-related errors interfered with…