The Component Model of Functional Life Routines provides a systematic structure for the specification of behaviors relevant to student competence, thus providing guidelines for determining meaningful forms of participation in functional activities and meaningful assessment of progress in these activities for severely disabled students. (CB)

Focuses on the potential ways that second language acquisition research can contribute to the formulation of instructional program goals, with emphasis placed on the nature of language, sequencing of skills, attainment, and language attrition. (CB)

Discussion of the use of pilot projects to train staff in instructional development agencies highlights a project at the Center for Instructional Development at Syracuse University that explored the instructional potential of videotex. Concerns about staff development in today's high technology environment are discussed, and costs and benefits are…

Outlines an approach to develop a computer program that can parse beginner-level English in BASIC through input processing, word matching, and phrase structure parsing. (CB)

Ways in which instructional development activities can be transformed into eagerly awaited opportunities for personal and institutional growth are discussed. The teaching workshop conducted by an expert from another campus is discussed. (MLW)

Discussion of intelligent tutoring systems highlights various instructional models which emphasize experiential interactions. Topics discussed include computer assisted instruction; instructional strategies; the TICCIT system; branching; the Socratic method; definitions of tutoring and instruction; students' interactions with the computer; advisor…

Discusses a study in which four low-achieving 12-year-old readers were trained to tutor similar age low-achieving readers in reading comprehension strategies. States that both tutors and students learned to use the strategies effectively and that both groups made substantial gains in comprehension. (GEA)

Reviews the establishment, purposes, current status, problems, and prospects of middle schools. Identifies five goals generally accepted by middle school educators. Reports that middle schools' exemplary features include such components as interdisciplinary team organization, flexible schedules, and home base/individual counseling programs. (GEA)

Presents a transcript exemplifying principles used with beginning readers who may be unable to learn to read from traditional reading instruction. Claims strategies which allow children to communicate through written language enable them to make important discoveries about reading without knowledge of phonics or other metalinguistic skills. (NH)

Describes the development of a program to help British secondary school students enrich their German instruction through opportunities to make practical use of the language in a commercial or industrial context. (CB)

Presents and develops a general model of the nature of a learning system and a classification for learning systems. Highlights include the relationship between artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology; computer-based instructional systems; intelligent instructional systems; and the role of the learner's knowledge base in an intelligent…

Presents two systematic social studies instruction programs employing a modification of the scientific method: Proactive Action Model and Student Awareness of Global Environments. Both are designed to integrate perception, thought process, action, and closure to enhance critical thinking and decision-making skills in students through affective and…

To encourage the advancement of the arts in education, the article describes a form of interactive television that focuses on the use of creative drama techniques by the classroom teacher. (JD)

Discusses four major elements of computer assisted instruction (CAI) program (instructional objectives; presentation, interaction, feedback); describes attributional consistency, which involves developing CAI programs so each major element has a common topography (e.g., to discriminate, describe, demonstrate, depict graphically); and presents…

To be effective instructional leaders, principals and assistant principals need to know what's new in secondary school curricula. Education associations representing 14 subject areas outline the current focus, likely trends through 1990, and new practices in their respective disciplines. (MLH)