A 3-year needs assessment study examined nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and food practices. Subjects were 135 preschool children ages 3-5 years, 610 parents, 118 day care teachers and providers, 35 food service personnel, and 76 administrators throughout Texas. Registered family day care homes, group day care homes, and day care centers from 11…

To understand the low employment outcomes for young people with mild disabilities, this study assessed the level of knowledge of Kansas teachers (N=92) of students with mild disabilities regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), transition models, and components of transition programs. Major findings included the following:…

This study, one of several examining a decline in the predictive validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and high school grades between 1975 and 1988, asks whether the criterion, freshman grade point average (FGPA), has changed. College Board tests usually thought of as predictors were used as proxies for the concurrent academic…

In 1993 the National Science Foundation awarded a Louisiana Parish a grant to fund a program to enhance science education in the elementary schools in the school district. Two teachers in each elementary school were to be trained as science mentors or lead teachers receiving instruction in physical science content, hands-on science programs, and…

The National Adolescent Student Health Survey (NASHS), initiated in 1985, is conducted to examine the health-related knowledge, practices, and attitudes of the nation's youth in the following health areas: AIDS; Nutrition; Consumer Health; Sexually Transmitted Disease; Drug and Alcohol Use; Suicide; Injury Prevention; and Violence. Findings…

Gender differences were examined in results from the holistic model reading tests developed by the Pennsylvania State Department of Education. Patterns of differences were examined and interpreted within the context of previous reading research. Data were collected from the Testing for Essential Learning and Literacy Skills (TELLS) reading tests…

This preliminary case study examined the knowledge and beliefs one seventh grade science teacher to determine: (1) how the teacher's knowledge and beliefs about teaching and learning informed her thinking and actions; (2) what her conception of teaching was; and (3) what were the constraints of the instructional setting. Data was collected from…

A total of 271 students in the 2nd, 7th, and 12th grades from the midwest, northeast, and southeast regions of the United States were surveyed. The survey consisted of fact-based questions about the recent events in the Persian Gulf, and questions designed to elicit value judgments about the international role and current leaders of the United…

The research evidence supporting current beliefs in testing is summarized, and critical qualities that good assessment should exemplify and the current state of the research knowledge on how to produce good assessment are reviewed. Research has demonstrated the difficulties of achieving meaningful improvement in schools and the shortcomings of…

This paper explores issues that designers of learning environments should consider, omitting issues about knowledge learned and the social settings in which learning occurs that are addressed elsewhere. The perspective taken on design is to think of each decision in terms of its costs and benefits, an approach that may allow designers to minimize…

The model of feedback processing proposed by R. W. Kulhavy and W. A. Stock (1989) was studied in a traditional classroom setting in which methods of assessing students' response confidence as predictors of postfeedback performance were also examined. The relationship between confidence ratings at the time of the test and confidence assessed prior…

The present study explored the perceptions of 664 Hispanic and non-minority high school students as regards barriers to entering health professions and the characteristics of health career jobs. Students were enrolled in a high school for the health professions or an enrichment add-on intervention, or were members of an honor society contrast…

This paper analyzes discrepant findings from research on science teacher knowledge and classroom discourse. In new science teachers' classrooms, discourse during laboratory activities differed in important ways from discourse during other types of instruction. Furthermore, teacher subject-matter knowledge had effects that were not predicted by the…

This booklet outlines 30 competencies for individuals working with people who have autism or other pervasive developmental disabilities. For each competency, three levels are defined. At level one, trainees show mastery by identifying, discussing, or defining the concepts and skills; at level two, trainees discuss, participate, design, use, and…

How best to introduce computer mediated communication (CMC) technology to kindergarten through grade 12 educators was studied in Maine. Faculty from the University of Southern Maine (Portland) offered a 1-week institute in global computing as part of a 3-credit graduate education course. Participants had the entire semester to develop and…