This book addresses issues in higher education faculty assessment with emphasis on the role of assessment in fostering development of individual faculty members and their institutions. Part 1 describes the role of faculty assessment with the first chapter outlining inadequacies in current approaches. The second chapter offers a perspective on…

The book provides over 1,200 conversation topics for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction, grouped into six kinds of conversation activities. An introductory chapter describes the monitored conversation procedure, a classroom technique for recognizing language usage errors and reinforcing the correct form or vocabulary item. Subsequent…

This study used a social constructivist framework to examine how one at-risk fifth-grader constructed her literacy through social interaction in her nonschool, prior school, and present school experiences. Through open-ended interviews and classroom observations, experiences that fostered and hindered the child's literacy development were…

An approach to educational research that is receiving renewed attention is participatory action research (PAR), which emphasizes a bottom-up approach to research as well as useful outcomes. PAR is a philosophy, and not a methodology per se. It is a deliberate, goal-directed, structured, and applied means of obtaining information that looks to…

A comparison was made of student understandings of marine science and marine resource concepts in two geographically distant but similar sociocultural regions of the United States. The study is based on the nature of ecological events, students' understanding in the context of meaningful learning, and the cultural context in which learning takes…

Tinto's retention model provided the theoretical framework for the design of a comprehensive student-retention study at an urban, public 4-year college. The study employed quantitative and qualitative methods to obtain a broad understanding of the many salient factors that contribute to student persistence over a 4-year period. Institutional data…

Since 1988, teacher surveys and interviews have been conducted in the 24 professional development schools (PDS) in Jefferson County (Kentucky) Public Schools to document teachers' attitudes toward efficacy and empowerment and toward their schools' learning climate. The 1990-1991 survey results show that teachers seem to have positive opinions of…

This document constitutes the report of the activities of Memphis State University (MSU) Libraries Ad Hoc In-Service Training Committee, which was established in May 1991 to plan an entire day of training sessions for all staff in an effort to improve the quality of service given to the users of the library system. The report begins with a brief…

Development and validation of the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT) is described. The TOPT, a simulated oral proficiency interview, was developed in French and Spanish as a test of speech skills to be used by the state as part of its certification testing program for French, Spanish, and bilingual education teachers. An introductory chapter…

A guide to the use of role playing in the foreign language classroom outlines in general terms what role play is, provides examples, analyzes its uses, and gives practical assistance in planning activities. The following topics are examined: aspects of role behavior (formality, register, function, attitude, para-linguistic and extra-linguistic…

A study was made of the repetition of child abuse. (This repetition is sometimes referred to as recurrence or recidivism). The central feature of the research strategy was a followup on a group of families cited for abuse, conducted to determine the degree to which abuse had recurred or had been discontinued and to assess the conditions associated…

This teacher's guide, consisting of a series of 12 lesson plans for use in teaching 20 self-paced learning modules, deals with industrial sewing. Covered in the individual lesson plans are the following topics: an orientation to industrial sewing; the history of industrial sewing; safety and hygiene in the laboratory and in the factory; machine…

The current situation of foreign language education at all educational levels in the United States, is examined with emphasis on new developments in instruction, testing, and program design. In a section titled "The Foreign Language Crisis," the combination of declining foreign language enrollment and increasing need for language skills…

A family history project which introduces students to the study of the family in connection with the immigration period in American history is described. The six-week project, an annual activity in Balboa Middle School (California) United States history classes, consists of four parts: (1) family history charts (family trees); (2) family…

In January 1982, the Wake County Board of Education adopted The Schools of Choice Programs. The stated objectives of the Programs were: (1) to improve facility utilization systemwide, (2) to establish a consistent organizational pattern of schools (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12) county-wide, (3) to racially balance student populations of schools, (4) to…