Discusses some technical and nontechnical aspects of using electronic portfolios in the classroom; provides examples from Learning Quest's software for the Macintosh computer. Highlights include selecting student work samples, methods of saving samples on the computer, minimizing storage requirements, media storage devices, and suggestions for…

Describes a rural Vermont K-12 school's experimentation with electronic portfolio assessment. Although electronic portfolios are clearly superior to paper portfolios in evaluating young readers, problems can arise concerning assessment reliability, missing files, student forgetfulness, passwords, and crashed systems. Teachers value this technology…

Investigated how much time special education teachers spend in direct and indirect services and compares the amount of time teachers in different types of programs (cross-categorical or categorical) devote to indirect services. Looks at how time demands have changed in recent years and analyzes reasons for these changes. (RJM)

Investigated differences in school psychologists' role functioning. Asked 636 full-time school psychologists to estimate the time they spent in assessment, counseling, consultation, research, clerical tasks, and administration. Time spent in administrative tasks was the only significant difference between psychologists employed by districts and…

Two studies investigated ways in which computer and video technology can support expert human coaches in order to reduce instructor time and increase learner-centered environments; the goal was to train undergraduate students to facilitate others' interpersonal problem solving. Results indicate that the technology-supported methods can decrease…

This study surveyed parents of youth with severe disabilities using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and siblings without disabilities to examine leisure participation patterns. Statistically significant differences existed between groups relative to diversity of leisure participation, related social communication,…

The intensity of youth at-risk for substance abuse, academic delinquency, and death has led to nationwide searches for solutions. The paper examines 1980's research, highlighting the importance of professional collaboration to handle the problems. After examining research from related fields, the paper discusses evaluation of programs for at-risk…

Study investigated relationships between secondary students' school achievement, leisure activities, and motivation. Leisure activity variables predicted school achievement but were weak compared to motivation variables, which were weak compared to goals for college. Number of leisure activities and hours spent in leisure activities correlated…

Analysis of the labor participation of 65 mothers of infants and toddlers with disabilities found a slightly greater proportion of 1-parent families than expected, entry into the labor force at approximately the same rate as other mothers, a greater proportion of mothers engaged in part-time employment, and predominance of spouses as childcare…

Based on a literacy interdependence theory, uses findings from the Ramirez et al. study on programs for Spanish-speaking, limited-English-proficient students to refute theories opposing bilingual education. Expresses concern that all three program types in the Ramirez study reflect transmission models of pedagogy in which students have little…

Suggests that community colleges might consider emulating four-year college models of collegial governance, faculty employment policies, resource development, and intellectual life. Contends that community colleges can teach four-year institutions much about value-added education, teaching, creative administration, and commitment to service. (DMM)

The predicament of foreign languages in a liberal arts setting is addressed. It is suggested that bilingual language competency cannot be realized without an extraordinary increase in foreign language instruction and second-culture instruction: an extra year of undergraduate study combined with study abroad. (32 references) (LB)

Evaluation of an intensive community health project by three medical school classes (n=240) found the project was rated more favorably (1) with each succeeding class, (2) by students planning to enter primary care specialties, and (3) by students who invested more time in the project. (Author/DB)

This study found that professors (n=76) ask on average about 25 questions each class hour, the majority of which are higher-level questions. They pause about 2.25 seconds after questions and 0.45 seconds after student responses. Professors teaching education classes differed little from professors teaching noneducation classes. (Author/DB)

The development of a structured interview designed to assess leisure satisfaction in persons with mental retardation is described along with initial reliability, validity, and leisure satisfaction findings with 40 individuals with developmental disabilities. Also considered are the rationale for measuring leisure satisfaction based on quality of…