An expert teacher was studied, using ethnographic and phenomenological techniques, as he planned and taught 2 philosophy courses to gifted students, ages 12-18. The paper provides an overview of the teacher's thoughts and an explanation of the impact of an unwritten and unobservable collection of knowledge on the teacher's observable planning and…

Implemented computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to measure students' attitudes toward alcohol. Administered a paper-and-pencil version and a CAT version of an attitudes toward alcohol scale to 113 undergraduates enrolled in health education classes. Findings showed a high correlation between scores from the CAT and the paper-and-pencil versions.…

Researchers examined cognitive processes used to construct meaning from narrative text in successful and less successful ninth grade readers. A coding system analyzed think-aloud protocols students recorded while reading two stories. Students were primarily story-driven readers. Differences between stories rarely affected their responses.…

Considers television viewing practices during special events. Examines how audiences organize around such programing and whether this organization changes the understanding of audience connectiveness. Considers connectiveness and privatization in conjunction with conceptions of the public sphere, reviews literature on media events, and applies…

Offers guidelines for using literature in the primary classroom. Shares the experiences of first graders with the book "Owl Moon." Notes that it is important to retain the essence of the story--to demonstrate for young readers how readers connect with books. (MG)

Explores the interrelationship of learning, language and literature. Suggests assignments that allow students to respond like readers rather than like apprentice critics. Asserts that writing is not merely recording, and reading is not merely decoding. States that confusions about meaning and syntax disappear when writers read their own work…

Thirteen subjects with autism and 13 with Down's syndrome (ages 5-27) were compared on their ability to respond appropriately to conversational "social scripts" concerning another person's distress. Compared to autistic subjects, subjects with Down's syndrome gave a greater percentage of relevant suggestions and sympathetic comments, and…

Consequences were withheld for high-rate gesture requests of 6 mentally handicapped individuals (ages 12-40), to increase the proportion of gestures used spontaneously. Results suggest that the teacher's nonresponding to high-rate spontaneous gesture requests increased individuals' use of previously taught but unused gesture requests. (Author/JDD)

A study of the relationship between first-year results for 115 Dutch medical students and achievement during medical school was studied using an item-response theory model for the longitudinal measure of change with stochastic parameters (developed by Albers et al., 1989) indicates that a low rate of growth in the first year persists. (SLD)

Retrospective questionnaires and prospective monitoring measures were used to test the trait of coping styles of 105 college students as predictors of their weekly alcohol consumption. Individuals reporting deficits in emotion focused and avoidant coping strategies drank more often than subjects with other styles of coping. Measurement methodology…

The cognitive structure of an algebra test was defined and validated using the linear logistic test model (LLTM) and quadratic assignment (QA). A 29-item test was administered to 235 ninth graders. Results suggest the benefits of applying both LLTM and QA to test construction and analysis. (SLD)

Test taking and scoring are examined from the normative and descriptive perspectives of judgment and decision theory. The number-right scoring rule is endorsed because it discourages omissions and is robust against variability in respondent motivations, item vagaries, and limitations in judgments of uncertainty. (SLD)

Summarizes research into the positive and negative views about school-based management (local management of schools) held by senior managers, governors, and classroom teachers in 11 schools within 1 British local education authority. LMS has concentrated financial tasks within a small elite group of senior managers and governors, with governors…

Educational change must be facilitated, not dictated, to be successful. Since most new curriculum programs ignore complex classroom realities, teachers usually view them negatively. Facilitative principals create the necessary conditions for change by progressing through three stages: creating new roles and expectations, mobilizing proponents for…

Describes a comprehension strategies instruction program called Students Achieving Independent Learning (SAIL). Relates the program to reader response and transactional theories of reading. Shows how the program works in one school system. Compares SAIL with basal series instruction programs. (HB)