In spring 1986, Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) initiated a program to provide part-time, off-campus instructors with the professional support required to improve teaching effectiveness. The plan involved training 14 "master teachers" to function as evaluators of part-time, off-campus instructors. Master teachers have a minimum of 5 years of…

A framework for health education based on experiential learning and critical inquiry was developed and applied to a Spring 1990 basic health education class for college students called "Patterns of Healthful Living." Students were asked to consider contemporary health problems and how these affected their own lives and the lives of…

The purpose of the study was to compare two regression-based approaches for measuring educational effectiveness in Tennessee high schools: the mean residual approach (MR), and a more general linear models (LM) approach. Data were obtained from a sample of 1,011 students who were enrolled in 48 high schools, and who had taken the Comprehensive…

A random sample of educators (a total of 2,238 responses from teachers of the gifted, classroom teachers, and gifted education program coordinators) were surveyed regarding their views on major research needs in gifted education. The study evaluated these views as well as differences between groups of educators, and differences among respondents…

A project sought to identify the traits and pedagogical expertise needed by vocational educators who work in business and industry and to determine whether current vocational teacher education is appropriate preparation for them. The following subjects were asked to describe on a mailed questionnaire the excellent vocational instructors who work…

The fourth-year update of a longitudinal study examined the progress of the 31 remaining members of 2 classes in the first cohort of a Spanish immersion program and their standard-program monolingual comparison group of 15 students. Achievement gains were measured on standardized tests of mathematics and language skills. Results provided new…

This report is a summary of information from both research and experience about the assumptions and practices that guide successful basic skills programs. The 31 guidelines are basic to building a solid foundation on which effective instructional programs for adults can be developed. The first six guidelines address some important characteristics…

To gather data on the effectiveness of the Minnesota Community College System (MCCS), four studies were conducted of educational outcomes for graduates of occupational programs, Associate in Arts (AA) graduates, "leavers," and part-time students enrolled for one quarter, respectively. A compilation of job placement studies for 1992-93…

A practicum was developed to address deficiencies in students' writing skills. The program goals were to assess the students' abilities to use prewriting strategies, to use supportive elements in writing, and to evaluate students' progress using pre- and post-attitude surveys and writing samples. The target group was 20 eighth-grade journalism…

This theme issue on acceleration of gifted students offers an Ontario (Canada) perspective on early entrance to school and grade-skipping. It begins with a history of acceleration programs and then outlines their current status, with less than 40 percent of school boards with gifted programs using some form of acceleration. It goes on to analyze…

Problems inherent in student evaluation of second language teaching methodology, particularly task-based instruction, are discussed and recommendations are made. It is argued that course evaluation by learners is based on their assessment of their own communicative performance, and that they are likely to attribute a general sense of progress, at…

The newspaper can be a stimulating and effective teaching resource in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom, bilingual classroom, or any class with limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. ESL teachers can use English-language newspapers to teach both basic language skills and content areas (math, science, social studies). Mainstream…

Intended to help students from language-minority backgrounds develop literacy in English, this book identifies and answers the major questions surrounding reading instruction for English as a second language (ESL) students. Specifically, the book reviews and synthesizes what is known about background issues related to the education of ESL…

This practicum was designed to train eight adolescents with specific learning disabilities (SLD) about their legal rights and responsibilities, through a scenario-based program presented in the classroom as part of a transition program. The practicum involved the development of 22 scenarios, a pretest and posttest, and discussions and role-playing…

A program was developed and implemented to improve the reading achievement of 56 learning-disabled (LD) students in grades five through eight in a rural school district in South Carolina. Only 12% of the students were meeting the state standard in reading. Baseline test data indicated that reading achievement was from two to six grade levels below…