The school curriculum has been under scrutiny in an attempt to improve the educational experiences of children, often in the form of federal and state control to make schools accountable for students' education. The goal of standardization is to increase minimum standards in all classrooms and to make sure that all students receive a foundation of…

This document explains the British Industrial Training Research Unit's CRAMP (Comprehension, Reflex action, Appropriate attitude, Memorizing, Procedural learning) system for designing training. The first section introduces the CRAMP approach and includes an exercise (and answers) to measure whether the reader understands CRAMP's definitions of…

For a number of years, the 16 ERIC Clearinghouses have tracked educational issues and trends in their respective special areas of concern. This is the first unified collection of papers resulting from the tracking effort. Each paper contains an analysis of research, practice, and policy in the scope area covered by the authoring Clearinghouse. The…

In an effort to present important research results in readable form for elementary and secondary teachers of mathematics, this publication reviews a model and ways of effectively teaching mathematics. The model of instruction proposed by Good and Grouws is based on teacher-centered whole class instruction. Perspectives and guidance are offered in…

This review of the effective schools literature focuses on six teaching factors: the nature of instructional materials, lower versus higher order skills, classroom reinforcement practices, teacher selection, teacher training, and individual versus whole-group instruction. Different from earlier studies, the review concentrates on specific…

College-bound students who score poorly on the American College Test (ACT) exam (16 or below) are usually required to take an examination that measures the ability to read and interpret college level material since this ability is a significant variable in the prediction of academic success. Many of these underprepared students need specific help…

This volume contains papers presented at a symposium on public policy and educating handicapped persons. Included are: (1) "Public Policy and the Special Education Task for the 1980s: Report of the Wingspread Conference" (M. C. Reynolds et al.); (2) "The Emerging System for Educating Handicapped Children" (L. E. Lynn, Jr.); (3) "Effectiveness of…

This examination of microcomputer use in primary schools begins by comparing the national data for elementary schools for 1984-1985 with the findings of a study of seven elementary schools in the Anchorage (Alaska) School District (ASD) which was conducted in the same year. Current research findings are cited in a discussion of assumptions about…

A program training model used at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to prepare special education graduate and undergraduate students to work with paraprofessionals is described. Topics addressed include the following: (1) improvement of instruction and services to handicapped students through use of paraprofessionals; (2) significant role of…

As a result of preliminary observations of word processing in elementary level language the seven case studies presented in this report reveal the effectiveness of current word processing (WP) activities within their respective instructional contexts. Each study is presented separately, detailing the classroom context, tasks and outcomes, program…

The history and organization of a community college program in French, Spanish, and German language instruction for gifted elementary school children are described. The collaborative effort of the college and school districts, funded by the Federal Government and the Gifted Students Institute, provided 21 elementary teachers with methods training…

A study of progress in the Edison Elementary School (California) bilingual immersion program after its first year of implementation looked at: (1) student levels and gains in first and second language proficiency; (2) levels of math and reading achievement and their possible relationship to student language background; (3) levels of students'…

The paper summarizes a study of the educational environments of profoundly handicapped pupils enrolled in special education classes relative to the types of learning experiences, social opportunities, and services provided by three teachers in the San Diego, California, school district. The teachers were all in their first year working with the…

This paper focuses on the nature and effectiveness of elementary transition classes (TCs) used by the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) as an alternative to retention to improve low achievers' achievement. Data were examined concerning the number and nature of TCs operating in the AISD during 1987-88; achievement progress of…

This book explains curriculum audits and how to conduct them. Chapter I, "Why Audit?" presents criteria for determining if an audit is warranted and describes three basic types: functional, operational, and programmatic. Chapter II shows how the three primary activities of document review, interviews, and site visitations yield answers to the…