This study examined the student characteristics of Athabasca University (AU), Alberta, Canada, a distance and open university, and asked whether AU serves the student clientele that its mission proposes and to what the AU graduates attribute success. Established to make it possible for people to earn a university education regardless of where they…

A study was done of the association between the psychological sense of school membership (PSSM) and measures of motivation and achievement among urban adolescents. The study was conducted among 301 students in 2 multi-ethnic urban junior high schools. African American, White, and Hispanic American students each comprised roughly one-third of the…

This document is a manual for training personnel working with programs in the New York State Mentoring Program (NYSMP), which promotes mentoring as a way of motivating children to stay in school and make successful transitions to adulthood. Section 1 treats the state program's operating structure, covering general broad objectives, a mentoring…

Developed by a fulltime faculty member at Pima Community College (PCC) in Tucson, Arizona, this booklet is intended to provide concepts and techniques to help Associate Faculty develop the most interesting and useful teaching practices possible. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of education, the purposes of the booklet, and reasons for teaching;…

A sample of approximately 50 educational organizations in England and Wales were invited to supply statistics or other information regarding where adults start their return to learning. Approximately two-thirds responded and also commented on the feasibility of collecting such data. Responses indicated a lack of "hard" quantitative…

This resource guide contains guidelines and information (much of which is specific to Florida) on organizing and implementing literacy programs to reach and teach functionally illiterate older adults. Section 1 presents a profile of illiterate older adults and guidelines for linking existing programs and services and lists organizations involved…

The purpose of this document is to give lawyers who are planning to work with students some practical advice that will make their presentations more effective. The advice should be helpful as lawyers make school visits for Law Day or even if they visit several times. As the article suggests, the first step is for the attorney to get to know the…

This book provides practical, commonsense strategies successfully used by teachers to help students become active, responsible learners. In general, these strategies are centered on mutual respect, not bossiness; collaboration, not isolation; commitment to learning, not fear of failure; and the dignity of all, not praise or rewards for a few. Each…

This book contains selected papers presented at a working conference, "Cultural Diversity: Implications for Education", held in 1991. The issues explored cover such areas as cultural therapy as a means to enhance student-teacher relationships; the differences in attitude and motivation of immigrant and domestic minority youth; the…

Why dropouts left school, what they thought about school and teachers, what their lives have been after dropping out, and what made them return to an alternative program for school completion were questions examined in a study in progress in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). To date, 88 early school leavers in the Job Corps have been interviewed.…

A practicum was designed in response to the increasing numbers of at-risk middle school students lacking appropriate academic skills as well as the motivation to learn. A small-group reading intervention program was implemented to help underachieving students increase their success rate on a mastery level. Targeted students were sixth graders, in…

Many people believe that a lack of clear goals has limited the quality of education in America, where local school districts have traditionally been responsible for setting educational standards. Working in isolation, schools have failed to reach consensus on goals and standards, and teachers are hard-pressed to motivate students to achieve. The…

Contributed by English teachers across the United States, the activities contained in this booklet are intended to promote the effective teaching of writing and literature. Teaching strategies offered in the first section of the booklet are designed to stimulate language exploration and include activities in which students write family newspapers…

The purpose of this handbook is to provide background and teaching recommendations for instructors who will be remotely conducting Reserve Component training using asynchronous computer conferencing techniques. The recommendations in this handbook are based on an international review of the literature in distance learning and experience gained…

Literacy education experience shows that literacy is not easily disseminated to adults and that the skills of newly literate people are notable. Dropout, mastery, and retention rates are about 50 percent at each stage, so the effectiveness rate of some projects may only be 12-15 percent. To find causes for the low effectiveness of literacy…