Arranged into four parts, the paper offers practical and motivating techniques for using the dime novel in high school classrooms, particularly in the study of women's history. The first part of the paper describes the historical background of the dime novel that was originally intended to entertain the reading public with fast-paced action, high…

The Six Performance Characteristics rating, An Alverno College assessment technique used in the outcome-centered liberal arts curriculum, is discussed. The technique provides a means for faculty to judge students in a systematic way over time on developmental characteristics that apply to their performance across disciplines and across competence…

This paper describes how a teacher educator used a Computer Applications for Educator's preservice education course to teach constructivist lesson planning to students who were in the process of planning lessons. It was hypothesized that by providing scaffolding and coaching during the planning process, preservice teachers could be guided to learn…

This manual describes the Mathematics Assessment Questionnaire (MAQ) and its development, provides relevant background from the research literature, describes approaches to the reporting and uses of the MAQ (including its use in instructional planning), and presents sample responses from students and classes. The MAQ provides teachers and students…

This book describes the innovative teaching style and methods of Marva Collins, the founder and principal of the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago (Illinois). The book traces Collins's career at Calhoun South and Delano Elementary Schools and the development of her distinctive approach, which involves teaching the total child, developing the…

The New York City Adult Literacy Initiative was instituted in 1984. Approximately 22,000 students attended the city's literacy program in 1984, with the number increasing to nearly 50,000 by 1986. A study examined one year, 1985-1986, of the program's operation. Of the 49,986 students enrolled in 1985-1986, 40,754 were in bilingual education (BE)…

During the 1987-88 school year, 12 academy programs were operating in California under state sponsorship, including the two original Peninsula Academies in operation since 1981, and 10 replications of these, called Partnership Academies. The academies are designed to reduce the number of dropouts among at-risk high school youth. They combine a…

A study explored the effectiveness of "rap music" as a method of instruction for urban preschool children. It was hypothesized that urban preschool children would learn more new content (10 unfamiliar names of body parts) in a classroom environment through the use of rap music for instruction, than would children who received instruction…

Noting that most junior high level curricula do not take into account students' rapid mental and physical changes, the articles in this focused journal issue recommend works and teaching strategies that harmonize with these student needs. The titles and their authors are as follows: (1) "Adolescent Development and the Growth of Writing…

A study examined the career aspirations of disadvantaged students enrolled in vocational education programs. During the first phase of the study, the researchers reviewed the literature pertaining to the phenomenon of job aspirations as it pertains to or explains the disproportionate enrollment of disadvantaged students in low-level programs.…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 16 titles deal with the following topics: (1) women proteges' perceptions of the mentoring process; (2) the relationship between opportunity for upward communication and facets of job satisfaction; (3) the organizational…

Since 1985, students taking English 101, the basic composition course at Shoreline Community College (SCC) in Seattle, Washington, have been required to take the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and submit a piece of writing for holistic grading. The introduction of the testing process prompted several questions among students and faculty about what the…

The study styles employed by a sample of Finnish university students were investigated. In the first study phase, 238 students described general study styles/approaches, using a questionnaire developed by Entwistle, which included 30 Likert-type items from the following dimensions: achievement orientation, reproducing orientation, meaning…

Innovative programs at Utah community and technical colleges are described and other topics of interest to faculty, staff, and administrators are addressed in this collection of articles. The journal contains the following articles by Utah two-year college faculty members: (1) "Open Access and Academic Excellence at Dixie College," by…

Although the existence of small Catholic elementary schools (enrollment: 300 or less) is precarious, these institutions enable students to succeed academically beyond national norms, due to the special learning environment that they provide. The recent Small Schools Survey of Catholic elementary schools indicated that classes in small Catholic…