126 Taiwanese college students were assessed by examining how students' educational background, their self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) and their prior success in classes impact their academic achievement differently in face-to-face and a two-way distance learning environment. Results indicated that regardless of the instructional delivery…

This article presents the quantitative findings from a mixed methods study of students and faculty at a private medical university in Malaysia. In particular, the relationships among students' individual characteristics, general self-efficacy, family context, university and classroom learning environments, curriculum, approaches to learning, and…

This study explored preschool teachers' beliefs about the appropriateness of early literacy and mathematics education. In all, 60 teachers of 4-year-olds, half working with low-socioeconomic status (SES) children at publicly funded preschools and the other half with middle-SES children at private preschools, were randomly assigned to read either…

Children's communicative competence is essential and predictive of their success in school. However, in England in recent years we have faced particular challenges inculcating this understanding into primary and early years teachers' practice. Furthermore, some studies have raised concerns about children's communicative competence on school entry.…

Developed by the Women's NETWORK, a group representing women serving in state legislatures in the United States, this report examines how the private sector is involved in promoting learning readiness at the preschool level. The report begins with an introduction and a discussion of the importance of learning readiness as a national goal. The…

This document is comprised of two reports, the first detailing findings of a 1997 Oregon survey to determine the status of the state's current kindergarten children and their developmental readiness for school, and the second providing county data from the survey. Surveys were mailed to 1,141 public school kindergarten teachers and 245 private…

This brief report cites data that indicate the need for increased efforts to achieve the first of six National Education Goals proposed by the President and the Governors in 1990. The first goal states that "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." The grade given to goal 1 is "incomplete"…

This study was designed to assess possible interactive aspects of family size and learning patterns of preschool lower-SES black children. (Author)

This 8-item test is intended to help adult basic education teachers obtain a quick assessment of the prereading skills that their beginning adult readers have already mastered. The individual items of the test are designed to assess the following: ability to write one's own name; left-to-right orientation; perceptual hearing; sound-letter and…

The staff of the Early Childhood Curriculum and Evaluation Project of the Mississippi State Department of Education developed the Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Social Competency (KIDSC) in 1986 as a means of evaluating the state's program goals in the area of self-concept. Positive results from field testing indicated the usefulness of the…

It is concluded that teacher academic expectancies for children entering school are influenced strongly by test scores and classroom behavior, and that such effects may be either realistic or prejudiced. (Author/MLP)

Presents a visual method for displaying the interrelationships between Piaget's work related to children's intellectual development and curriculum development based on an analysis of the processes of scientific inquiry. (PB)

This document describes the design and implementation of a screening procedure for a first grade readiness class which was receiving inappropriate referrals. The class was intended to serve normal children between kindergarten and first grade who seemed to need an extra year of maturation. Because students who exhibited discipline, emotional and…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS HANDBOOK IS TO HELP TEACHERS BECOME EFFECTIVE USERS OF PROGRAMS. IT PRESENTS CHARACTERISTICS, GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING, AND CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS IN THE TEXT. A FILMSTRIP BY THE SAME TITLE, GIVING FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROGRAM MAY BE USED WITH THE HANDBOOK. A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF 70 ITEMS, A LIST OF…

THE PROCESS OF INSTRUCTION WOULD BENEFIT FROM BEING ORGANIZED IN TERMS OF BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY. FIRST, THE PROCESS OF TASK ANALYSIS SHOULD DIVIDE THE FINAL OBJECTIVE INTO A SERIES OF SUBTOPICS OR RELATED TASKS. PERHAPS DIFFERENT TEACHING PROCEDURES WILL BE NEEDED TO MASTER DIFFERENT SUBTOPICS OF THE FINAL OBJECTIVE. SECOND, AN ASSESSMENT SHOULD…