This document provides guidelines for the preparation of school district plans for implementation of the microcomputer instructional programs recommended for Arkansas high schools. Introductory materials include a history and description of the Instructional Microcomputer Project for Arkansas Classrooms (IMPAC), results of a state-wide…

This paper focuses on the importance and the significance of the teacher's mastery of an abstract body of knowledge that underlies an educational innovation. Concepts and principles from organizational sociology are applied in order to investigate the relationship between teacher's mastery of this body of knowledge and the process of…

The future of computers in education and the research needed to realize the computer's potential are discussed in this report, which presents a summary and the conclusions from an invitational conference involving 40 computer scientists, psychologists, educational researchers, teachers, school administrators, and parents. The summary stresses the…

Despite the well-known potential of computer technology to promote achievement and motivational gains among social studies learners, there is very little reported use of microcomputers in social studies classrooms. Factors contributing to this lack of use include: (a) lack of microcomputers for teacher use, (b) lack of high quality software, (c)…

The Gateway Writing Project (GWP) at the University of Misouri-Saint Louis is described in this report. It is the St. Louis site of the National Writing Project founded at the University of California, Berkeley to meet the critical need for highly skilled teachers of writing. GWP has helped students at all levels learn to write by providng…

Hypertext can bring much to the teaching of writing. Specifically, it combines the product and process approaches to writing. What can be taught about writing, by teachers and textbooks, is what cannot be learned from reading written products. What can and must be taught is the process by which those products were produced. Because hypertext is…

Research was conducted to assess the role of staff development in improving the quality of computer-based instruction in grade K-12 schools. The sample consisted of contact persons in 171 districts and interviews were completed with 155 (91%). Results indicate 80% of these districts currently provide inservice computer training to teachers; the…

Systematic but unanticipated differences in patterns of responses to a test between two or more groups is generally taken as evidence of test bias. This study assessed whether a carefully-targeted instructional sequence could influence the effects of bias. A reading comprehension test with items previously identified as biased for certain groups…

The paper examines the nature of current curriculum and resource materials related to Aboriginal studies, and reviews the curriculum materials "The Aboriginal Australian in North-Eastern Arnhem Land" which were trialled with Year 8 and Year 9 classes during 1980 in four Queensland State High Schools - Kingston, Mackay North, Murgon, and Pimlico.…

Writing to Read is an instructional system with a language experience approach to developing early writing and reading skills for primary children. Designed for a laboratory setting, the system consists of computerized phoneme instruction, 10 student workbooks, and language development activities that emphasize writing as a preliminary activity to…

Research shows that principals with strong leadership qualities are a critical factor in effective schools. This paper describes three research based techniques that principals can use when making decisions about how to help teachers develop their skills. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) is an empirically based conceptual framework that…

The 53 papers in these proceedings focus on the use of computer-based learning. Individual papers are organized by special interest group and presented under 12 headings: (1) Computer-Based Training (11 entries); (2) Elementary, Secondary, Junior College (1 entry); (3) Educators of the Handicapped (3 entries); (4) Health Education (6 entries); (5)…

Through the use of the Information Mapping and Information Blocking format, this paper discusses various means of increasing the information availability rate through compressed media. Techniques reviewed include: compressed speech, compressed media for individualization of instruction, compressed speech and remedial reading, speech compression…

Until recently, the Chicano was strongly influenced by the Mexican cultural tradition that looks on the school as an institution where decisions regarding his children were not to be questioned. The teacher's word was law and children were expected to be respectful, obedient and hardworking. It was unthinkable to go to the school to question their…

An experiment was conducted at the University of Maryland at Baltimore to determine if performances would differ for registered nurses enrolled in a baccalaureate program in nursing depending on whether they participated in a flexible clinical scheduling (FLEX) program or in the traditional (non-FLEX) program. Fifty-four students took part in the…