A study of nearly 100 freshman community college students' perceptions of their educational experiences and motivations through focus group interviews found that, despite high dropout rates, community college students can become successful students. The study concluded that students will be more likely to persist if institutions help them to be…

This paper reports the findings and recommendations of a task force of the Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH) on current trends in the education of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (including deaf-blind students) and the implications of a proposed Deaf Child's Bill of Rights. The task force reviewed the literature…

This goal of this project was to create a public school district World Wide Web site that staff and community members would use more frequently. The project included three solutions. First, 33 one-on-one and small-group training sessions were conducted to increase awareness and improve Web services. A Web-site advisory committee, which developed…

This project investigated the different perspectives of families from diverse backgrounds on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The transcripts from the focus groups and individual interviews at five national sites conducted from December 1995 to August 1996 are provided. The following focus groups were held: (1) family involvement…

This monograph details the findings from the fourth year of a 5-year Consumer Needs Assessment Project. Sixteen focus groups consisting of 133 working-aged persons (25 to 60 years old) with disabilities were convened in 3 different parts of the United States to discuss their personal and technological needs. Consumers identified problems they face…

This article reports on the experiences of language teachers with their teacher preparation in the use of learning technologies in Puerto Rico. Three focus group interviews were held with 28 pre-service teachers; 9 in-service teachers were interviewed, and a post focus group interview was held with student teachers after they completed their field…

Recognizing the need for family, school, and community members to participate in partnerships to support middle level children, this study investigated the perceptions of family members, community members, and middle school teachers regarding their relationships with each other from a perspective that views all three groups as integral parts of a…

Sports programming plays a significant role in the media messages that American boys receive today. To explore the messages that sports programming presents to its audience, this report relates the findings of a study that analyzed a representative selection of sports programs and their accompanying commercials; also presented are findings from a…

For much of the past 20 years, philanthropists have invested significant time, money and knowledge into the important task of improving the nation's education system. Collectively, their efforts have targeted all aspects of the system--from helping teachers upgrade their skills and knowledge to creating better curricula and classroom tools, from…

The College Board developed a program in the content areas of English and mathematics designed to prepare students for challenging content as early as grade 6 and extending through high school. Conceived with the goal of creating high-quality professional development activities with associated instructional strategies embedded in instructional…

Describes a battery of biological and social research methods used to compare characteristics of urban schoolchildren, homeless street children, squatter children, and village children. Highlights the importance of methods that link the physical, psychological, and social aspects of children's lives. (KDFB)

In this study of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the relationship between the implementation of AR and student motivation and extent of reading are drawn from data collected in three schools in Scotland and England. These schools represent low (Scotland, n=53), middle (Scotland, n=40), and high…

Methodological analyses of sexual victimization research are still rare, despite the explosion of interest in this topic and widely varying rates across studies. In-depth analysis of the meaning of differences in rates is especially lacking. A series of five ethnically and geographically diverse focus groups were held to explore how wording in…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pre-service teachers' participation in a constructivist intervention supported by technology on their confidence in their own ability to plan and create six technology-supported, constructivist, learning activities, as well as to understand their perceptions of the experience. Participants…

This study examines the meaning of teaching in rural, historically monocultural communities as it is experienced by teachers of color. This research project developed in three phases: (1) identifying; (2) observing teaching practices of; and (3) conducting a weekend focus group with a sampling of teachers of color working in middle and secondary…