Examined effectiveness of General Education 100 (GNED 100), behaviorally oriented course addressing nonacademic/academic factors affecting student retention. Compared to performance predicted by university's admissions formula, performance of 407 GNED 100 students exceeded predicted norms by as much as 1 grade point. Differences related positively…

Describes career services program at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse that adapted material from W.E. Deming's quality control manual to the needs of its office. Discusses Deming's work and its implications for career services professionals, then describes application of Deming's model to the career services program. (NB)

Total quality management will not work well in government agencies because of stress on products, not services; on well-defined consumer groups; on inputs/processes, not results; and on preoccupation with quality. An effective revised version emphasizes client feedback, performance monitoring, continuous improvement, and worker participation. (SK)

Describes components of effective school counseling programs that have emerged from 30 years of empirical research and professional standards. Results are summarized in seven sections: core principles of school counseling programs, program resources, program interventions, program evaluation, program renewal, written policies, and program climate.…

Responds to previous article by Borders and Drury (1992) on effectiveness of school counseling programs by focusing on conclusions that school counseling interventions have substantial impact on students' educational and personal development and that individual and small-group counseling, classroom guidance, and consultation activities seem to…

Academic and social achievement of 2 groups of 13 elementary students with mild intellectual disabilities who had been randomly allocated to either mainstream classes or a segregated special class was examined. Integrated students improved more on measures of decoding, mathematics, and time spent playing with regular peers. No negative effects of…

Discusses the promise and problems of conflict resolution programs operating in the schools. Argues that, with open channels of communication, ongoing evaluation, and student control, such programs can bring long-term benefits to schools and communities. (SR)

Several large-scale programs are known for having a substantial positive effect on student achievement. Although each program used different approaches, they have many common elements that worked in very different school districts that serve quite different populations. Provides thumbnail descriptions of five such programs. (MLF)

Glossometry, a method of providing visual feedback of tongue positions, was used to teach four vowel sounds to six profoundly hearing-impaired children. After 15 to 20 50-minute training sessions, all subjects showed greater diversification of tongue postures for the vowels. Listener identifications were also generally better after therapy.…

A 1988 Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) study of the accreditation process among 480 nationally accredited institutions found that of 279 respondents, 97 percent said that quality of continuing medical education had some or great impact and 91 percent indicated that discussions with ACCME staff was important. Of least…

Compared program efficacy in helping parents cope with children's painful medical procedures. Parents (n=72) of pediatric leukemia patients participated in either stress inoculation program or observed child participating in cognitive behavior therapy. Found parents in stress inoculation program reported lower anxiety scores and higher positive…

Evaluated efficacy of computer-assisted attention retraining program with 29 outpatients suffering moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Subjects were randomly assigned to either retraining or to memory training program that served as control condition. Compared to controls, those subjects who received retraining improved significantly on…

Lists six recommendations made by consultants who evaluated a writing program at Lehigh University. Gives a brief history of the problem that led to each of the recommendations. Offers five tips for others who are thinking of doing a writing program evaluation. (MG)

Evidence that a structured faculty development program deliberately seeking to create change can yield lasting benefits is found in the experiences of 10 University of Nebraska faculty members, who reported both internal and external changes resulting from the program. A basic model for bringing about lasting change includes four elements: power,…

A 4-day developmental drama workshop was held for 12 visually impaired adolescents at a rehabilitation center for blind persons. Pretest-posttest measures of social skills revealed increased levels of individual concentration, increased interaction within the group and with friends and acquaintances outside the group, and higher levels of…