The most widely used school-based substance abuse prevention program in the United States is the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, which is funded by a variety of sources, including private, federal, and other public entities. DAREs primary mission is to provide children with the information and skills they need to live drug- and…

The Computer Bus Program (Compubus Program) of the Modesto City Schools (California) was evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the computer literacy program for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at eight elementary compensatory education schools. The program provided instruction on computer vocabulary, knowledge, and applications in a…

This study applied Reader Response theory (which stresses an aesthetic experience with the text) with seven less proficient readers (learning-disabled fifth and sixth graders). Student response was best when the text was read to them, when their responses were oral, and when instruction focused on active meaning construction and the reader/text…

Conventional experimental research in mental imagery and visualization presents conflicting findings. Naturalistic inquiry offers an alternative approach for the study of mental imagery and problem solving. Paulo Freire, for example, used a naturalistic approach that emphasized active involvement in learning. Imagery can play an important role in…

The study with 34 gifted fifth-grade students found that a concrete sequential approach to developing visual literacy was more effective than an abstract visualization approach. Subjects either received guided visualization or direct instruction on such art concepts as shape, form, line, color, perspective, variety, and unity. (DB)

Construction, field testing with children with disabilities, and analysis of the preliminary version of the Preadolescent Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (PA-HOME) are described. The paper concludes that the assessment is a reasonably reliable scale with moderate correlations with other measures of the family environment.…

This article reports on a reading comprehension instructional technique which uses reciprocal-like teaching formats in groups and semantic mapping to make text structures apparent. The procedure significantly affected recall of expository ideas and knowledge of comprehension strategies with 28 intermediate grade students with learning…

This study investigated the effects of advance organizers on the English reading comprehension of six bilingual fifth and sixth grade learning disabled students whose primary language was Spanish. An alternating treatment design was implemented. Following each treatment, the students read an expository text written in English and answered eight…

This study, involving 70 intermediate grade students, found that scores on the Matrix Analogies Test-Short Form (MAT-SF) were significantly lower than all of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) composite scores. The MAT-SF correlated significantly with all areas of the CTBS composite and spelling scores. (Author/JDD)

A 10-minute videotape program that reviews library skills was evaluated with 8 fifth and sixth grade classes in the St. Louis area to determine both the effectiveness of the program itself and the method of formative program evaluation. The program used videotaped slides to present program ideas. Questions focused on whether students who viewed…

"Profiles in Listening and Reading" is presented as a screening test assessing listening and reading comprehension of extended discourse, based on the sentence verification technique. A study of 60 seventh graders and another study of 166 fourth, sixth, and eighth graders show some promise for the test's validity and diagnostic usefulness.…

This study, with 30 students with learning disabilities (grades 6-9) and 15 nondisabled students, found that instruction in a 5-rule summarization strategy significantly increased reading comprehension of expository prose. Strategy use was maintained over time, and students were reported to generalize its use. (Author/DB)

Two versions of classwide peer tutoring in spelling were evaluated with fourth-grade at-risk students (n=6 and n=4). Both experiments demonstrated moderate to substantial improvement in the peer tutoring condition and only slightly better performance in paired peer tutoring using the Language Master. (DB)

A home-based reinforcement program was instituted with three underachieving fourth graders who exhibited inappropriate behavior. Each day the children brought home a workbook assignment indicating percentage of correct responses and parents provided reinforcement for correct items and for improvement over time. Effectiveness on completion of daily…

A program evaluation was conducted of a summer program for academically gifted students in 5th through 10th grades. The purpose of this study was to evaluate discrepancies and congruencies among program teachers, counselors, and students in perceptions of program goal emphasis. The evaluation instrument used was a rating form composed of 60 goal…