Youth effectiveness training administered to a group of delinquent children in a Wisconsin Middle School caused no significant change in self-concept over the 10 weeks of the program. Measure used was a pretest, posttest model of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. (CM)

A collaborative research effort to investigate the relative strengths of selected vocabulary development techniques was conducted by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and the Taiwan Provincial Institute for Elementary School Teachers' Inservice Education. Parallel studies of children in grades 4 through 6 compared the two prior knowledge…

This study examined the responses of 3,915 Oshkosh, Wisconsin students (in grades 5 through 12) to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) standard form of common questions for school-based interventions. Also, a pilot questionnaire of knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes concerning and predicting tobacco use was administered. NCI findings indicated an…

Replicates a 1980 study of Wisconsin junior high and middle school teachers that investigated the extent of teacher involvement in schoolwide and instructional issues, teachers' interest and expertise in decision issues, and teachers' job satisfaction. After a decade of explicit attention to enhanced teacher professionalism and empowerment,…

Examines how teachers use computerized comment menus on report cards and what teachers and parents think of the process, An analysis of report cards for 475 Wisconsin middle-school students shows teachers used comments most of the time. Only 52% of students received two comments. Most comments were positive. Parents and teachers found the practice…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1994, TSA was expanded to include non-public school students. The 1994 reading assessment considered students' proficiency in situations that involved…

Conducted in order to assess the equity of student access to instructional computing at the sixth-grade level in Wisconsin public schools in the spring of 1985, this study examined teachers' perceptions, attitudes, and opinions on the status of instructional computing and the potential effects of these viewpoints on student access to computers.…

In order to assess the quantity and quality of equitable access to computers in Wisconsin public schools, teachers' perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about instructional computing were examined during the 1984-1985 school year. Questionnaires containing closed- and open-ended questions were mailed to all 510 sixth-grade teachers in K-6…

A survey of representative schools in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois showed that most small and rural schools house middle-level students in buildings primarily designed for elementary or high school students. Middle level students often receive an inappropriate educational program that is not taught by teachers trained to understand and…

In 1990, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) included a Trial State Assessment (TSA); for the first time in NAEP's history, voluntary state-by-state assessments were made. In 1992, the NAEP Program included an expanded TSA in fourth-grade reading. The 1992 reading assessment considered students' performance in situations that…

Professional staff in school libraries and instructional media centers (IMCs) located in 229 Wisconsin middle and junior high schools were surveyed anonymously to collect information on censorship attempts in their schools during 1978-79 and 1979-80. A total of 212 surveys were returned. Survey participants were asked to respond to questions…

Evaluate effects of an outdoor "hands-on," cooperative science laboratory on seventh- and eighth-grade students' environmental knowledge levels and science-processing skills. Participating students' scores on the Integrated Processes Skills Test were significantly higher than those of nonprogram students. Results support involving…

The study described in this article investigated original student research using student-to-student telecommunications. Sixth graders gathered original data through Internet to answer their own questions about education in other countries. Student surveys and teacher observation indicated students found telecommunications highly motivating. (SM)

This paper presents findings of a study that explored the relationships among principals' leadership behaviors and teacher efficacy in Wisconsin middle schools involved in building-level change efforts. An adaptation of Bandura's social cognitive learning theory of self-efficacy (A. Woolfolk and W. Hoy 1993) provided the theoretical framework.…

Findings are reported from a statewide survey of middle and junior high schools in Wisconsin. The study had two major purposes: (1) to determine the extent to which the clinical supervision cycle was a component of staff development programs; and (2) to identify characteristics of existing clinical supervision practices within staff development…