The National Diffusion Network provides a model for the adoption of outstanding educational programs. This second volume of the Final Report on the Evaluation of the National Diffusion Network consists of a series of technical supplements to Volume I, which contains the findings and recommendations. These technical supplements provide details of…

The greatest need of language teachers today is a workable approach to teaching vocabulary. This is essential if students are to be enabled to achieve communicative competence, that is, to make a transfer from the textbook to the real world of French, as reflected in the French media. An effective and comprehensive approach to teaching vocabulary…

This paper offers an overview of three previous studies based on surveys of almost 1000 Ontario parents, 3500 teachers, and over 6100 students; each of which monitors the participants' experience with and attitudes towards the system of education. The intention of the overview is to assimilate the findings of the previous research into a single…

The University of Michigan's Occupational Teacher Education Program was designed as an alternate approach to traditional occupational teacher preparation. The project had as its objectives: (1) the identification and validation of occupational teacher competencies, (2) the provision of across-the-board occupational teacher education, (3) the…

This report presents innovative vocational training (VT) initiatives to improve integration of low-skilled workers into lifelong learning and the labor market. Chapter 1 describes study structure and methodology. Chapter 2 addresses the theoretical basis for observing innovations. It analyzes the definition and significance of innovation in system…

This report, which is intended for technical institutions planning to use benchmark processes to facilitate change, contains five benchmarking studies describing future-oriented practices at two-year technical and community colleges that meet the design specifications stated in the report "New Designs for the Two-Year Institution of Higher…

In the communicative approach, English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners use scripted and unscripted language. In practice, scripted language is typically over-utilized at the expense of unscripted language. This study explores the characteristics of scripted and unscripted language in 11 beginner-level EFL students in a Japanese junior high…

Compared the science attitudes of tenth-grade students from British Columbia, Canada, in 1986 with those from tenth-grade students in 1989 after a three-year science-technology-society instructional period. No positive change in students' attitudes toward science was registered. (13 references) (MDH)

Organizational innovation is a difficult process. Most innovations fail. If an innovation fails there is a high probability the organization will be fractured. It is easy to break apart an organization. It is much more difficult to build it back up. This is a case study of an innovation in a branch of a large private English language school in…

The report summarizes five Colorado teacher research projects in teaching students with disabilities. The five projects described demonstrate that teacher initiated classroom based research allows educators to develop innovative approaches to instruction and to analyze their results in an objective way. The following projects are presented: (1)…

A 2-year project to specify new designs for the comprehensive high school of the future identified the following important features: (1) a guaranteed set of learner outcomes closely linked to present and future life roles and responsibilities for all students; (2) learning applied to life situations, using authentic assessment; (3) multiple ways…

This study investigated the methods and effects of introducing a teacher development program aimed at improving student learning across the curriculum at two secondary schools in New Zealand. A particular target was the lowest achieving 30 percent of learners who were identified as "less proficient learners." The teachers were volunteers…

Does conceptually oriented instruction jeopardize students' computational competence? If it does, then why are so many reform efforts continuing to emphasize the importance of teaching for conceptual understanding? If it does not, then why are the majority of teachers at all grade levels continuing to teach for computational competence without…

A study of the Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP) surveyed 153 current access students in an initial interview and 131 in a follow-up interview; it also surveyed former access students who were in their first year of higher education (n=99 initially, n=76 follow-up). Students were interviewed by telephone near the beginning and the end of…

This needs assessment identified six educational needs and issues of schools in the Northwest region, prioritized Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) areas of emphasis, evaluated research/development strategies to address these needs and priorities, and applied assessment results to NWREL program planning activities. Assessment…