Examined along three assessment criteria (self-esteem and attitudes toward school, writing, and reading) the effects of literature-based mixed-age grouping compared to traditional grouping that emphasized a basal-reader approach in language arts. Found significantly higher increases in pretest-posttest scores for students in mixed-age settings.…

An interview with Larry Lezotte, Senior Vice President for Effective Schools Products, Ltd., presents Lezotte's insights on current school improvement efforts and the effects on student learning. Lezotte discusses his beliefs about student learning, backward mapping, cultural diversity, data disaggregation, staff development, and teacher…

After explaining performance assessment, the article describes a Michigan staff development workshop to teach educators performance assessment, explains program content and methods for teaching program assessment, illustrates how performance assessment was taught to students, and presents recommendations for effective implementation of performance…

This report presents the final evaluation of the MegaSkills School Program pilot adoption at Maupin Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1994-95. The MegaSkills programs are designed to help students develop skills and attitudes related to school success, confidence, motivation, effort, responsibility, initiative, caring, teamwork, common…

An overview is provided of the relevant concepts from Total Quality Management (TQM), fuzzy logic, and the chaos theory of education in an effort to support the case for student success courses. First, the paper discusses student success courses, which emphasize helping students develop the skills needed to identify, create, and pursue an…

Five deaf students, aged 11-12, participated in an instructional program using metacognitive strategies to teach summarization skills based on a knowledge of story structure. During intervention, the subjects' performance rose noticeably, and the level of performance was maintained in three subjects. (Author/JDD)

Interesting and rewarding questions arise around the issues of teaching and learning in higher education classrooms when the right questions are asked. When the focus of teaching and learning is on the teacher, certain questions are asked. For instance, what is the quality of the knowledge that the teacher transmits to students? Another set of…

Studies suggest that developmental students like peer tutoring, are more relaxed with peers, and feel that peer tutoring helps their grades. However, the small number of studies on college tutoring provides no consistent evidence that underprepared students who are tutored improve either their grades or grade point averages. The students who do…

Major technical issues concerning the assessment of student learning in higher education are presented in light of the authors' own knowledge of principles and methods of testing and measurement. This information is intended to help academic administrators and faculty draft a charge to a committee for the design and implementation of an assessment…

Describes the planning, facilitation, continuation, and evaluation of Designing Successful Learning, an effective staff development program created to facilitate district restructuring and improve student outcomes. The program focuses teachers' attention on cooperative learning, interdisciplinary instruction, performance assessment, student…

This report assesses the Acquisition of Learning by Facilitating Academics (Project ALFA), which is designed to assist the academic progress of Haitian students at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, New York. Project ALFA served a total of 62 students of limited English proficiency who had attended an English-speaking school system for less than 5…

British and U.S. preschool intervention projects are now reporting dramatic long-term follow-up findings that appear to vindicate the claim that preschool can serve as an "innoculation against failure," especially with disadvantaged children. However, important questions remain about the generalizability of these effects in other…

Identifies the A level as an advanced placement examination given to high school students in the United Kingdom. Discusses the dichotomy between the A level students' knowledge of geography (dependent upon rote memorization) and the requirements of university geography (critical thinking and application). Recommends the adoption of reflective…

This report examines the findings from a series of evaluations of efficacy programs in selected elementary and middle schools in Peoria (Illinois), Detroit (Michigan), Los Angeles (California), and the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto (California). An efficacy program initiated in Sacramento is targeted as a research site, but no data…

This study examined the effects of participation in Chapter 1 programs on students' educational outcomes. A total of 52 students at an elementary school in Maquoketa, Iowa, were divided into a primary group of students who participated in a Chapter 1 program during grades 1 or 2; an intermediate group of students who participated in a Chapter 1…