This study seeks to illuminate those characteristics of students which predict their performance in using evidence to test a hypothesis. The research is conceived as part of a larger investigative strategy for understanding the relationships among characteristics of students, characteristics of social studies thinking tasks, and characteristics of…

DISTAR (Direct Instruction Systems for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading) is a structured program designed to present basic skills and concepts in such a way that the child's complete mastery of each step in the programed sequence is ensured before proceeding to subsequent steps. This study investigated the effects of the program using 52 children…

The definition of critical reading and also the relationship between critical reading and critical thinking, reading, and scholastic aptitude and achievement tests were investigated. The Reading Comprehension Test; Test of Critical Thinking, Form G; Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Form A; Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests, Form A; and Florida…

The study focuses on the possibility that the tendency of academic underachievers to respond in terms of all inclusive language is indicative of their incapacity to discriminate the uniquely meaningful aspects of their environment. The authors hypothesize that academic achievers would differ significantly from academic underachievers in their…

A group of 40 retarded (IQ 56 to 78) and a group of 40 normal subjects (IQ 100 to 115), each composed of 20 males and 20 females, 9 to 12 years old, were tested (1) to compare the differences between educable mentally retarded and normal children on a set of creativity measures, and (2) to investigate the extent to which the creativity measures…

Instruments and manuals prepared for those conducting the research of the IEA project comprise Volume II of the final report of the 18-nation study of educational attainment at the elementary and secondary school levels. Section 1 includes technical research guidelines for national centers, school coordinators, and test administrators. Section 2…

The guide to classroom instruction in language development for trainable and primary level educable mentally handicapped children is said to be based on a 4 year demonstration project which subjectively evaluated several approaches to the stimulation of speech and language in retarded children. Stressed is the need to incorporate language…

The guide to classroom instruction in language development for educable mentally handicapped children at the intermediate level is said to be based on a 4 year demonstration project which subjectively evaluated several approaches to the stimulation of speech and language in retarded children. Stressed is the need to incorporate speech activities…

Irregularities in oral fluency, or "disfluencies," are common in the speech habits of both children and adults. Disfluencies can take the form of hesitations, revisions, repetitions, or interjections. Most disfluenceies do not occur at random, but are directly linked to other factors such as verbal planning--the combination of decisions…

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between motor and verbal ability traits, instructional treatments, and test instruments. Two programed instruments were developed to teach art concepts to sixth grade students. One instrument, termed manipulative, used a programed text with objects and artifacts that the students handled during…

Scores of foreign graduate students on the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Aptitude Tests and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were combined through multiple and moderated regression to predict grade-point average (GPA). It was hypothesized that TOEFL would moderate the relationship between the GRE scores and GPA. According to…

Early results from a Montessori nursery program initiated by Toronto, Canada, in 1971, to help inner-city children prepare for formal education indicate that the mothers of the 15 three- and four-year-old children were pleased with the program. Specifically, they felt that the children had increased their verbal skills, preparedness for junior…

The effects of immediate knowledge of results (KR) concerning the correctness or incorrectness of each item response on a computer-administered test of verbal ability were investigated. The effects of KR were examined on a 50-item conventional test and a stradaptive ability test and in high- and low-ability groups. The primary dependent variable…

The effects of elaboration instructions and imagery characteristics of verbal material on learning of Malay--English word pairs were investigated, as well as the moderating effects of individual differences. Results reflect aptitude X treatment interactions and the importance of individual differences in planning instructional methods. (Author/JAC)

Following a review of metalinguistic abilities and their relation to reading ability in learning-disabled students, special consideration is given to phonological awareness. Both developmental/preventative and remedial approaches for heightening sound awareness are described, focusing on the characteristics of speech sounds themselves rather than…