The importance of cognitive internal state words in skilled reading comprehension was studied with 31 5th graders, 32 7th graders, and 10th graders. Positive correlations with cognitive word knowledge were significantly higher for verbal than quantitative achievement percentiles. The order of cognitive word acquisition depends on complex factors.…

Describes a study that investigated the use of the computer as a tool for improving high school students' correlational reasoning skills. Treatment of experimental and control groups is described; previous studies of tool-mode computer-based instruction are reviewed; and cooperative group learning and student attitudes are discussed. (Contains 44…

Asserts that students' opportunities to learn subjects can be organized into sequences that span grades and schools. Examines national patterns in opportunities for learning mathematics and science from grade 8 to grade 10. Finds that the level of mathematics in grade 8 is closely related to that taken in high school, but this is not true of…

Identified and classified solution strategies of (n=49) 10th-grade students who were presented with linear programming problems in a predominantly visual setting in the form of a computerized game. Visual strategies were developed more frequently than either algebraic or mixed strategies. Appendix includes questionnaires. (Contains 11 references.)…

Maintains that, although exciting computer programs are available for U.S. history, not all of them support the curriculum of the California History-Social Science Framework. Focuses on computer software programs that target problem solving, decision making, and tool-based programs that support the California curriculum. (CFR)

Two groups of students, one on the Atlantic coast and one on the Pacific coast think about and discuss their own experiences with and perceptions of public education. They were asked to consider the following questions: In your experiences as a student in an education system: What are the things that help students learn? What are the things that…

This essay is the author's battle cry for help in revitalizing democracy. It deals with the institutions in which the future citizens are being educated. It deals with the undemocratic way in which schools are run. Given the time and space, the author would like to narrow the focus of his battle even further and argue for a revitalization of…

This study of 20 preservice teachers in a secondary English methods course explored whether materials on diversity, information about language of wider communication, and literature from parallel cultures would have a positive effect on their ability to fairly assess work by high school students from diverse populations. At the beginning of the…

This study is based on the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS:88) sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. NELS:88 is a nationally representative sample of approximately 25,000 eighth graders who were enrolled in public or private school in 1988. About 21,000 students were resurveyed in 1990, a second follow-up…

This unit is one of a series that represents specific moments in history from which students focus on the meanings of landmark events. This unit focuses on the black experience in the critical years after Reconstruction. Using the landmark decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the unit opens with an examination of conditions in black America…

This study of high school sophomores in 1980 and 1990 compares the experiences of students in the two cohorts, identifying changes in in-school and out-of-school activities, academic achievement, self-concept, values, plans, and aspirations. Similarities and differences between the two groups are documented using data from the National Education…

A plan is presented for a curriculum that shows how African Americans have been left out of decision making, stereotyped negatively, and denied resources. The project is intended to be a base for future studies of human relations issues in order to understand how society operates. Using the contexts of the 1960s and the 1990s, the power structures…

The purpose of the assessment described in this paper was to evaluate the extent to which students could demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes detailed in the British Columbia social studies curriculum. The paper focuses on those aspects of the assessment that concerned critical thinking skills. All students in grades 4, 7, and 10 took…

The partial credit model of G. N. Masters (1982), a one-parameter unidimensional polychotomous Rasch model, was used to reduce the error of measurement, particularly for students near the cut score, and to permit measurement to reflect the actual ability of a student more accurately by reducing the degree of misfit for students near the cut…

The impact of the Channel One school newscasts on student knowledge of current events and on student attitudes was studied with tenth and eleventh graders in six suburban high schools in the Midwest. Three schools (464 students) received the newscast and the remaining schools (604 subjects) did not. Current events knowledge was assessed with a…