This study examined practices of teachers in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) high school Algebra I classes. Regression analyses of standardized state testing results allowed for identification of the most effective and least effective Algebra I teachers and schools. The study used surveys, observations, and focus group interviews to compare and…

Students who are deaf often have great difficulty in accessing written English. A "bilingual" approach to education may help deaf students improve their literacy skills. This paper explains work in progress regarding two projects supported by the United States Department of Education, which explore the potential of interactive video…

A study examined self-reported studying and quiz performance in a college course. Subjects, 22 female and 5 male students in an educational psychology class, were quizzed on 4 supplementary reading assignments across the semester. Quizzes were scored for three types of learning: definitions, recall of factual information, and transfer of…

Many suggestions can be made, which, if put into practice, can help students learn more and earn better grades. Some study habits that relate to study efficiency are: selecting ideal study time; adjusting surroundings; length of time for each study session; the way to go about reading; and the way students take notes. Probably the single most…

Two studies investigated factors affecting the scores of Hawaii students taking the verbal subtest of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). For the past several years, the mean verbal scores of Hawaii students have consistently been among the lowest 10% of all states. The first study addressed the identification of items and types of items that have…

Noting that research shows that sound study practices increase chances for academic success, this booklet is intended to help secondary and postsecondary students improve their study methods and take charge of their learning. After an introduction, the first section discusses planning for success (goal setting and organizing a study space). The…

A qualitative study investigated the test-taking behaviors, knowledge, and perceptions of 20 urban, adult basic education students reading at third to fifth grade equivalency levels. The entire reading comprehension subtest of the Test of Adult Basic Education, levels E and M, was administered under standardized conditions. A combination of…

Providing information to help develop students' sense of narrative and to show them specific test-taking strategies, this publication is helpful to teachers as they ready their students for the North Carolina Fourth Grade Writing Assessment. The publication provides materials on generating ideas for writing, selecting topics, revising, developing…

A handbook on the medical school admissions process is presented, offering a first hand account of what works. Six chapters discuss the following topics and subtopics: (1) premedical preparation (planning undergraduate study and picking the right college); (2) power techniques for higher grades (techniques for grade point success, improving grades…

A study examined the differences in the essay exam scores of college students who did no planning, some planning, or extensive planning before writing answers to questions on essay exams. Subjects, 100 undergraduate education students enrolled in reading methods classes and 37 graduate reading students enrolled in a psychology of reading class,…

A study examined the responses of five university students from linguistically diverse backgrounds to an unfamiliar essay examination task to be performed in English. Subjects were an East Indian educated entirely in English, a Korean-English bilingual, a Norwegian fluent in English, a black middle-class American, and an urban American. Data were…

Using the conceptual frameworks of "levels of processing" and "transfer appropriate processing," the research literature on listening and notetaking was interpreted. Based on these frameworks, implications for encoding and external storage hypotheses are presented and critiqued. The report concludes that there is a potential…

An intervention program employing test-skills instruction and cooperative learning methods was presented to second year minority medical students at a major state supported medical school. The purpose was to enhance minority students' passing rate for Part I of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) examination. After completion of the…

The relationships among variables for a group of first year medical students were examined. The variables included previous test-taking experience, test-taking training, test anxiety, and level of test wiseness. The study also provided initial normative data concerning the level of test anxiety among entering medical students for comparison with…

To determine how much prior knowledge affects students' performance on a reading comprehension test, a study was undertaken to examine the prior knowledge factor in a reading competency test developed for college freshmen in New Jersey. The passages used in this test are based on common, everyday topics. Subjects were students in two sections of a…