The development of first language skills among native English-speaking students enrolled in early French immersion programs was explored. Preliminary results support the hypothesis that early bilingual schooling enhances the students'performances on various kinds of first language learning tasks. (Author/CB)

An evaluation was conducted of a comprehensive plan to restructure a primary school in Candler County, Georgia, into a non-graded, multi-age, continuous progress learning center. The project entailed restructuring the classroom, implementing a shared decision-making structure, developing a learning curriculum, and using portfolio assessment to…

The findings of a pilot study of Pennsylvania's School Performance Incentive (SPI) program are presented in this report. School level incentive policies as elements of the entrepreneurial context of educational restructuring and an organizational model for an incentive-based merit system are also discussed. The study examines the effect of SPI on…

School effectiveness indices (SEIs), based on regressing test performance onto earlier test performance and a socioeconomic status measure, were obtained for eight subject-grade combinations from 485 South Carolina elementary schools. The analysis involved school means based on longitudinally matched student data. Reading and mathematics…

On account of concern about declining achievement levels of high school graduates and proposed state legislation increasing graduation requirements to address this concern, this report analyzes current and proposed high school graduation requirements in Illinois, based on data compiled from local school documents, and compares the data to…

This study investigates the effects of alternate types of curriculum and counseling treatment on elementary school children categorized into six temperament-attitude clusters. Through a second-order factor analysis of a multi-trait multi-source assessment instrument (The Barclay Classroom Climate Inventory), six cluster groups of characteristics…

Several underlying curriculum variables influencing the course of study as it is implemented in the inner city, such as class size and personnel policies, are examined in this investigation, which seeks to determine the relationship between the curriculum variables and standardized academic tests on black and immigrant children in Montreal.…

Concern for student improvement and recognition of the importance of individualizing instruction provided the rationale for this project. A definite need was seen for paraprofessionals to help teachers with instruction, not just with clerical work. The project was organized so that teacher aides received on-the-job experience concurrently with…

This evaluation assesses the impact of New Jersey's Reading Recovery program on first-grade students in the Newark School District. The report presents results from two cohorts and is divided into two main sections. Section 1 deals with the achievement of the students from the 1991-1992 academic year. Their performance at the end of first grade in…

South Carolina's School Incentive Reward Program Program (SIRP) based on year-to-year gains in reading and mathematics achievement, which seemed to have face validity, was evaluated, particularly its use of the relative gains of students in only the highest grade in the school as the basis for the awards. When this requirement was relaxed so that…

This paper studies the needs and strengths of rural schools with the intent of improving rural science education. It examines the history of rural schools, and posits a rural-to-urban continuum of characteristics, citing studies that indicate rural schools are more effective in some ways than urban schools. The paper looks at needs of rural/small…

This study compares an open space elementary school and a traditional school in Harford County, Maryland, in terms of cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes. In order to assess whether there were differences in instructional climate (open vs. traditional) between the two schools, the Walberg and Thomas Teacher Questionnaire was administered…

A longitudinal study to determine the conditions surrounding successful or unsuccessful integration of Negroes, Mexican Americans, and Anglos in the Riverside Unified School District in Riverside, California, began in school year 1965-66, and included kindergarten through grade 6. Test batteries placed emphasis on achievement "related…

The Excellence in Cities (EiC) policy was launched in 1999 with the aim of improving the attainment of all pupils in disadvantaged urban areas. Further Phases were launched in 2000 and 2001, by when EiC covered about a third of the secondary schools in England and over 60 per cent of the minority ethnic pupils in England attended schools in EiC…

This exploratory study examines several facets of everyday perspectives on merit and the meritocratic allocation of rewards and opportunities, focusing on race-targeted, affirmative action admissions of Blacks and Latinos to law schools, medical schools, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Subjects were 32 white, male college…