Tyler, Barbara (1994). Encouraging Reluctant Writers in the Classroom. Certain settings and activities can be initiated in the classroom to encourage reluctant writers to write. The classroom environment should be structured so that writing efforts produce positive reinforcement. Sharing ideas with peers or the teacher prior to writing will enable students to feel that their ideas are worthwhile. Children can be paired with more proficient writers to observe them writing. Teacher feedback to reluctant writers must be immediate as well as nonthreatening. The teacher should allow the children opportunities to see that she is engaging in the process of writing, and should actively involve the children in decisions concerning her written pieces. Reading their products aloud to self and others provides a sense of ownership. Children must be given adequate time to write in a risk-taking environment. The teacher must be sensitive to what is going on with the child. Activities to encourage writing include having the children dictate stories about pictures and… [PDF]

Miller, Michael T. (1990). Model for Greek Alumni Relations Programs: A Five Step Approach. In order to assure college fraternities their share of alumni resources at a time when colleges and universities are mounting aggressive institutional advancement activities also aimed at alumni, a model for Greek alumni relations programs is proposed. Greek associations face significant competition from the institutional advancement offices which are generally well staffed and funded and carefully organized. The characteristics of Greek alumni are diverse but they do share a tendency to be institutional donors and active alumni volunteers. A five step model for improving a Greek chapter's alumni relations programs includes: (1) keeping independent records on past alumni; (2) keeping open lines of communication with alumni and with other sources of information; (3) sharing information about the effectiveness of alumni involvement; (4) giving alumni an opportunity to make regular gifts; and (5) getting national headquarters support. Implementation of the model requires a strong… [PDF]

Goodmen, Earl O.; Moy, Caryl T. (1982). Conceptualizing Supervision on a Developmental Continuum. Supervisory issues as they relate to the training of family therapists have been a concern for the past two decades. Many developmental theories suggest that the trainee-supervisor relationship moves through a series of stages similar to the process of moving from childhood to adulthood. A few theorists have developed procedures whereby supervisory interactions could be analyzed for the purpose of observing these developmental changes; one model to explore this change was developed at the Northern Illinois University Family Center. Audiotapes of supervisory planning sessions of marriage and family therapy trainees and their three supervisors were used over a 4-month period. Categories of statements within interactions and then category definitions were developed. Fifteen mutually exclusive categories were defined, i.e., exploring emotional responses; expressing emotional responses; encouraging feelings and ideas; reflecting overt messages; giving facts/feelings to impede responses;…

Bell, Steven; Embree, Gertrude (1979). The Measurement of Social Behavior of Infants and Toddlers in Groups. A 36-item observation instrument was developed for measuring appropriate social development in infants and toddlers. Checklist items indicated such behaviors as asking, protecting, comforting, lending, sharing, hugging, playing with, joining, laughing, smiling, looking at, performing request, leading, following, and conversing. Use of the instrument required that individual children be observed for 5 minutes four times in a 1-month period. Observers were directed to indicate behaviors they saw occur at least once. Observer training procedures developed in conjunction with the checklist consisted of three parts: (1) previewing and discussing instrument content and scoring directions, (2) viewing a 5-minute videotape of infant or toddler behavior in a center setting, and (3) observing a selected child jointly and unobtrusively. Total training time varied between 1 and 3 hours. In a field test of the instrument, 39 boys and 33 girls between the ages of 5 and 39 months at the Berry… [PDF]

Valentine, Jerry W. (1989). The Audit of Principal Effectiveness: A Process for Self-Improvement. Feedback data provide an avenue to improved perceptions; in the educational setting, improved perceptions translate into personal growth and more positive organizational culture. To provide a valid, reliable, and practical instrument for faculty feedback regarding administrative skill, the Audit of Principal Effectiveness was developed in 1982. Over the next 4 years the instrument was statistically anaylzed, used in research and schools, refined, reanalyzed, and shortened; since 1986 it has been used in numerous research studies and in hundreds of schools across the country. The revised instrument provides the principal with teacher insight on 80 items of principal effectiveness. In addition, teacher perceptions are provided regarding three domains: (1) organizational development containing the factors of organizational direction, linkage, and procedures; (2) organizational environment containing the factors of teacher and student relations, and interactive and affective processes;… [PDF]

Glickman, Carl D.; Pajak, Edward F. (1986). A Study of School Systems in Georgia Which Have Improved Criterion Referenced Test Scores in Reading and Mathematics from 1982 to 1985. Studies that trace change over time are essential to inferring how people change. To add understanding to the change process in school systems in Georgia that demonstrated improved Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) scores for several consecutive years, this study was conducted. Interviews were held with 90 teachers, administrators, and supervisors in 15 elementary schools and 6 middle/junior/intermediate schools, and central office staff personnel from three school sysytems that have improved CRT performance of their students in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and mathematics for three consecutive years. Chapter 1 includes an introduction and description of the population and methodology of the study. The second chapter examines stories of CRT improvement by the school districts studied, giving the opinions and attitudes of faculty and administration, and the various approaches used. The third chapter describes results and conclusions, outlining eight general categories that explain… [PDF]

Paulis, Chris (1984). The Adaptation of Short Stories into Screenplays: A Language Arts Program for the Gifted. Maryland English Journal, v19 n2 p7-13. A summer English class for gifted fifth- through eighth-grade students was designed to allow students to interact with literature by adapting short-stories into plays that the students then produced, performed, and filmed. During the prewriting phase, students discussed qualities most essential to a story or film, and compared a short story with its film version. Students then completed a teacher developed learning activity packet on adapting short stories into plays. During the writing/selection phase, students worked independently adapting the stories they had selected, sharing them with peers and adults for feedback, and revising their writing based on evaluations and guidelines established in earlier classes. The class was then divided into two groups, each with actors and technicians, who chose one play they felt they could best produce in the required time. During the production phase, actors rehearsed, technicians practiced with their equipment, and technical scripts were…

Bryan, Glynis; Metts, Sandra (1984). Politeness: A Conversationalist Indicator of Sex Roles. Six casual conversations between university undergraduates were tape recorded and transcribed in an effort to describe the politeness practices of men and women during ordinary conversation. The first stage of analysis involved dividing the transcripts into utterances or units of speech actions. The second stage of analysis involved coding each utterance for politeness features. Findings indicated that the total frequency of politeness features for all speakers combined across the six conversations was 1,442 instances. In contrast to earlier studies, which found that females preferred positive politeness while males demonstrated no preference, the data from this study indicated that males used positive politeness over negative politeness in a ratio of 14 to 1 while females used it in a ratio of 8 to 1. The typical female politeness profile was seen as a collection of communicative behaviors whose function was oriented toward cooperative identity validation. Considerable…

Bialeschki, M. Deborah; Henderson, Karla A. (1984). A Needed Framework for Telling the Camping Story. A questionnaire was devised and disseminated at the 1983 American Camping Association (ACA) convention to ascertain from members the value placed on camping research. The questionnaire addressed the following concerns: who should be conducting research, how should research be disseminated, what are the important broad areas of needed research, and what research questions should be addressed. Study results indicated 88% of the respondents believed that ACA should do research; over 75% believed that research should be reviewed and reported in the Camping Magazine; areas of most research needed were the individual and camping and programming in camp; and broad areas to address were the individual and camping and management. Recommendations made in light of the study findings were: respondents and other consumers of camping research realize the value of research; value of camping to the individual appears to be the broad question in camping which needs more investigation; camping… [PDF]

Eaton, Judith S. (1983). Building Tomorrow. A hypothetical account of the demise of the community college in the United States by the year 2000 is provided in this paper, along with suggestions for ways community colleges can avoid this fate. First, the reasons for the demise are presented, including the rise of vocational institutes, which took over the vocational education function of community colleges; major cutbacks in funding and the inability of the colleges to compete for funds; the inability of the colleges to adapt to emerging technologies; and the rise in the proportion of jobs not requiring higher education. Next, the strategies undertaken by some comprehensive community colleges to preserve their existence are highlighted, including a re-emphasis on the humanities, a focus on excellence and new and emerging technologies, an acknowledgement of financial limitations, and adaptation to employment changes. Finally, suggestions are provided for ways community colleges can avoid a premature demise, including: (1)… [PDF]

Kelley, Delores G. (1989). Coppin Critical Reading Project of Coppin State College. The Coppin Critical Reading Project at Coppin State College, Maryland is designed to help undergraduate students to become critical readers across a wide range of disciplines through the introduction of significant texts into the general education curriculum, through analysis of these texts from the perspective of the humanities, and through related faculty development activities. To realize such program outcomes, the project director and eight faculty participants underwent two semesters of faculty development experiences, and integrated readings from several significant texts into eight targeted general education courses. Project activities were spread over five semesters as follows: Spring 1988, weekly seminars analyzing texts explicating major epistemological positions; Summer 1988, seminars analyzing specific texts focusing on argumentative structure, major themes/issues, and literary genres for the purpose of textual analyses; Fall 1988, weekly seminars to share challenges and… [PDF]

Molholt, Pat (1988). Library Networking: The Interface of Ideas and Actions. This report, which considers the role of networking activities associated with the technical telecommunication links that bind libraries, services, and patrons together, begins with a historical review of libraries and automation-based systems over the last 19 years. The importance of the development and implementation of standards in interactive library activities for librarians using state or regional telecommunications networks is then discussed, including such factors as the need for increased functionality, performance reliability, consistent user assistance, access, and participation in governance. Also discussed are the activities of the various regional networks involved in the Linked Systems Project (LSP), including the development of standards for information transfer between systems via the telecommunications standard known as the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI). The development of the Office of Library Program's leadership role in interlibrary cooperation, especially… [PDF]

(1987). A Long Range Program for Library Development in Vermont. FY88-FY92. Revised. This comprehensive plan for library development in Vermont over a five year period is the result of extensive consultation with professionals in the field, the State Advisory Council on Libraries, and the U.S. Department of Education. Focusing on the role of the Vermont Department of Libraries as the implementor of the long range program of improvement under the auspices of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), this report has been divided into three categories–Titles I, II, and III. Title I includes 12 aspects: (1) public library areas without service; (2) public library areas with inadequate service; (3) services to the disadvantaged (culturally, socially, economically, and educationally); (4) service to the visually and physically handicapped; (5) institutional program; (6) strengthening the state administrative agency; (7) services to the elderly; (8) literacy programs; (9) community information and referral centers; (10) services to the limited English speaking;…

Oliveira, Victor J. (1986). Distribution of Rural Employment Growth by Race: A Case Study. Rural Development Research Report Number 54. Whites benefit more than blacks from rural economic growth according to the findings of a 1982 survey of over 75,000 households in 10 rural counties in southern Georgia, selected to represent fast growing nonmetro areas with mixed manufacturing and commercial agriculture-based economies with substantial minority populations. From 1976 to 1981, a period of rapid employment growth, the percentage of white women with jobs in the study area increased, while the percentage of black men with jobs decreased. Among employed persons, whites increased their share of higher wage jobs. Persons who moved into the area obtained higher paying jobs than did other residents. These immigrants, most of whom were white, in general took larger shares of the new jobs than did continuous residents of both racial groups. Among nonworking adults in 1981, blacks were more likely than whites to report that they wanted to work. Nonworking blacks, more than nonworking whites, reported that they could not find… [PDF]

Maurer, B. B. (1982). Continuing Education for Church Leaders at West Virginia University. The roots of clergy education at West Virginia University (WVU) came from the American Country Life Movement in the early 1900's. Under the joint sponsorship of an ecumenical commission and WVU, a state ministers' conference was launched in 1927 at Jackson's Mill which over the years became a conference center for all types of church groups. With experience gained from holding regional schools in 1966 and 1967, plus Title I funding from the Church Leadership Development project, WVU in 1968 established the Appalachian Regional School for Church Leaders which has continued through 1982. Although WVU has no theological faculty, the school provides: graduate, professional-level training for pastors, their spouses, and lay church leaders; an educational program to augment and supplement the seminary training of church leaders; and involvement of professional clergy in design, operation, and evaluation of the school, as well as recruitment of participants. The school seeks to: develop…

(1984). Indian Health Service Mental Health Program Review Plenary Session (Portland, Oregon, January 17-19, 1984). Summary Report. Listening Post, v5 n2 Mar 12 1985. This special edition summarizes the discussions which proceeded during the Indian Health Service (IHS) Mental Health Plenary Session. Following introductory comments by four session participants are seven discussion topics: mental health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives; history and description of the program; services for children and adolescents; evaluation and research findings, needs for evaluation and reporting systems; organization and funding; contracting under P.L. 93-638 (Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act); and accomplishments, mission and future direction of the IHS Mental Health Program. Each discussion includes remarks by that topic's presenters and are followed by comments from other participants and further comments by panelists. Most discussions have opening comments from a moderator. Attachments include Plenary Session Agenda, summary statement by the chairperson concerning mental health services for children and adolescents, a list… [PDF]

Zemke, Ron; Zemke, Susan (1984). 30 Things We Know for Sure about Adult Learning. Innovation Abstracts, v6 n8 Mar. This series of statements offers a synthesis of the body of currently available knowledge about adult learning in the areas of motivation to learn, curriculum design, and the classroom environment. The section on motivation focuses on the role of life-event changes in encouraging adults to seek out learning experiences, adults' motivation to pursue knowledge and skills they can use, and strong motivations to increase or maintain a sense of self-esteem and pleasure. The set of statements concerned with curriculum design highlights adults' preference for single-concept/theory courses over survey courses; the ways adults deal with new ideas in conflict with their belief and value systems; adults' preference for self-directed and self-designed learning projects, multimedia learning experiences, and self-paced instruction; adults' need for how-to and application-oriented information; and positive responses to face-to-face, one-to-one access to an expert. The final section offers…

Burk, Jill Bridget; Lawton, Joseph T. (1985). Effects of Advance Organizer Instruction on Preschool Children's Social Problem-Solving Skills. The extent to which advance organizer instruction about social behavior could affect preschool children's social problem-solving abilities was investigated. The study followed a pretest, training, posttest, and delayed posttest format and included periods of observation of children's spontaneous social behaviors before, immediately following, and five weeks after instruction. An experimental group was formed of 20 preschoolers in a university's preschool lab, and a comparison group was formed of 20 children attending a community day care facility. Observers recorded the occurrence, sequence, and duration of single and simultaneous social interactions and vocalizations during free-play and snack-time situations at both schools. Target behaviors included cooperating, helping, sharing, taking turns, verbally resolving conflicts, and showing awareness of the feelings of others. Findings indicated that preschool children receiving advance organizer instruction on social problem solving… [PDF]

Dyson, Michael (2005). Australian Teacher Education: Although Reviewed to the Eyeball is There Evidence of Significant Change and Where to Now?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, v30 n1 Article 4 Feb. Teacher Education within Australia is once again on the cusp of further reviews at both State and Federal levels. This is in spite of frequent and invasive reviews and inquiries over the last 150 years of formal teacher education. Since the 1980s many reviews have been conducted with the intent of improving the quality of teacher education–in order to improve the learning outcomes for the pupils in the nation's schools. This paper examines some of the reviews and the emergent patterns as it follows the journey of teacher education from the 1850s to the present day. It highlights many of the recurring dilemmas and the frustrations of the educational community, which includes the following: Education versus Training; Theory versus Practice; Supply versus Demand and Profession versus skilled & competent practitioners. Perhaps it is now time to recognise the binaries that have continued to cause division and move beyond them into a new era based on mutual collaboration, acceptance… [PDF]

Liston, Louise (1982). Outdoor Unified Studies. Escalante (Utah) High School's outdoor unified studies field trip is a learning experience to be remembered. The four-day camping experience begins with pre-trip plans, pretests, and lecture/introductions to the Anasazi culture and to geologic formations to be visited. Horses (and equipment-carrying trucks) take the students into the desert to set up camp, then on to follow the Mountain Bench Trail to study photography, geology, native plant life and Indian ruins. On returning to camp, the horses are cared for, supper is fixed, and journals are kept before bed. The next day is filled with learning survival skills in the desert, riding horses to view ancient Anasazi petroglyphs, and sharing stories researched by the students on early Escalante history. The students feel a special togetherness; they learn to express their feelings in a Social Awareness unit taught by the District Community Education Director. Games are played, there is a difficult hike through Hole in the Rock to Lake…

Douglas, Nancy J.; Schwartz, Julia B. (1967). The Effects of Teacher In-Service Education on the Development of Art Ideas with Six-Year Old Culturally Deprived Children. Final Report. The purpose of this study was to determine (1) what effects a teacher who was helped to understand basic art ideas would have on the development of these ideas in culturally deprived 6-year-olds, as expressed in their verbal language and in their art products in clay, and (2) whether or not there would be a difference in the development of these ideas in Negro and white children and their teachers. Subjects were 110 children and four teachers. There were four groups: white control, white experimental, Negro control, and Negro experimental. Experimental teachers were instructed in four basic art criteria for visual materials: (1) what it was, (2) who did it, (3) how he did it, and (4) whether he could do it with another material. Seven sharing sessions were taped and rated. The experimental groups exceeded the control groups in verbalization on all criteria and for all sessions. The white groups exceeded the Negro groups on all sessions and on all criteria. In the clay products… [PDF]

Smitheran, Joyce (1973). The Resource Development Concept: Institutional Resources. Resource Paper No. 1. Community colleges have four primary resources: income, faculty and staff, the physical plant, and students. This document recommends methods of taking a hard look at the ways in which these resources are and can be utilized. The budgeting structure must be thoroughly examined to determine the extent to which it is flexible and to which it provides incentives for departmental savings. Faculty fellowships should be provided for concentration on specific projects; this saves money for the institution in that the project is usually completed in a shorter period of time and is better planned than if developed on a catch-as-catch-can basis. Noted faculty members should be shared between institutions with the home institution paying the salary–this provides new faces and new ideas at a time when faculty are not turning over, and occasionally gives the teacher the feeling that the home institution is not so bad after all. Institutions should increasingly share facilities and… [PDF]

Christian, Roger W. (1975). The Electronic Library: Bibliographic Data Bases 1975-76. Computer-based bibliographic services are a response to a combination of trends and developments that are forcing major changes in the way libraries operate. With the financial encouragement of the National Science Foundation's Office of Science Information Service, there are now at least 40 abstracting and indexing services covering scientific and technical literature, as well as over 100 distinct data bases available for computer searching. Data bases offer many benefits to their users, but shortcomings also exist in the form of high costs and the continuing need to locate the full texts of documents cited in the data base. The data base industry consists of three major sections: the publishers of data bases; the organizations which provide access to those bases; and the users, mainly academic and special libraries. The industry faces a number of challenging problems, including redundant coverage of the core literature, copyright complications, and equipment malfunctions, but…

Stanford, Edward B. (1970). MINITEX (Minnesota Interlibrary Teletype Experiment); Report Covering the First 18 Months of Project Operation, January 1, 1969 through June 30, 1970… In 1968, a two-year pilot project, called the Minnesota Interlibrary Teletype Experiment (MINITEX) was undertaken to test the feasibility of sharing the University of Minnesota's library resources with patrons of outstate libraries. This report presents the definitive evaluation for the MINITEX project. The four elements in the design of the experiment which are responsible for its success are: (1) The project's objectives were carefully defined and limited and thus were manageable, (2) By using TWX equipment MINITEX provided almost instant receipt of request data in a legible printed record, (3) By having personnel assigned exclusively to MINITEX service, the project staff could give its immediate and full-time attention to each request and (4) By selective use of postal service and United Parcel delivery, a daily pick-up at a designated hour moved materials to each requesting library without overnight delays. The report is divided into six sections: (1) Introduction and History of… [PDF]

Furner, Beatrice A. (1971). Creative Writing through Creative Dramatics. In considering reasons for employing creative dramatics as part of the input and motivation for an experience in creative written expression, it is important to consider the primacy of oral language over written language, especially for children. Drama involves talk, movement, and the involvement of self in expression which is outer-directed; writing tends to involve language which is more solitary and inner-directed. But talk and the exchange of ideas serve to create a need for expression; therefore, dramatic activity can be an effective form of exploration of a topic or problem prior to the act of writing. For instructional purposes, the tasks to be accomplished in a creative writing experience are broken into a methodological sequence: children's attention focuses on a broad topic in order to generate interest, ideas are exchanged to crystallize each child's thinking, and then a writing period follows. In the writing period young children dictate their ideas to the teacher or,… [PDF]

Glover, John A. (1976). Increasing Creative Writing: Predicting the Unpredictable. This paper reviews earlier experiments in fostering creative expression in the writing of students at all educational levels, and presents an abstract of an experiment involving 81 students of educational psychology at Tennessee State University. Each wrote one essay per week, which was then rated for creativity on four scales (fluency, flexibility, elaboration, originality) by six judges. Subjects were divided into three groups, each receiving a different kind of reinforcement: (1) Group 1 subjects received points according to each subject's performance on each essay; (2) Group 2 received points as a group according to group's cumulative performance on each essay; (3) Group 3 subjects each received a fixed number of points regardless of scores on essays. Results were analyzed by a one-way analysis of covariance and the Scheffe' S multiple comparison technique. Examination of the results showed that: (1) both contingent reinforcement groups were significantly superior in terms of… [PDF]

Carroli, Piera (2001). Levels of Understanding of L2 Literary Texts under Repeated Readings: Factors Contributing to Readers' Processing of Second Language Literature and Their Learning Outcomes. This study investigated college students' levels of understanding of texts and reading processes, noting how they changed through a cycle of individual reading and writing followed by classroom comparison of students' responses, text re-reading, and re-writing. The study, which followed 17 students of continuing Italian over 6 weeks, involved phenomenography, hermeneutic pedagogy, second language (L2) reading approaches, and reader response and reception theory. Students repeatedly read a short story, then subsequently read two related short stories by the same author. Personal data gathered via a questionnaire at the beginning of the semester investigated students' background in first language (L1) literature and in other languages and attitudes toward L2 literacy studies. Overall, students with lower literacy competence reached higher levels of understanding of the text after class discussion. Repeated readings were effective in enhancing students' understanding of the text. This… [PDF]

Hassel, Bryan; Page, Barbara (2001). Charter School Facilities: Report from a National Survey of Charter Schools. This report presents survey findings about the U.S. charter school system that were collected from 280 schools in 19 states with over 80,000 students. The two-part report examines the responses to a short list of questions about facility costs and growth plans, and it explores information provided by a subset of schools (118 institutions) that completed longer survey instruments covering a wider range of questions about schools' facilities experiences and challenges. Among the findings are that the majority of charter schools in the survey lease their facilities, that fewer than one in seven charter schools receive \free\ facilities, and that the average cost for facilities is $191,553 or $690 per student. The study also found that charter school challenges may become more acute in coming years due to planned growth, that nearly six out of 10 responders indicated plans to expand their facilities, and that the average plan is for an increase in enrollment of 63 percent or higher. The… [PDF]

Ogden, David (2000). Report on Csrdweb.net as an On-Line Learning Community. The csrdweb.net Web site is a cross-lab initiative to pilot the use of Web-based profiles and e-mail discussion groups as tools to support networking among Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) schools. A Laboratory Network Program (LNP) project, the initiative used resources from all 10 regional educational laboratories (RELs) to develop and support the Web site in order to learn how, to what extent, and under what circumstances Web-based networking can contribute to the resources that assist CSRD schools. After one year, the cross-lab Web site development team learned several lessons about CSRD schools' use of the Web as a networking tool and about successful LNP collaboration. After highlighting some of the major findings, this report outlines the purpose of the site; the four main networking and resource sharing components; major activities undertaken by the REL planning team for the csrdweb.net pilot project; and next steps. Also included are a table of comparative… [PDF]

(2000). School Matters: Images for Reflecting and Planning. This document describes ways to facilitate reflection and planning in challenging areas of school reform. It outlines a process, \image-making,\ that is based on research conducted with high-poverty schools that made substantial reforms over time. Image-making helps initiate thoughtful dialogue among adults in the school community by using metaphors and visual images to bring to the forefront and make visible those experiences, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes that often have no forum for expression and dialogue. Such reflection can help group members understand how different members of the school community perceive important aspects of a school and can provide the language for talking about sensitive issues that people might not feel free to discuss. The guidelines include questions to help a community determine whether it is ready for such reflection and to offer detailed tips on preparing for small-group discussion. A seven-step imaging process is described that includes an… [PDF]