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To guarantee high-quality services, health professionals are required to successfully maintain their extensive knowledge base. M, health professionals are forced to consistently stay up-to-date in their field in which new knowledge is evolving continuously. Hence, there is a strong need for effective support during their lifelong, self-directed learning processes as a means of maintaining and updating medical-related expert knowledge. From the literature, self-organisation, -management, -assessment, and collaboration activities have been defined to be of high relevance for these learning processes. The increasing speed of technological development has led to the development of a plethora of digital tools with varying features aimed at supporting professionals in their self-directed learning. In light of the increased number of tools available, we aim to give orientation on some of the most popular tools available to support health and other professionals in their self-directed learning. Results show that three main categories of digital tools related to self-directed learning can be identified: reference-management systems, learn-and-test tools, and collaborating tools. Our results further show that within the current landscape, there is no one tool that covers all tasks related to self-directed learning. We conclude that one single digital tool, combining all the features supporting self-directed learning in one simple easy to use manner may better support health and other professionals in maintaining and updating their expert knowledge. Future development should focus in particular on suitable combinations of features supporting self-directed learning, as implemented within one tool. [For the complete proceedings, see ED608557.]

The first confirmed records of Vespa velutina (color form nigrithorax) in North America are provided along with a timeline of detections in the port city of Savannah GA, USA, an important Atlantic sea and rail port. This color form is the 'invasive' form that has spread throughout much of Europe since its accidental introduction into southern France in 2004. It has also spread into South Korea and Japan. A brief overview of its introduction and establishment in Europe and Asia is provided. Its biology as relevant to its detection in the USA, and its threat to both agriculture and native ecosystems are summarized. We give a brief description and color images of workers to aid in its identification and analyze sequence data for the mitochondrial COI gene to assess if the Savannah population originated either from invasive European, Korean, or Japanese populations, or from part of its native range. An initial genetic analysis supports the conclusion that the invasive population originates from a population in East Asia and not Europe. Further sequencing of the nuclear genome will be required to attribute the invasive population in North America to a specific location in East Asia. The sequenced mitochondrial COI gene matches accessions from individuals located in South Korea, Japan, and Zhejiang Province of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to examine how teachers enhance their knowledge of rational numbers focused on modeling problem tasks using multiple representations. The professional development summer institute and the follow-up Lesson Study (Lewis, 2002) throughout the academic year focused on engaging teachers in rational numbers and proportional reasoning problem solving tasks, exploring pedagogical strategies, utilizing mathematics tools and technology, and promoting connections in the elementary and middle school curricula. This research report has two aims: (1) identify ways in which focusing on modeling rational numbers with multiple representations impacted teachers' understanding of rational numbers and proportional reasoning concepts; and (2) examine what strategic competence (NRC, 2001) looks like in teachers as they learn to model rational numbers concepts using multiple models. [For the complete proceedings, see ED584829.]

A central concern for teacher educators is preparing future teachers who are not just equity-oriented but are able to teach equitably. Focusing on core practices of effective teaching is a step in this direction, but not enough. The relational and cultural nature of learning requires a disposition towards inclusion and practices that disrupt status hierarchies often organizing the exclusions of learning spaces. We present a case in which perceived violence pushed the limits of a version of responsive teaching that valorizes learning side-by-side with a child partner. This case makes an important contribution to broader conversations around the equitable enactment of high leverage core teaching practices, like responding to thinking instructionally, considered important for teacher and student learning.

Recognizing and appreciating culturally diverse views of what is best for children is important, as underscored by the views of childhood evident in early childhood education programs in China. Families and schools in modern China experience unique social and political pressures, the most obvious of which is the "one child policy," which runs counter to traditional cultural values and creates ambivalence among parents who must sacrifice personal happiness for the common good. Parents who grew up with several siblings are mandated to have only one child. These parents are concerned that their children are lonely and are missing opportunities to develop socially desirable behaviors, such as sharing. Schools attempt to counteract perceived overindulgence of only children by sparsely equipping toy shelves so children are encouraged to share, wait their turn, and negotiate with peers. Popular residential programs for children 2 to 6 years accommodate child care needs of working parents. Most early childhood teachers hold high school diplomas or degrees from programs equivalent to American junior colleges. Their preservice education focuses on the dramatic, performing, and visual arts and practical skills emphasized in early childhood programs. The Chinese educational philosophy is based on the belief that learning should occur through continual, careful shaping and molding and that creativity is demonstrated only after the child has perfected prescribed and approved performances. (KDFB)

This paper argues that the "old paradigm" in education is a collection of assumptions, beliefs, and values that underlie the workings of present-day schools. The old paradigm is based on the notion of education as a meritocratic enterprise, institutional rationality, the positivist approach to truth, commitment to efficiency, and schooling for the status quo. School restructuring has not occurred, because the dominant "business-as-usual" paradigm around which the school is organized is so strong any new program model eventually adopts the characteristic of the school organization that is in place. The bureaucratic ways in which schools are managed and organized constrain restructuring and serve a sorting function. The middle school concept and authentic assessment are examples of innovative models that disappeared from the school system because they were incorporated by the old paradigm. (LMI)

This paper looks at the international trend toward certification of sport coaches and, in particular, developments and obstacles toward certification in the United States. A look at developments abroad cites four common approaches to sport coaching certification with training falling into three focal areas: knowledge that is common to all sports, knowledge that is sport-specific, and practical experience. Representatives of each sport develop their own sport-specific curricula. Although standards may very from one country to another they are generally minimal. National coaching programs in other countries usually require no more than the equivalent of two days' work in class to coach inexperienced children and no more than 2-3 weeks work in class for certification to coach Olympic-level athletes. Following sections discuss the basic knowledge needs of coaches, their technological knowledge and skill needs, and their traditional conservatism and fear of technology. A discussion of concerns in developing an American certification program notes that physical educators are a major force in shaping certification efforts, and that realistic guidelines are needed as well as applied coach education programs for certification. A final section describes the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and its proposed standards currently under discussion. Contains 38 references. (JB)

This 3-year longitudinal study tracked the 2 parenting variables of behavioral control and responsiveness in parents' relationships with adolescent children. The four family types involved in the study were those in which: (1) adolescents had transitioned into a mother-custody household (93 families); (2) adolescents had transitioned into a stepfather household (72 families); (3) adolescents remained in a nondivorced household (317 families); and (4) adolescents remained in a mother-custody household (267 families). In the fall of each year, students completed a self-report questionnaire that included a 15-item behavioral control scale and a 12-item parental responsiveness scale. Analysis revealed that, except for those who had transitioned into a stepfather household, adolescents reported significant declines in behavioral control. African-American adolescents reported the highest levels of behavioral control in all family types. No significant changes were reported in parental responsiveness. The lowest levels of parental responsiveness were reported within Asian-American households. Findings suggest that, for the adolescent child, perceptions of parenting practices are not significantly mediated by changes in family context. (MM)

This paper focuses on the development of a counseling intervention for use with youth in managing their anger. The anger-management materials described combine elements of a cognitive-behavioral approach with a process orientation to help at-risk youth maintain a career. It is noted that students are taught a strategy for dealing with anger and that, through a series of activities, students move from a controlled situation with scaffolding provided by the teacher to an internalization of the strategy. The strategy presented is called CALMER, with each letter of the name representing a step for students in managing their anger: (1) C stands for Check that there is a problem; (2) A means Assess the problem; (3) L is for Listing the possible solutions; (4) M means Make a choice; (5) E represents Evaluate; and (6) R stands for Repeat-if-necessary. Student activities that involve the strategy include brainstorming, discussion groups, making posters, and role-playing. Three evaluations of the counseling intervention have been completed and are reported in this paper--two in individual counseling situations and one in a small-group setting. The evaluations note that, in each case, the students showed evidence of learning the strategy and also of the ability to employ the anger-control procedures in the classroom setting. Anecdotal evidence from tape transcripts are used to illustrate specific instances of the counseling intervention's utility. (Author/NB)

This paper extends part of a study conducted by the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning on perceptions of college faculty members regarding their work. This study extends the analysis to include the attitudes of faculty at an academic health center (the University of Mississippi Medical Center). The study used a modified version of the "Faculty at Work" instrument containing questions in the areas of: (1) attributes of valued faculty members; (2) faculty influence on matters important to their work; and (3) perceptions of the campus environment. Responses by 250 faculty members (a 50% response) were compared to those in the original study. The study found no relationship between the rankings of academic health center faculty and liberal arts faculty; no relationship in the rankings of the values and attitudes characteristic of valued faculty members; far more emphasis given to publishing as important for the liberal arts faculty; similarity in valued personality characteristics; significant differences between the two groups on items involving the campus environment; and significant differences between groups in the perception of degree of faculty influence over various outcomes. Results suggest the existence of a separate culture of academic health center faculty. Includes 10 references. (DB)

This paper examines the family vacation as a common leisure experience, with emphasis on the rise of the theme park. Theme parks, designed to enable parents to entertain everyone in the family with minimal frustration in organization and application, provide a single-price, inside-the-gate, complete experience. In 1955, Disneyland opened in southern California; due to technological advances, today it represents the past. Disney World (in Florida), which represents the present, recognizing that children are well served in all theme parks, pioneered in dults as well. Jurassic Park represents the fictitious future, the major change being in entertainment (live dinosaurs). Biological and electronic technologies have combined to produce live dinosaur clones. What is absent, however, is hands-on excitement. The leisure challenge presents the following problems: (l) people have very little time to play; people forget how to play; and they even forget what play is; and (2) play has become too structured; it is completely rule-bound and calls for little imagination. Visitors to theme parks tend to conform to the technology with unquestioned acceptance. The leisure-oriented solution would be to: learn to use technology, rather than just react to it; be innovative and creative in approaching leisure options; and use technology as an asset. (LL)

This paper deals with growing ethical dilemmas in sport as technology advances. Three aspects of sport are discussed: (l) the perpetual conflict between process (training) and product (the actual contest); (2) technophobia, the fear of the new world of technology; and (3) "technosport" or technological training. It is necessary to understand that sport technology requires an ethical foundation, rather than a philosophy of win at any price. Because of such practices as genetic engineering and drug use among athletes to improve performance, decisions must be made on ethical standards and basic rules. Rules set ethical judgments and tell athletes how much is too much and what cannot be done to win. It is not possible to wait until problems become glaring in order to deal with the implications of technology for sport. Sport success should not be simply a matter of who can spend the greatest amount of money and time to train, nor of who is willing to take the most chances with their future health by abusing their body with overtraining or drugs. The public expects schools to teach right conduct and should expect the same of the sports system. (LL)

The transsexual has numerous problems in the area of voice and diction. Some are subjective, such as quality, while others are objective and measurable, such as intensity, but all lend themselves to speech therapy. The speech clinician can help with problems involving pitch, quality, resonance articulation, vocabulary, and inflection. The absence of a feminine self-image among recent female transsexuals compounds the voice and diction difficulties. Speech therapists are not psycho-therapists and must realize, as most of them do, that help in the area of self-image is not in their province. But a solution to voice and diction problems can lead to a more favorable self-image among transsexuals adapting to a new role. (RB)

William Stephenson's Q methodology has been linked to the future of communications research by some and condemned as treacherous by others. This study reviews the uses of Q in published mass communications research over the past 20 years. The survey found 30 mass communications studies published in English in the scholarly journals related to mass communications from 1953 to 1972. The studies used four Q techniques: (1) the Traditional Sort; (2) the Modified Free Sort; (3) a "MacLean variation," testing objects rather than persons; and (4) Q Factor Analysis. The studies were critiqued individually for their performance in five methodological areas; basic considerations, item selection, subject selection, distribution design, and analytic treatment of data. The results suggest that item design and support for the choice of distribution shape are trouble spots in the use of Q for communications research to date. (Author/TO)

A promising area in educational research is the application of techniques of literary criticism to curriculum theory. Kenneth Burke's dramatistic system clarifies the five sources of motives in the drama--purpose, agency, scene, agent, and act. This pentad creates a possibly fruitful model that highlights the drama of the classroom. Contrasting three long recognized orientations in education--knowledge transmission, socialization, self actualization--with Burke's taxonomy highlights the ways in which the three frames of reference shape various dramatic situations. This dramatistic interpretation provides additional perspectives that appear to clarify and enrich analysis of the educational process. (Author)

In the last fifteen years revisionists have attacked the ascendency of Ellwood P. Cubberly, and his pietistic picture of the public school, with historical perspectives that relegate public education to being one of many educational functions in American culture and with the view that public schools "miseducate" the American people. Neither provides the constructive conceptual framework that modernization -- the accelerated interaction of long term trends such as urbanization, the centralizing power of the nation-state, and racial and ethnic integration -- does. Such a framework might be the first corrective for the revisionism of the 50's and 60's. The second, a re-examination of the role of organized schooling in social change, should focus on the institutional history of education. The third requires a more sedulous view of the history of American education in comparative and international perspective as a phase of the modernization of Western civilization. The fourth corrective must be attention to the role of organized public education in building a political community in the United States, a traditional role for public education, but one long overlooked by educational historians. (JH)

This paper examines the freedom of government officials to critically evaluate public policies and programs during the Nixon Administration, and surveys the role of free speech in effective intragovernmental decision making and in President Nixon's style of leadership. It argues that freedom of expression was significantly restricted within the Nixon Administration during the formulation of both domestic and foreign policy. (Author)

This report describes the methods and instruments used by the New York City Infant Day Care Study to measure: (1) the functional status of infant day care families over time and (2) the relationship of those families to existing infant day care programs and to their communities. Background information on the development and theoretical basis of the project are discussed briefly. Longitudinal data on infant day care families were collected through interviews using two parallel forms of the Profile of Family Functioning (one for two-parent families and another for single parents), administered three times during program participation (at program entry, three months later, and at program termination). (ED)

The organization of amateur sports around the school and university system is a uniquely American administrative structure. This paper traces the developmental patterns leading to the emergence of sports-governing bodies such as the Amateur Athletic Union, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. Attention is paid to the relationship between social values and competitive endeavour. The transformation of college-level athletics into "big business" is discussed, and the roles of minority group and female athletes are explored. Material is included regarding the interaction between amateur sports, the role of school and/or university as a governing agency, and the emergence of physical education as a legitimate field of study. (LH)

A study of the problems ensuing from the growth of intercollegiate athletics during the 1920's into monumental fund-raising events reveals striking social parallels between that time and the present day. This paper examines the social and economic conditions that contributed to the "sports boom" of the Twenties and comments on the similarities found in the attitudes and approaches of modern-day varsity athletics personnel. The impact of disproportionate emphasis on competition on the development of physical education is discussed. Negative results of the changed attitude towards amateur sports with regard to educational quality, admissions standards, and national philosophy are also considered. The appropriate place of athletic programs in the college curriculum is debated, and the history of women's sports in the 1920's is briefly mentioned. (LH)

In the context of recent reappraisals of women's education and discussions about what it should be, and as part of the effort to clarify the purposes of collegiate education that may be unique to women, the students and faculty at Smith College, the largest undergraduate college for women, were surveyed. The questionnaire used was designed to explore the appeal to various rationales for the existence of separate women's colleges. The results of the survey are presented in summary tables, and the discussion centers on the most popular purpose for this population: "to encourage women to create their own self-identities." The specific issue addressed is whether or not this purpose requires abandonment of the traditional aims of liberal arts education. The conclusion of the authors is that it does not, although it calls for a redefinition of what constitutes the highest levels of development for women. Several other statements of purpose such as preparation for careers and encouraging achievement in women are discussed briefly. A compensatory model for women's education is questioned on both ethical and logical grounds. (Author/MSE)

Kathleen Blake Watkins Coleman, known to her readers as "Kit," was a late nineteenth-century journalist who tried to escape the limitations of the woman's sphere in journalism through travel writing, while still complying with the expectation that she describe her adventures from a "woman's point of view." Among her many accomplishments, "Kit" went to Cuba to cover the Spanish-American war for the Toronto "Mail and Empire," a stunt the newspaper hoped would boost circulation. Coleman's work in Cuba was recognized because of her determination to overcome almost insurmountable opposition by American authorities and many male colleagues who refused to recognize her as a professional and allow her to travel with the troops as most correspondents did. She was pressured to produce stories from a woman's angle, which meant that her work was seen as marginal. It also appears that her newspaper did not pay her full remuneration for her services. While (like her male colleagues) paying some lip service to American military interests, "Kit" was able to condemn the war from a "female" perspective--expressing concern, for example, for the soldiers on all sides of the conflict. "Kit's" enduring appeal throughout her 25 years as Canada's most successful woman journalist was due to her combination of "masculine" and "feminine" characteristics--she was outspoken, intellectual, emotional, and maternal. (Seventy-five notes are included.) (SR)

This paper describes the results of a survey of teacher education faculty that was prompted by efforts to make educational beliefs an explicit component of the curricula of teacher preparation programs at Michigan State University. The analysis sought to determine: (1) the extent to which faculty agree on the ways beliefs should be shaped within a given program; and (2) the level of variation in how beliefs are covered within and between programs. An analysis of the results suggested that teacher preparation programs have a limited influence on teachers' orientations and beliefs. This is attributed to: (1) a frequent lack of agreement among program faculty as the ways in which beliefs should be shaped; and/or (2) faculty's collective failure to challenge inappropriate prevailing beliefs or to encourage students to form their own opinions on certain educational issues. There was clear evidence of the need to make educational beliefs an explicit, rather than implicit, component of teacher education curricula. (JD)

A study investigated the relation of text structure to information retained by readers. The premise investigated was that memory for the central facts of a passage will be enhanced by the presence of related information as theorized in the encoding elaboration model (developed by Anderson and Reder in 1979). This model states that comprehension and memorability are dependent on the process of elaboration that takes place during reading. Subjects, 64 sixth grade students from three classes at one elementary school, participated in two experimental sessions and were instructed to read to remember (the selection was about Abraham Lincoln), and be able to write the information contained in the passage. The reading-study session lasted for 20 minutes. Then the passage was collected and the subjects were instructed to write everything they could remember. The recall session lasted 15 minutes. Three days later, in an unannounced session, the subjects were asked to recall everything they had learned from the passage and write everything they could remember. The subjects were given 20 minutes to write. The immediate and delayed recalls were scored for the presence or absence of the 18 central facts. The results fulfilled the expectations of the model and indicated a strong support for the hypothesis that memory for the central facts of a passage is enhanced by the presence of related information. Examination of the immediate and delayed mean recall levels showed a reduced attrition rate for central facts supported by details compared to unsupported central facts. (Two tables of data and 13 references are attached.) (RAE)

Proceedings of a conference on educational assessment are presented. A speech accompanying presentations of the 1987 Educational Testing Service Award for Distinguished Service to Measurement and a list of winners of that annual award from 1970 to 1987 are included. The nine papers provided include: (1) "How Assessment Can Best Serve Teaching and Learning" (Bill Honig); (2) "Progress in Measurement, Cognitive Science, and Technology That Can Change the Relation between Instruction and Assessment" (Richard E. Snow); (3) "Testing in the Service of Learning Science: Learning-Assessment Systems That Promote Educational Excellence and Equality" (Joseph I. Lipson); (4) "Cognitive and Environmental Perspectives on Assessing Achievement" (Robert Glaser); (5) "The Teacher's Role in Using Assessment To Improve Learning" (Robert Calfee and Elfrieda Hiebert); (6) "The Wedding of Instruction and Assessment in the Classroom" (Margaret C. Wang); (7) "The Integration of Instruction and Assessment in Technical Jobs" (Alan Lesgold); (8) "Assessing Technical Expertise in Today's Work Environments" (Sherrie P. Gott); and (9) "A Realist's Appraisal of the Prospects for Unifying Instruction and Assessment" (Nancy S. Cole). (TJH)

During the last 2 years, private school growth in the Millard Public School District (Omaha, Nebraska) exceeded that of public schools. This paper presents findings of a study that examined why parents in the Millard Public School District enrolled their children in private schools. A survey sent to 1,107 parents of private school students elicited 384 returns. Religious instruction (293 responses) and strict discipline policies (n=145) topped the list of things that parents said they were seeking in private schools. Parents reported that they sent their children to private schools in order to avoid the lack of strict discipline, lack of parent-approved values, sex education, and certain aspects of curriculum and instruction in the public schools. Some categories of responses were significantly different across groups defined by grade-level of instruction and by Catholic versus non-Catholic school of choice. Five tables are included. Appendices contain a copy of the survey instrument, coding categories, and a review of empirical research on private-school choice. (LMI)

The development of a project to assess the effectiveness of schools in a large urban school district is described in this paper, with a focus on improving the validity of school effectiveness instruments. Purposes of the project were to develop a methodology for reporting effective school strategies and to generate a broader profile of schools' strengths and weaknesses. The steps taken to develop the instrument included: (1) the formation of a steering committee, which conducted a literature review and identified 11 characteristics of effective schools; (2) the development of surveys based on those characteristics; (3) a pilot test and revision of parent, teacher, and student instruments; and (4) a more extensive study, which analyzed 1,474 teacher, 5,889 parent, and 8,397 student instruments. A Spanish version was also pilot tested. An outcome was that 60 schools chose to use the instruments as a primary data source for strategic planning. Two tables present the results of the questionnaire data analysis. (LMI)

Seven historical purposes have been proclaimed in American education since the turn of the century. The four familiar purposes are the American "quadrivium." They lead in different directions: one leads to academic discipline, one to social efficiency, a third to individual development, and the fourth to vocational competence. The three more recent purposes are much more controversial, much more complicated, and, in some respects, more fundamental. Education is being called on to aid in the American peoples' renewed search for their three most cherished ideals--liberty, equality, and justice (or, political community). These are the new "trivium." The greatest need for improvement at all levels of education for the next quarter of a century lies in the intensified search for education's role in relating freedom, equality, and community. Of these, the very highest priority should be given to the search for a viable, inclusive, and just political community. If the school would take seriously the authority of the enduring ideals, sentiments, and moral commitments of our political community as embodied in the constitutional regime and especially in the Bill of Rights, the schools and colleges could help society put into practice our professed democratic ideals. (Author/IRT)

The paper describes procedures that may be used by educational teams to obtain and organize formal and informal data regarding children's primary language skills. The procedures are explained to involve attention to linguistic components, linguistic processes, and the referential or conceptual system represented by observable language behavior. Procedures are also noted to emphasize the need for interdisciplinary cooperation and to be adaptable to future developments related to speech-language assessment. (Author/SBH)

The research reported in this paper identifies the "core curriculum" and "optional curriculum" suggested by widely used textbooks of elementary school mathematics and describes the influence of each on teacher autonomy in selecting the content of instruction. Preliminary analyses suggest that the "core curriculum" is generally consistent with recent educational trends, while the freedom of choice suggested by the "optional curriculum" seems to demand a high level of mathematics expertise on the part of teachers. (Author)

This study was designed to provide descriptions of employment histories experienced by graduates of five different student teaching programs. These field programs were regular, cluster, overseas, elementary interns, and competency based. Differences between these programs are identified and analyzed. Subjects of the survey were graduates of Michigan State University. The survey sought to identify trends in employment opportunities and to determine the comparative impact of the selected student teaching programs on the subsequent employment histories of program graduates. Results of the survey are presented in both tabular and narrative form, and a discussion of the relative values of the programs and implications for future program development is included. (JD)

Adaptation to college by first year university students (N=71), who were exposed to orientation programs which varied the amount of perceived competence and perceived control felt by the student in interpersonal problem situations, was investigated. Skills taught in the four treatment conditions were the basics of assertive behavior, self-confidence development, and relaxation training. Adjustment of the treatment and baseline comparison subjects was monitored with questionnaires, interviews with a trained clinician, and grade point averages. Subjects' evaluation of the skills taught indicated that only those who received both the competence and control enhancing interventions found more places to use the skills and felt more confident about using the skills. Independent assessments of social adjustment made 10-12 weeks after the sessions and improvements in grade point average also showed the superiority of the competence enhanced-control group. The other treatment groups fared no better than the baseline comparison groups. (Author)

The strengths and weaknesses of industrial cooperative education at Macomb County Community College in Michigan are discussed. A survey was conducted of 481 students who participated in the cooperative program during the years 1970 through 1975. A sample of 731 other students who took some of the same courses during that time was also surveyed. Data were also collected from employers who knew students from both programs. Fifty-one percent of the former students and 44 percent of the employers responded. Their responses were analyzed with the use of tests of significance and descriptive statistics. Cooperative program students were more likely to complete their studies, secure full-time program-related jobs, and to be rated by their employers as efficient. The results confirm the belief of the program administrators and staff that industrial cooperative education at the college has been successful. Recruiting students and employers for the program has become easier. It is also suggested that the success of the program has helped the college acquire and maintain grants. (Author/SF)

Examined were the effects of number of stimuli and of two different stimulus modalities on the discrimination learning of 17 autistic children (mean age 57 months). Discrimination training was carried out in three groups with varied light and sound stimuli. Among findings was that mental age was negatively correlated with trials to criterion and positively correlated with response rate. (CL)

The study compared the behavior of 61 preschool autistic children with that of 35 retarded children matched for mental age and 30 normal children matched for chronological age. Ss were rated on a 67 item Behavior Observation Scale during three free play sessions. Among findings were that six behaviors (grimace/gesticulation, echolalic speech, object sniffing, eye contact, the use of objects to generate stimuli, and object spinning) distinguished the high IQ (over 70 on performance IQ test) autistic group from the normal group, and that six behaviors (eye contact, repetitive jumping, leading adult by hand, echolalic speech, hand sniffing, and motility of response to stmulus) differentiated the low IQ autistic group from the retarded group. It was concluded that it is possible to discriminate among the study groups by objectively coding their behaviors. (PHR)

Researchers looked at participation in decision-making as perceived by 2,056 teachers, principals, central office personnel, and superintendents in Tennessee. They also looked at both satisfaction in relation to six decision categories and attitudes toward unionization. Teachers' self-perceptions of participation in policy decision-making generally were at lower levels than self-perceptions of principals and central office staff. Satisfaction with decision-making was moderately high for all respondents with principals indicating the highest satisfaction levels overall. All respondent groups indicated a moderate to high willingness to participate in collective action with teachers having the highest militancy levels. Correlations between satisfaction, participation, and militancy implied that there are ingredients other than participation in key decisions that affect teachers' satisfaction levels and willingness to unionize. Investigators visualize followup studies in the same school districts. Information on this issue may determine future action and strategy for teachers and managers. (Author)

During 1977-78 the refinement of a comprehensive investment model for higher education institutions in Michigan involved data collection and analysis. The best available data were solicited from a number of states and individual institutions for the refinement of the staffing ratios and costs of instruction in the model. Data were provided by 15 state systems and 40 additional individual institutions. The structure, focus, definitions, and other characteristics of cost and/or workload data varied considerably among the institutions. The analysis of the data resulted in two matrices: "Student Credit Hours/Full-Time Equivalent Faculty by Discipline and Level" and "Cost per Student Credit Hour by Discipline and Level." Because of the difficulty of comparing data from one institution or state with another, the information should be used with reservations. Despite efforts by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems to promote commonality of data, many institutions have not internalized their tools. An outline is presented of the various forms under which the data were submitted, and a discussion is provided of the procedures used to aggregate and disaggregate the data to make it usable. Implications of data analysis and a commentary on the state of the art of cost analysis and work load measurement among states and individual institutions are discussed. (SW)

Missouri requires the testing of all eighth grade students on their competence in reading and language arts, mathematics, and government and economics. This statewide assessment is referred to as the Missouri Basic Essential Skills Test (BEST) and has been given in the spring of each year since 1978. A study was undertaken to determine which characteristics of school districts correlate most clearly with student success on the BEST tests. The educational production function conceptual model was used. This model assumes that measured school output is a function of students' out-of-school environment, their in-school environment, and peer characteristics. Fifteen predictor variables suited to the model were selected, including financial and demographic characteristics of districts, school sizes and staffing levels, and results of tests of reading and mathematics skills at lower grade levels. Regression analysis revealed that a significant relationship exists between school district characteristics and student performance. Variables of particular importance included number of students of a low socioeconomic background, average daily attendance percentages, reading scores at lower grade levels, assessed valuation in the community, and the urban or rural nature of the district. In-school environmental characteristics proved of little predictive value. (Author/PGD)

A study was conducted at a multicampus community college in Michigan to determine the role orientation of full- and part-time occupational faculty. In addition to collecting demographic data, the study sought to determine whether faculty were locals, characterized by a high level of loyalty to the organization and a low commitment to specialized role skills; cosmopolitans, in whom the levels of loyalty and commitment are reversed; or local-cosmopolitans, belonging to an intermediate category. The study population included 105 full-time faculty members and 193 part-time faculty members in the allied health, business/public service, and industrial technology divisions. Analyses of the responses from 89% of the full-time and 67% of the part-time instructors revealed that part-time faculty identified with the organization more than the literature suggested, indicating, perhaps, high levels of goal realization among this group. Likewise, expectations that full-time faculty would be locals and part-time faculty would be cosmopolitans were not borne out. The loyalty and expertise needed in the institution appeared to be balanced in the two groups. The study report reviews the literature on part-time faculty, discusses cosmopolitan/local theory and its application in previous studies, details study methodology and findings, and provides recommendations for further research. The survey instrument and an extensive bibliography are appended. (Author/HB)

This paper describes the steps necessary for starting a cooperative education program for English majors. Though not all English majors can use cooperative education to advantage, such a program is an educational alternative that allows people who have no definite career goals to develop job opportunities while staying in school. Sample forms used in a cooperative education program are included. (RL)

Many teachers use grades as a weapon or a defense--not as the powerful learning tool they can be. A grading system in which students write papers over and over until they are fully acceptable, and in which they earn checkmarks for each piece of work accepted, serves as a powerful motivator. The checkmark system adheres to six primary learning principles: the problem--in this case, to write acceptable papers--appears genuine to students; motivation is intense and continuous; students know their rate of progress; they are not permitted to develop incorrect habits; they face challenges and successfully reach goals; and they work at their own individual speeds. Although the number of papers handled by teachers increases with this method, it is easier for teachers to grade the papers, since the emphasis is on helping students improve their work rather than on justifying an assigned grade; and although problems may arise that must be worked out by teachers, this grading system, on the whole has great advantages for both teachers and students. (GW)

The Bay Area and The World (BAATW) Project and the Bay Area Global Education Program (BAGEP), two formal structures that form part of a coalition to make citizens more aware of the world's interdependence, are discussed. The historical background of these organizations and the initiation of the coalition are recounted. A listing is provided of the coalition's strengths that should be looked for in other coalition building efforts. A chart illustrates the current structure of the coalition. The current program is described as: (1) identification of Bay Area links to the world; (2) development of curricular guides for international education; (3) preparation of a design of major training institutes focused on Asia, Africa, and Latin America; (4) leadership development; (5) overseeing resource allocation; and (6) generating new resources. A description is given of early problems faced by the coalition and ways in which these problems were solved. An appraisal is presented of the current issues facing the coalition, including the determination of appropriate functions and rewards for the individual member organizations, methods of expanding, and long-term funding. Future functions and activities of the coalition are considered. (JD)

A Multiphase Rolling Plan (MRP) implemented by the State University of New York to deal with declining percentages of state tax resources and projections for stabilized enrollments is described. For the preliminary budget cycle for fiscal year 1982-1983, academic and mission plans were linked to the annual budgeting process. Developed to ensure the consideration of academic, fiscal, and political criteria in institutional plans and budgets, MRP was organized along three major dimensions: intercampus program changes, intercampus affiliations and trades, and campus mission changes and system reconfiguration. Among the critical concepts of the plan are the following: meshing planning and budgeting; 5-year rolling horizon; systemwide configuration and options; strengthening the quality of the system; and campus planning essential to system planning. At the present time, 34 state-operated/funded campuses are included in every aspect of MRP's detailed processes. These campuses were provided a comprehensive preliminary budget package that contained historical 1975 and 1980 data, and that required from the campuses 1982 budget request information along with projections for 1985. Linking planning to the actual budget in the system and the campuses was based on strong executive leadership and a committee network and informal supporting subcommittees. The official budget and planning document forwarded to the campuses contained 15 schedules, 8 of which are listed. Three major systems that were used in supporting the preliminary budget process were the Course and Section Analysis System, the Student Data File, and the Academic Program Information System. Eight conditions and fluid relationships that characterize institutional research are also outlined. (SW)

The development and implementation of an information system concerning full-time faculty are described. The system originated as a direct result of the need to complete the full-time faculty salaries, tenure, and fringe benefits section of the annual Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) report. This approach uses computer analysis as the methodological base for form completion. Attention is directed to the design of the system, its methodology, and its use. Copies of the survey form, code schematic, and computer analysis program are included to allow for replication. Eighteen data categories were designated as information needed to complete a wide range of internal and external requests for data about full-time faculty. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data. This information system permits timely and accurate reporting using minimal resources and can help the office of institutional research keep academic and administrative officers well-informed. Data concerning faculty rank, gender, age, and degree earned are items frequently requested by peer institutions, government, and accrediting agencies. The system provides information concerning salaries and tenure of faculty holding 9-month and 12-month contracts. Salary information is presented according to rank for each gender. Information is also presented by departments, school, or campus on tenure status, and fringe benefits for full-time faculty. A sample HEGIS form (HEGIS XVI) is appended. (SW)

Definitions of communicative competence and research on developing communicative competence in a second language are reviewed and implications for teaching are discussed. Communicative competence refers not only to knowledge of the forms of a language but to their functions and appropriate use in context. Five areas of communicative competence are identified: linguistic rules, speech acts, propositional content, interactional patterns, and strategic competence. The research in each of these areas is reviewed. Ten general instructional principles derived from the research are offered that focus on such factors as use of polite forms, practice with communicative strategies, opportunity to use the language, error analysis and correction, understanding of the students' reasons for learning the language, and the teacher's enthusiasm for the language. In conclusion, teachers should attempt to communicate their enthusiasm while understanding the realistic limitations of their task of teaching a second language. References are appended. (RW)

Medical documentation is a form of writing rich with possibilities for composition instructors, for example, for instructors in two-year colleges teaching writing skills to practical nursing students. It is also a form of writing which could benefit dramatically from the application of recent composition research. Few medical documentation texts exist; most medical documentation learning takes place in clinical experience or on the job. Poor medical documentation can be dangerous, costly, and have legal ramifications since a patient's medical record constitutes a legal document. Critical observation is crucial to good medical documentation (especially in charting). Composition instructors already teach many of the same critical thinking skills that medical documentation requires. Close attention to the recording skills most useful to nurses would offer much the same improvement that research has provided composition instruction. (A selected annotated bibliography of 5 books and 12 articles on the subject is appended.) (SR)

To provide an understanding of the current controversial issues about civic education in U.S. schools, the historical interrelationships of schools, communities, and families and their bearings on civic education revolve around three basic themes in U.S. history. These themes are: (1) the cohesive value claims of a democratic political community; (2) the pluralistic value claims that have sought to preserve individual freedoms and respect the diversity of families and communities; and (3) the modernizing trends that characterize many Western societies. From 1620 to 1820, religion and work overshadowed the civic goal of republican citizenship as the prime purpose of education. In the century from the 1820s to the 1920s, the civic ideals of the United States were often submerged by the confrontation between modernization and pluralism. The 50 year span of the 1920s to the 1970s raised doubts about public education and gave a critical importance to a reassessment of the civic role of schools, communities, and homes in U.S. life. For education in the 1980s, the primary focus of civic study should be the preparation for citizenship in a pluralistic democracy and include ideas that promote cohesion, unity, pluralism, and individualism. The programs of civic education should not be decided only by special interest groups, such as government agencies, voluntarily organized groups, and religious groups but should include public leaders, scholars, and teachers. (DJC)