Examined the actions of business leaders representing multinational corporations, the "MI-Roundtable," through observation and interviews as they tried to affect education policy in Michigan. That this group took a thoughtful approach and had a significant impact on education reform is no indication that other business groups will do the same.…

Explored the ways in which different predictors of school achievement interacted with factors related to adolescence and cultural adaptation in 4,288 children of immigrants from 9 ethnic categories. It was not possible to disaggregate the influence of cultural background. Cultural compatibility between each group and the school context appeared to…

Examined a variety of contentions about research genres by asking more than 100 teachers to read and discuss 5 examples of research, with each example representing a different research genre. Teachers' responses to these articles did not support any of the common contentions about research genres. (SLD)

Studied Comer's School Development Program (James P. Comer) in 23 middle schools in Prince George's County, Maryland. The study, involving repeated measurement with more than 12,000 students, shows that Comer schools implemented some of the program's central elements better than control schools did, but not all, or even most, of them. (SLD)

Comments on a study of Comer's School Development Model, indicating that the study, as conducted, was not a study of the model but a limited study of the effects of one application of the model's process. In addition, the evaluation was carried out over only 2 years for each group, when experience shows that at least 3 years are necessary to show…

Examined the effects of classroom-based performance assessment-driven instruction (PA) with 16 teachers randomly assigned to PA and no-Pa conditions. Results show PA-driven instruction can increase teachers' understanding of what PA is and how it might be used to improve mathematics instructional decisions. (SLD)

Describes the affective, volitional face of the zone of proximal development. Suggests that the interpersonal character of the zone of proximal development closely resembles a caring encounter. Shows links between caring and the notion of the con-construction of knowledge. (SLD)

Used data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study to examine relationships between 12 types of parent involvement and 8th-grade mathematics and reading scores. Results showed statistically significant differences in the relationship between parent involvement and student achievement according to race/ethnicity and family income, how…

Examined patterns in the relative risk of course failure and recovery from failure over the first four semesters of high school for students in the Chicago, Illinois, school system, showing how failure rates vary as a function of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and prior performance. Results for 27,612 students show that few recover from failure,…

A meta-analysis of 20 experiments examining incidental word learning during normal reading shows that students learn around 15% of the unknown words they encounter. Results suggest that several factors affect the probability of learning an unknown word. Presents a model of sensitivity to partial word knowledge. (Contains 66 references.) (SLD)

Used the National Education Longitudinal Study database to examine student and school factors associated with dropping out in different grades. Results show that the mix of student risk factors changes between early and late dropouts. School factors can account for approximately two-thirds of the difference in mean school dropout rates, but do not…

From the perspective of the field of adult literacy, the year 1999 is best seen not as the penultimate year of the millennium but as the year bookended by the reauthorization of the National Literacy Act in late 1998 and the National Literacy Summit of early 2000. Both of those events represent a huge milestone, and 1999 may be regarded as the…

In the field of adult education, there is much debate about how programs can best serve students. Some educators and researchers believe that adult education programs should reflect a critical pedagogy, providing services that are culturally relevant, participant driven, and socially empowering. Noncritical programs are criticized for ignoring the…

In Chapter Three, Marilyn Gillespie provides a summary of the research on writing instruction that has taken place over the last three decades. In her survey of writing research, she describes models of the writing process such as that developed by Flower and Hayes, who viewed writing as three cognitive writing processes: planning, text generation…

In this chapter, Stefan LoBuglio discusses the politics and practices of educational programs for adults in correctional facilities. To begin, LoBuglio provides an overview of the field of corrections, including various types of facilities and correctional programs, as well as demographic and educational data on the U.S. incarcerated population…