A scale designed to measure teachers' generalized expectations for internal-external control over student success and failure in the classroom is described. Validation studies indicated that the scale predicted teachers' behaviors in the classroom, including their willingness to adopt new instructional techniques. (Author/JN)

A study of 65 seventh grade students indicates that existing readability formulas should be used in combination with measures of syntactic complexity to assess levels of passage difficulty for students who appear to have difficulty in reading comprehension. (JD)

A study examining the differences between the linguistic cue use of learning disabled students and their nonhandicapped peers indicates that some learning disabled children may benefit from help in the use of context as a word recognition strategy. (JD)

Because teachers' oral directions for group achievement tests assume that children understand numerous basic concepts, the construct validity of subtests assessing abilities other than language is questionable. Implications for teacher administration of primary level tests and suggestions for future test construction are described. (JD)

A question is raised as to how much emphasis should be placed on the use of technical terminology in lectures, reading assignments, and tests, particularly in introductory college courses, if all that is facilitated pertains to factual recall. (JD)

In a study of seventh graders playing concept and skill games in mathematics, it was found that grouping students according to prior achievement did not make a major difference in their learning. (JD)

A review of research articles published in educational journals revealed that while psychoeducational research from 1910 to 1950 tended to be descriptive, the current trend is toward empirical generalization. (JD)

It was found that teachers who have frequent contacts with parents were more likely to feel responsible for initiating contact and comfortable about meeting parental expectations, but that they had less support from parents than other teachers. (JD)

A review of handwriting research conducted in the 1970s reveals that innovative statistical designs were being used, a large number of experimental studies were conducted, and there was increased emphasis on teaching handwriting to handicapped students. (JD)

Young children exhibit improved prospective memory when an external cue is used as a reminder. Children's attempts at prospective remembering may be an important precursor to the development of strategies for retrospective remembering. (JD)

Investigators observed time usage and teacher statements in 26 Chicago high schools and found a lower rate of time loss and a higher rate of positive comments by teachers in higher achieving schools. (Editor)

A model in-service education program in content area reading is described. Secondary content teachers changed their attitudes toward teaching reading in their classes, improved their knowledge of reading skills, and expanded their perception of their skill in teaching reading. (Editor)

No correlation was found between test scores and time to test completion in a study of psychology and chemistry students taking multiple-choice tests with no time restrictions. (Editor)

First-grade students made more accurate manuscript strokes on large-spaced paper than on regular-spaced paper. (Editor)

The use of high-level questions increased the high-and low-level understanding of fifth graders. Competitive environments produced significantly greater high-level understanding than did cooperative environments. (Editor)