Students are often evaluated on the basis of their aggregate or average performance on diverse tasks in each school subject. When the target of prediction is such global measures as course grades, academic self-efficacy, too, should be able to reflect equivalent scope and generality to maximize its predictive utility. Academic self-efficacy in the…

This paper examines the implementation of an alternate block (A/B) schedule in three high schools in Irving, Texas. The purpose is to review how time was used in 48 randomly selected high school Algebra 1, Biology 1, English 2, and U.S. History classes. Of the 48 classes, 12 observations were conducted for each course. The findings revealed a…

The Precollege Summer Camp Opportunity for Potential Educators (SCOPE) project was a minority recruitment and retention program designed to attract academically challenged tenth and eleventh grade students into teaching careers in mathematics and science. This three-year project offered a six-week summer camp for 50 precollege minority students in…

This publication presents the Report on Academic Performance of High School Graduates in Arizona for the fiscal year 1998-1999. This report contains an Arizona Statewide Summary and District Summaries for: (1) Cochise County Community College District; (2) Coconino County Community College District; (3) Graham County Community College District,…

This action research project examined the impact of organizational and motivational strategies to increase homework completion among high school students. Participating were high school algebra and biology students in a midwestern, suburban city. The problem of homework completion was evidenced by existing grade and homework reports and teacher…

Students' performances on mathematical problems varying in symbolic form and the kinds of symbolic representations and translation used in instruction were explored. The sample consisted of 29 students enrolled in Algebra II in a summer program for minority students. All students were Black or Hispanic American and most were about to enter grade…

The Internet Based Distance Learning (IBDL) classes provided in Wyoming's Casper College have the potential to benefit all involved. The "Cyber Semester," which began in the spring of 1997, consisted of four typical freshman classes (Physical Geography, Precalculus Algebra, English Composition I, and Political Science) that were offered…

Although high schools typically concentrate on preparing students to enter baccalaureate degree programs, it is estimated that by the year 2000 more than 70% of the jobs in America will not require a four-year college degree. The Tech Prep program is designed to provide technically oriented backgrounds to the middle fifty percent of high school…

Two operational item pools were used to investigate the performance of stratum computerized adaptive tests (CATs) when items were assigned to strata based on empirical estimates of item difficulty or human judgments of item difficulty. Items from the first data set consisted of 54 5-option multiple choice items from a form of the ACT mathematics…

A collaborative project between a Professional Development School (PDS) and a public school supported teachers' action research and initiated preservice teachers into action research. This paper describes one team's action research project in an inclusive high school classroom that shared the duties of teaching, assisting, modifying instruction,…

This paper describes an intervention in two Algebra II classes in which the graphing calculator was incorporated into the curriculum as often as possible. The targeted population consisted of high school students in a growing middle to upper class community located in a suburb of a large city. The problem of a lack of understanding of the…

The cognitive structure of an algebra test was defined and validated using the linear test model (LLTM) and quadratic assignment (QA) techniques. The LLTM is an extension of the Rasch model with a linear constraint that describes item difficulty in terms of the cognitive operations required to solve the item. The model permits the specification of…

A joint study was undertaken by the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and Montgomery College (MC), in Maryland, to determine the characteristics of MCPS graduates enrolled at MC and patterns in their developmental course placement. Data were collected for 13,575 MCPS graduates from 1992 and 1993 who enrolled in regular semester terms within…

One of four research projects designed to examine barriers to the entrance of women into the workforce, the study described in this bulletin examined the feelings of math in students in single parent and nontraditional career preparation programs in relation to selected demographic characteristics. Survey instruments consisting of a brief math…

The 1989 document, "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics" (the "Standards"), provides a vision and a framework for revising and strengthening the K-12 mathematics curriculum in North American schools and for evaluating both the mathematics curriculum and students' progress. When completed, it is expected…