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This paper reports on a section of a larger study, investigating the mathematics experiences of Down syndrome (DS) learners in Australian Primary Schools. Developing the numeracy skills to experience independence in post school settings is crucial for individuals with DS. The aim of this paper is to share the school mathematics experiences of six DS adults and their parents/carers to ascertain if their experiences (DS adults) with mathematics when they were at school have had consequences for how they engage and participate in society as adults. Initial findings suggest that DS adults' mathematics experiences have impacted on their quality of life in a post-school setting.

The study aimed to examine the important predictors of Ghanaian classroom Diploma in Basic Education teacher trainees' growth mindset toward student learning. Participants included a purposive sample of 328 (177 male and 151 female) second- and third-year teacher trainees in one college of education in the northern part of Ghana. The predictor variables were the type of program, year in program, age, sex, and marital status. The student learning subscale of the Physical Education and Sports Ability Survey (Sofo et al., 2016) served as the main data source. The items were adapted for the classroom setting. Most of the trainees had a growth mindset but with some fixed ideas for student learning (80.18%). Approximately 19.21% of the trainees had a strong growth mindset in student learning. The mean decreased Gini (MDG) values for the year in the program, program type, and marital status (married vs. single) showed that these predictors were important for student learning. A logistic regression analysis showed that type of program, year in program, and marital status were significant predictors of growth mindset for student learning. Trainees in the early childhood program were approximately seven times more likely to have a growth mindset regarding student learning compared to those in the primary education program. Trainees in their third year were approximately 145 times more likely to have a growth mindset regarding student learning compared to trainees in their second year. Single teacher trainees were approximately 213 times more likely to have a growth mindset regarding student learning compared to married teacher trainees. The study provides insights for teacher educators regarding the profiles and factors that promote the development of a growth mindset in teacher education settings in Ghana. [For the full proceedings, see ED656038.]

Mathematical self-concept refers to the perceived ability that one has in being able to do mathematics. While it has been shown to be a significant predictor for how students learn and apply mathematics, little research has been conducted into the relationship between the mathematical self-concept of teachers and their pedagogical practices in the mathematics classroom. This paper reports on a section of the findings from a small mixed methods study that sought to ascertain the nature of primary teachers' mathematical self-concept and how it is related to their teaching practices. Findings suggest that a teachers' mathematical self-concept does not necessarily reflect the mathematics practices evident in their classroom.

This study shares two frameworks for analyzing teacher actions that support students in generalizing and examines how those frameworks align with teacher questioning. One classroom teaching episode focused on the mathematical activity of generalizing is shared to illustrate effective generalizing promoting practices. We found several patterns of productive and unproductive generalizing promoting actions and questioning. Repeating generalizing promoting actions in succession were needed to produce student generalizations. Priming actions that set up for later generalizing promoting were helpful when students struggled to identify and state generalizations. Connection questions promoted generalizing, but justification and concept questions did not. Further research will explore the additional strategies to support teachers in fostering student-created generalizations. [For the complete proceedings, see ED630210.]

Research on dyscalculia has focused almost exclusively on elementary-aged students' deficits in speed and accuracy in arithmetic calculation. This case study expands our understanding of dyscalculia by documenting how one college student with dyscalculia understood algebra during a one-on-one design experiment. A detailed case study of 19 video recorded sessions revealed that she relied upon unconventional understandings of algebraic quantities and notation, which led to persistent difficulties. This exploratory case study provides new insights into the character of difficulties that arose and persisted for one student with dyscalculia in the context of algebra and suggests the utility of documenting the persistent understandings that students with dyscalculia rely upon, particularly in understudied mathematical domains, like algebra. [For the complete proceedings, see ED630210.]

It is particularly important to identify and address issues of fairness and equity in educational contexts as academic performance can have large impacts on the types of opportunities that are made available to students. While it is always the hope that educators approach student assessment with these issues in mind, there are a number of factors that likely impact how a teacher approaches the scoring of student work. Particularly in cases where the assessment of student work requires subjective judgment, as in the case of open-ended answers and essays, contextual information such as how the student has performed in the past, general perceptions of the student, and even other external factors such as fatigue may all influence how a teacher approaches assessment. While such factors exist, however, it is not always clear how these may introduce bias, nor is it clear whether such bias poses measurable risks to fairness and equity. In this paper, we examine these factors in the context of the assessment of student answers to open response questions from middle school mathematics learners. We observe how several factors such as context and fatigue correlate with teacher-assigned grades and discuss how learning systems may support fair assessment. [This paper was published in: "Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Computers in Education," edited by S. Iyer et al., Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education, 2022.]

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate (1) students' interest in reading English books, (2) students' interest in using an online Virtual Library (VL), and (3) students' experiences and preferences relating to the implementation of an online VL within an Academic English Program (AEP). First-year students (N=136) from a public university in southwest Japan participated in this study. The preliminary results provide a deeper understanding of student interest, experiences, and preferences relating to the implementation of a VL within an AEP. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

The aim of this research project was to examine the impact of chatbots as conversation partners. First and second year Japanese university students (n=120) from a private university in Southwest Japan were randomly assigned to either conduct a speaking task with an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot or human partner. Preliminary analysis of the data suggests that student interest in interacting with the chatbot conversation partners decreased across the experiment period, whilst interest in performing identical tasks with their peers (human partners) remained relatively stable. The findings suggest that educators and administrators should be cautious about relying entirely on AI conversation partners as a substitute to human partners if they wish to stimulate and maintain student interest levels in conversation tasks. Furthermore, teachers should carefully consider students' language proficiency and communicative ability before designing and implementing speaking tasks that involve the use of AI conversation partners. Using chatbots as an extension of human-human conversation activity practice and not a replacement is recommended in order to maintain student interest and engagement across a language program. [For the complete volume of short papers, see ED590612.]

We show how the novel use of a semantic representation based on Osgood's semantic differential scales can lead to effective features in predicting short- and long-term learning in students using a vocabulary learning system. Previous studies in students' intermediate knowledge states during vocabulary acquisition did not provide much information on which semantic knowledge students gained during word learning practice. Moreover, these studies relied on human ratings to evaluate the students' responses. To solve this problem, we propose a semantic representation for words based on Osgood's semantic decomposition of vocabulary [16]. To demonstrate our method can effectively represent students' knowledge in vocabulary acquisition, we build models for predicting the student's short-term vocabulary acquisition and long-term retention. We compare the effectiveness of our Osgood-based semantic representation to that provided by Word2Vec neural word embedding [13], and find that prediction models using features based on Osgood scale-based scores (OSG) perform better than the baseline and are comparable in accuracy to those using Word2Vec score-based models (W2V). By using more interpretable Osgood-based scales, our study results can help with better understanding of students' ongoing learning states and designing personalized learning systems that can address an individual's weak points in vocabulary acquisition. [For the full proceedings, see ED596512.]

Literacy is the gatekeeper to modern information. In the world today, approximately 740 million adults are excluded from adult education if that education uses literate instructional strategies. Nearly 3/4 of a billion adults, many of whom speak unwritten languages, do not use reading to learn new information nor share information through writing. Most nonliterate adults live in oral cultures where information and culture are transmitted in the same way they have been shared for centuries, using oral strategies. Though becoming literate should be encouraged where possible, there are times, as the Ebola outbreak of 2014 illustrated, when literates need to share information with nonliterates quickly. This paper reviews some of the findings of a research study in which 54 literates who have experience teaching nonliterate adults without using literacy shared their perceptions of characteristics of nonliterate adults, personal competencies of effective literate instructors, and effective instructional strategies. Using a modified Delphi method, the researcher sought consensus from the participants on 85 statements concerning the topic of teaching nonliterate adults in oral cultures. By the end of the second round of questionnaires, the participants had reached a consensus, defined as an interquartile range of one or less, on 93% of the 85 statements. [For full proceedings, see ED570489.]

This paper explores the usefulness of understanding quotients as measures of relative size in mathematics. The paper characterizes the types of thinking displayed by high school mathematics teachers on two novel tasks designed to reveal teachers' meanings in contexts where making comparisons of relative size is productive. [For the complete proceedings, see ED597799.]

Functions play a large role in mathematics education beginning in middle school. The aim of this paper is to investigate the meaning teachers hold for function notation; namely, we suggest that many teachers view function notation as a four-character idiom consisting of function name, parenthesis, variable and parenthesis. Many of the teachers who engaged in tasks aimed at exploring teachers' meanings for function notation responded in a manner suggestive of viewing function notation idiomatically [For the complete proceedings, see ED597799.]

This is a methodological paper describing when and how manifest items dropped from a latent construct measurement model (e.g., factor analysis) can be retained for additional analysis. Presented are protocols for assessment for retention in the measurement model, evaluation of dropped items as potential items separate from the latent construct, and post hoc analyses that can be conducted using all retained (manifest or latent) variables. The protocols are then applied to data relating to the impact of the NAPLAN test. The variables examined are teachers' achievement goal orientations and teachers' perceptions of the impact of the test on curriculum and pedagogy. It is suggested that five attributes be considered before retaining dropped manifest items for additional analyses. (1) Items can be retained when employed in service of an established or hypothesized theoretical model. (2) Items should only be retained if sufficient variance is present in the data set. (3) Items can be retained when they provide a rational segregation of the data set into subsamples (e.g., a consensus measure). (4) The value of retaining items can be assessed using latent class analysis or latent mean analysis. (5) Items should be retained only when post hoc analyses with these items produced significant and substantive results. These suggested exploratory strategies are presented so that other researchers using survey instruments might explore their data in similar and more innovative ways. Finally, suggestions for future use are provided.

This research applies a conceptual framework to the development of a classroom resource: design process folios. The conceptual framework is comprised of three overlapping lenses that account for the syllabus from the New South Wales Board of Studies (BOS), social constructivism theory and 21st Century learning needs. The use of this framework in design for learning provided a structured approach for the improvement of teaching and learning, aligning both the mandated curriculum as well as theories of learning. The aim for developing this resource was to provide opportunities for meaningful and engaging experiences for learners. In this paper, we report on the application of this conceptual framework to the analysis of a school-developed folio. The folios were comprised of engaging learning materials and tasks that make use of ICTs to support learning of design processes by Stage 4 Technology students in an Australian Independent School. The experience of the lead author was that the folio was an effective and engaging way to deliver design projects. The school-developed folios have an inherent quality: they can be continually refined and improved to reflect changes in society, technology and the curriculum. Analysis of the folios suggested that these resources can be seen as systems that evolve and this has applications to other curriculum areas that engage project based learning approaches.

This document contains papers from a Pennsylvania conference on adult and continuing education research. The following papers are included: "Violence against Women: Looking behind the Mask of Incarcerated Batterers" (Irene C. Baird); "Refocusing Faculty Development: The View from an Adult Learning Perspective" (Patricia A. Lawler, Kathleen P. King); "Living and Learning with HIV/AIDS: Transformational Tales Continued" (Lisa M. Baumgartner); "Gender Differences in Distance Education and Technology: Familiarity, Comfortability, and Receptivity in the Hotel and Restaurant Industry" (David S. Bender, James A. Bardi); "Using Qualitative Case Study to Evaluate a Pre-employment Training Program for Adults" (Susan C. Biro); "Assessing the Effectiveness of a Faith-Based Learning Environment for Adults: A Case Study and Comparative Analysis" (Anthony L. Blair); "Evaluating the Value of Internships for Adult Learners" (Gary J. Dean, Kurt P. Dudt); "The Value of Higher Education: A Latino Perspective" (Denise K. Hay); "The Intricacies of Initiate-Response-Evaluate in Adult Literacy Education" (Patsy Medina); "Where Cancer Patients Receive Information: A Comparative Study with Patients and the Perception of Health Care Professionals" (Eileen Milakovic); "Adult Students Speak Out; A Focus Group Research Project" (Sherry Miller Brown); "Identifying the State of the Art: Measures Used to Assess Adult Learners in Even Start Family Literacy Programs" (Joe Norden Jr., Gary J. Dean); "Family Literacy and Adult Education: Informing Practices That Encourage Participation" (Stephanie Wexler-Robock, Kathleen P. King); and "More Than Just Reading and Math: Women in Adult Basic Education" (Lisa J. Wright, Kathleen P. King). Most papers include substantial bibliographies. (MN)

The current study reports findings from the second phase of a mixed methods study on the perceptions and experiences of Black women undergraduate students at a predominately White institution (PWI). The first phase of our study revealed that the women's experiences were based on their multiple identities and the fact that many anticipated that the PWI would have a racist environment. Additionally, almost half of the study participants did not report reacting strongly to numerous racially-charged incidents that had occurred on the campus. Therefore, the second phase of the study delves more into the personal and educational backgrounds and experiences of the participants and how those prior experiences informed current reactions, perceptions and actions (or inactions) at the PWI.

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of 30 university-prepared math and science teachers from their pre-service program into their teaching positions to better understand the conditions that attract and retain them in high-need schools. The paper uses the framework of job preview and information-rich hiring to highlight the influence of the job search process and school selection on teacher retention. Findings indicate that even highly-sought and well-qualified beginning math and science teachers are choosing their first teaching positions with limited information about the school as a workplace and this decision has profound consequences. Retention differences exist between teachers who choose their schools with robust information and those with very limited information. Further, how and why teachers choose schools has profound consequences for their professional success, their persistence in high-need schools, and their retention in the profession.

This experimental mixed method research aimed to investigate: 1) the effects of integrating conflict resolution in mathematics on students' achievement in mathematics and knowledge, behaviours, and skills in violence prevention and conflict resolution; and 2) teaching strategies that can be used for the integration. A sample of four classes was conveniently selected from two schools in Jamaica for the study. Treatments were six Mathematics lessons, for example, looking at statistics and charts related to violent incidents at their schools. Findings revealed that there are numerous teaching strategies that can be used to integrate. The integration of conflict resolution significantly increases students' achievement in Mathematics and their knowledge, behaviours and skills in violence prevention and conflict resolution.

Psychological type has proven useful to myriad educational applications, including career counseling and as an assessment of learning styles. Previous studies have investigated the use of word-pairs to measure type dimensions, but prior results have consistently suggested that Judging-Perceiving (JP) preferences require sentences to measure more complex JP dynamics. The present study involved 422 subjects who completed a word-pair measure augmented with items consisting of sentences. The improved psychometric properties of scores involving both measurement strategies suggest that JP dynamics are complex, and must include more complex item forms. (Appendices present statistical analysis and the survey instrument. Contains 12 references.) (Author)

Teacher immediacy has been a widely studied construct with the overall finding that being immediate is good. Verbal and nonverbal immediacy has been associated with increased motivation to study and learning. The most common methodology used to measure teacher immediacy has been student reports. An underlying assumption of this methodology is that students are able to objectively observe and report the behaviors performed by their instructor. The validity of this methodology has never been examined. A series of four studies examined a variety of individual differences (self-perceived social style; communication apprehension; self-esteem and trait motivation; and selected demographic variables) that may influence how students report their instructors' immediacy behaviors. Subjects included over 1,000 undergraduate students enrolled in various communication courses at midwestern and eastern universities. Findings suggest that the individual differences examined do not influence the reporting of immediacy, providing support for the use of this methodology. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/RS)

A case study questioned essentialist feminist assumptions about the marginalization of females in technical writing courses. A student team composed of a female (Jane, the team leader) and three males enrolled in an advanced writing course required of juniors and seniors majoring in the applied sciences to investigate solutions to the student parking problem on campus. Data consisted of transcripts of audiotapes from two instructor-team conferences and team- and self-assessments written by the team members at the end of the course. While three members of the team, including the leader, emphasized the team's cooperative research and writing, all four members singled out Jane as their leader, indicating that the primary mode of collaboration for this group was hierarchical. All four members of the group recognized Jane's role as team leader; the difference lay in their depicting her leadership as democratic, motivating, or dominating. Jane may not fit the feminine role of "natural collaborator" advocated by some, but she did succeed where essentialist feminists theorize she would fail. (RS)

Students and teachers need to discuss and understand what kind of role each expects the other to assume at various points in the writing process. In other words, teachers should make their strategies and goals for responding explicit, and should give students the opportunity to explain their perspectives and their reactions. Even if they cannot agree, the discussion itself should prove valuable. This type of discussion is imperative because not only do students have widely different ideas about the role of a writing instructor but instructors themselves have widely different ideas about their role. Descriptions of the approach of two instructors at the same institution makes this point clear. The first instructor prides himself on the time he spends correcting student papers. He requires some kind of writing in every class, and he always returns the papers by the next class meeting--with every error marked. He deducts a fraction of a letter grade for every error; no paper can be rewritten. The second instructor engages his students individually. When he reads an essay, he points out one or two areas that need revision, gives a tentative grade, then returns the essay to the student. Students can revise as many times as necessary to bring the grade up to a passing standard. Despite their differences, both professors are successful and highly appreciated by their students. (Three figures offer teacher and student views.) (TB)

As publishers make the transition from ink-on-paper to digitalized messages, researchers must ask whether the system is the solution. Are there advantages to presenting newspaper content on computers? Or do people prefer to handle paper? A study reported subjects' self-report responses regarding interface between people (experimental subjects) and modality (paper, computer, multimedia). Each of the 75 subjects participating in the study were given questionnaires to rate their responses to the different media. Fifty-five of the participants were U.S. undergraduate students enrolled in journalism classes. Twenty subjects were university library employees, recruited as "expert" searchers. The study revealed significant effects for interestingness, pleasingness, image interestingness, and image pleasantness as a function of modality. For each of these measures, multimedia was rated the highest, followed by computer and paper. Although the study did not address memory, the results suggest that the primacy of print theory may be losing its predictive power. No effect was found for text as a function of modality. Perhaps perceived differences between modalities are diminishing. Further research might confirm this suggestion. Researchers may begin to notice less and less cognitive and behavioral resistance to computerized information delivery systems. And they may notice more resistance to ink-on-paper. To meet such evolving expectations, researchers and newspaper professionals may apply results of this study to design effective interactive multimedia systems and content. (Seven figures and two data tables are included. Contains 53 references.) (TB)

This report addresses the reliability of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), not as a measure of speaking ability, but rather as practiced by testers trained by the ACTFL, such as by the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), in English as a Second Language (ESL), French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Inter-rater consistency was measured by Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and by a modified Cohen's kappa. Pearson coefficients were highly significant and remarkably similar in all five languages; Cohen's kappa results were also significant. Study results also confirm that interaction with the interviewee presents a source of variance in the assessment of speaking ability and that some levels of speech performance are simply harder to rate than others. Findings suggest that similarities and differences existed in the five languages that were difficult to explain and that inter-rater disagreement was very frequent and dependent on the level. It is concluded that a large and heterogeneous group of ACTFL-trained oral proficiency interviewers can apply the OPI in the five languages tested with a fairly high degree of consistency. (Contains 20 references.) (NAV)

This paper explores the implications for democratic policy making and school governance of collective bargaining with teachers. Based on a case study of the 1992 Teachers Strike in Detroit, Michigan, the research examines the relationships among actors involved in the strike and in its settlement. Findings of this research suggest that the strike derailed a reform movement and led to election of a new school board that encouraged the superintendent to resign. Citizens gained some limited attention to their concerns through involvement of the clergy, civic leaders, and the county executive's office. The research suggests that multilateral collective bargaining offers more opportunities for citizen representation in school policy making than does the traditional bilateral bargaining model. (EH)

This study, a part of a larger project, investigated what children learn about gender roles from cartoons and how these cartoons might color the children's view of the world. A total of 89 children ranging in age from four to nine were sampled from three different locations (a university-affiliated day-care center and two parochial schools near the university). Interviewers were eight trained senior-level university students in a Women and Communication class. Interviews with the children lasted from 4 to 10 minutes. Results indicated that: (1) children watched more "chase-and-pratfall" cartoons than any other type, but the favorite cartoon type for nearly half of the children was continuing adventure; (2) a strong correlation existed between continuing adventure cartoons and more stereotypically male behaviors; (3) children attributed more of all behaviors to boy characters than to girl characters; (4) both boys and girls described boy characters' behavior as violent and active, but only the girls recognized that boys' behaviors made an impact on girl characters; (5) a majority of children perceived male and female characters in stereotypical ways; (6) children identified very few "real job" behaviors for either boy or girl characters; (7) children whose mothers worked outside the home reported that boy characters engage in fewer stereotypically male behaviors; and (8) the type of cartoon preferred by the children had an impact on their perceptions about cartoon characters. (Contains 51 references and 3 tables of data.) (RS)

Anticipating a possible future method of multimedia newspaper design and delivery, a study examined the interface among people, modality (paper, computer, multimedia), and three types of news story (news, sports, entertainment). Subjects, 55 undergraduate students enrolled in journalism classes and 20 university library employees considered as "expert" searchers, were asked to search for specific information from three different stacks of stories, each stack containing four stories. The search path was recorded and evaluated to determine the number of search errors. A significant effect was found for search time as a function of modality. The multimedia condition had the longest search times, followed by computer and paper. Yet, only 13% of the subjects chose to view the digitized video as a search strategy. Story type was a significant factor. The sports story had the shortest search time, followed by news and entertainment. The sports story had the fewest search errors, followed by news and entertainment. Findings suggest that locating information in an electronic environment seems to take longer than finding information on paper, and that users need to be convinced that searching digitized audio and video may be a productive strategy. (Contains 81 references, 3 tables, 11 figures of data, and 4 notes.) (RS)

Anticipating a possible future method of newspaper design (including multimedia content) and delivery, a study examined the interface among people, modality (paper, computer, multimedia), and three types of news story (news, sports, entertainment). The "primacy of print" theory (which predicts that information will be recalled better when presented in print than in other media) was extended to consider a multimedia factor. Subjects, 55 undergraduate students enrolled in journalism classes and 20 university library employees recruited as "expert" searchers, completed recall measure after reading and/or listening to news stories presented in a variety of formats. Results indicated (1) no effects for cued recall as a function of modality; (2) a significant effect for reading time as a function of modality, with reading time higher for the multimedia condition followed by computer and paper; (3) story type was a significant factor, with the entertainment story having the shortest reading time followed by news and sports; and (4) the news story had the lowest recall score, followed by sports and entertainment. Findings do not support the primacy of print theory. Future studies may be designed to test interactions between variables such as modality and story type. (Contains 30 references, three tables and eight figures of data, and four notes.) (RS)

This study examined the functional relationships among motivation, perceived classroom environment, and student satisfaction, for three major curricular groups: arts and leisure programs, personal development programs, and professional development programs. The sample included 1,180 students enrolled in noncredit courses at the College of Continuing Education and Community Service at the University of Hawaii. The study empirically validated R. Boshier's Education Participation Scale and G. Darkenwald's Adult Classroom Environment Scale with a relatively large sample of students who voluntarily participated in their learning experiences and who were primarily motivated by the desire to satisfy the need to know, unaffected by grades or the requirements of a degree program. Findings revealed that each curricular group had a distinctive set of student characteristics and reasons for participation, and preferred particular kinds of classroom environments which emphasized a different mix of environmental domains. Results confirmed the multidimensional nature of satisfaction, and suggested that certain types of learning environments may be more satisfying to students with certain types of learning motivations. (Contains 30 references.) (JDD)

To elicit some written comments about student views of revision, an English professor surveyed about 100 students in several different composition classes regarding what they would do if given the opportunity to revise a class paper. More than 80% of the responses explicitly mentioned errors in spelling, mechanics, or grammar. Several students explicitly equated revision with editing. Students who tried to see revision as something more than mere editing met with varying degrees of success. Many students seemed to tie revision closely to teacher requests. In a related study, over 400 students rated the "helpfulness" of a variety of teacher comments. Findings offer additional evidence that students want to do what they think teachers want them to do. Students preferred teacher comments that told them just what to do and how to do it. Students might see revision in hierarchical terms--until they correct the errors pointed out by the teacher, they are not going to worry about trying to improve the content or organization of their ideas. The challenge for teachers is to decide what they really want and then let students know what it is. (Contains a diagram illustrating a hierarchy of needs.) (RS)

How infants and toddlers become skilled social actors has not been examined as often as the peer interactions of older children. This study examined 24, middle-class toddlers (ages 23 to 33 months) in 9 different settings during their free-play time at a university-cooperative nursery school. Researchers analyzed 150 social bids which were either toddler initiated or teacher facilitated. Social bids ranged in length from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. The 18 strategies toddlers used in their bids were collapsed into 3 categories: (1) distal contact (staring at peer play from a distance greater than three feet away); (2) proximal contact (touching a peer or leaning over next to a peer); and (3) verbalizing. Of the 150 events, 49 percent were nonverbal contacts and 51 percent were verbal bids. Half the toddlers used only one strategy to attain peer interaction, while half used from two to six sequenced strategies. In 46 percent of the events, the toddler physically left the area, while 34 percent of the time toddlers ended the interaction without leaving the area. Most toddler bids for social peer interactions were unsuccessful and teachers only attempted to assist in 15 percent of the cases. Care givers may need more training to notice toddlers' ineffective social bids and to find creative, minimally intrusive ways, to facilitate toddlers' social interaction. (Author/RJM)

In an effort to compare the psychological characteristics of HIV positive veterans who are homeless with those who are not homeless, the psychological test performances of patients referred to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Houston, Texas were examined. Investigators analyzed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) average scale scores for 20 patients. Statistical comparison of the 9 homeless HIV positive veterans versus the 11 non-homeless HIV positive veterans revealed no significant differences between the two groups, paralleling previous research. Therefore, since this study suggests that the main difference between the non-homeless and the homeless is that the latter have no place to live, professionals and the community need to provide the homeless HIV positive patient with the tools necessary to prevent future episodes of homelessness through assistance in obtaining disability income, substance abuse treatment and aftercare (if applicable), and vocational assistance. (RJM)

A study examined student responses to teacher comments on a student essay. First-year students at the Citadel, an all-male military school, imagined they wrote a paper on which a teacher had made 16 comments (eight positive and eight negative, eight having implied answers, eight having open-ended answers) and then rated those comments based on how helpful they were. Subjects were divided into eight groups based on their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) scores. Average scores for the ratings of teacher comments were computed. Results indicated no relation between preferred learning style (as indicated on the MBTI) and ratings of comments. Subjects were then asked why they rated some comments high and some low. Overall, the subjects found teacher comments helpful to the degree that the comments told the student precisely what was wrong and how to fix it. Findings highlight the potential influence of the immediate social context in they way students read and use teacher comments. (A figure describing personality preferences and a figure listing the highest-rated and the lowest-rated comments are included.) (RS)

This paper focuses on a speech by Demosthenes, recognized as the foremost orator of the fourth century B.C., and the speeches of environmentalist David Brower, in a search for parallel use of values and myths in their rhetorical approaches. Myths provided a world view, ordered the world into right and wrong conduct and thinking, and created a shared identity or purpose. The analysis identifies a similar emphasis in Demosthenes and Brower on values such as respect for the past, bravery, patriotism, and democracy. It is further noted that both used myths that emphasized unity, purpose, identity, and political force to opposition. The paper concludes that the significance of the study lies in a modern awareness of ancient rhetorical strategies. Twenty-three references are attached. (Author/RS)

Written responses to student writing assignments often can take the form of being directives which seem to try to control the student, and student response to such directive comments appears ambivalent. A logical question concerning such modes of response is to ask how a teacher's comments are influenced by his or her personality type. A study was described to investigate this relationship in the work of seven respondents. The study used two scales from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, namely, the Thinking and Feeling ways of making decisions, and the Judging and Perceiving ways of managing the environment. Results indicated that Judging types tended to focus more than Perceiving types on word or phrase level problems, while Perceiving types focused more on larger level revisions. Other significant differences were seen between these two types of readers. When grouped according to Thinking and Feeling preferences, the differences are less pronounced. Thinking types gave more advice, especially for essay level problems. Through experience, it appears that teachers of writing change in their attitudes toward the teacher student relationship, while maintaining the marks of their type. In short, teacher type preferences do show up among even experienced teachers. Thus, training and experience both certainly affect responding habits, but personality also continues to have an enduring influence. (Three figures showing responses are attached.) (HB)

A study examined the effects of column rules, justification, and the interactive effect of column rule and justification on memory. Subjects, 40 undergraduate students enrolled in journalism courses, read 12 text samples (taken from standardized reading tests) randomly assigned to one of six format conditions and presented on separate, simulated magazine pages in a four-column format in four randomly selected orders. Subjects responded to recall and recognition questions and a personal information data sheet. Three column rule conditions--column rule, no column rule, and "middle rule" (a vertical line running down the middle of the column of text)--were combined with two justification conditions (left and right justification or flush left/jagged right) to yield the six format conditions. Results indicated that the best score for recall was recorded in the flush left/jagged right and middle rule condition, the most "disruptive" graphic presentation. Findings suggest that graphic elements, especially justification and column rules, affect memory for magazine text. (Five figures and a table of data are included, and 40 references are attached.) (RS)

This testimony before the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education addresses the need for improving student financial aid programs administered by the Department of Education, and in particular, the Stafford Student Loan Programs. The testimony begins with a brief review of the default problems involving student loans. Next, an examination is provided of the Congressional, Department of Education, and General Accounting Office efforts in addressing student loan defaults. The improvements needed to correct vulnerabilities in the Stafford Program are addressed, followed by a discussion of the procedures for determining school eligibility that put the Government and the student at risk. Next, several recommendations are presented for solving or lessening the occurrence of default problems in student loan programs. It is noted in the testimony that many of the vulnerabilities and weaknesses in federal student aid programs are related to the Department of Education's administration of the programs, as well as to provisions of the Higher Education Act. An attachment provides a list of selected General Accounting Office reports on higher education issues since 1986. (GLR)

Selected methods for evaluating the stability of research results empirically are described, especially with regard to multivariate analysis. It is critically important to evaluate the influences of sampling error on obtained results; statistical significance testing does not inform judgment regarding the probable replicability or the sampling specificity of results. Data provided by K. J. Holzinger and F. Swineford (1939) are used to make the discussion more concrete. As a starting point, an example of a univariate invariance analysis is presented. Other techniques described and illustrated include: (1) multiple regression analysis; (2) factor analysis; and (3) canonical correlation analysis. Ten tables illustrate the data. An appendix contains the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program used to implement the analyses. A 60-item list of references is included. (SLD)

The roundtable reported in this document was intended to identify cross-cultural themes in education and support the growth of a network of international scholars. The roundtable included: (1) reports on partnerships among families, communities, and schools in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Spain, Portugal, Singapore, and Australia; (2) presentations on research and practice concerning educational partnerships in the United States; (3) discussion of a cross-cultural study of parent involvement in Austria, Taiwan, and the United States; and (4) an open discussion. Prominent roundtable themes reported in this document include strategies for making academic and social success a reality for all children; transitions between home and school and between educational levels; and family and community participation in schools. Ten references are cited in the preface of the document. Lists of visitors to, and participants in, the roundtable are appended. (BC)

The proficiency movement in second language teaching has had a wide impact because it represents not only an attempt to introduce a national metric but also an attempt to modify the nature of the second language curriculum. The curriculum has been pointed in the direction of instruction in the functional use of language. The list of languages affected by the proficiency movement includes both commonly and less commonly taught languages. This paper suggests that the impact of the proficiency movement will be more difficult to attain in Russian language teaching because the field has not yet moved far enough from the traditional grammar-translation approach. It is noted that the organization of language teaching in America mitigates against the acquisition of usable skills by imposing severe limitations on time allotted to the study of foreign languages as well as by adopting a non-use orientation. A brief history of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) generic guidelines is presented, followed by a description of the Russian proficiency guidelines and a review of proficiency testing. Proficiency is further discussed in terms of the four skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking) and proficiency-based textbooks. Suggestions for improving the instructional system are offered. Contains 18 references. (LB)

The Professional Development Institute (PDI) is a 4-day orientation workshop for instructors entering service in the postsecondary vocational-technical school system in Arkansas. The PDI focuses on activities designed to accomplish the four goals set by the Arkansas Division of Vocational and Technical Education: to assist the instructor in making the transition into postsecondary vocational education, in forming professional habits, in understanding the duties of a vocational-technical instructor, and in developing a sense of pride in and belonging to the system. The workshop attempts to elevate the self-esteem of the participants. Goals are achieved through small and large group activities, discussions of case studies, simulation, use of videotapes, talks by former student organization members, and receptions and social activities. (Appendixes, which make up three-fourths of the document, include the PDI agenda, a getting-acquainted form, opening statement, goal summaries, and short case studies.) (KC)

The application and utility of confirmatory second-order factor analytic methods are discussed. Factor analysis is central to concerns regarding measurement validity. Confirmatory methods are especially useful because they explicitly consider measurement error influences and because the methods are inherently theory-driven and theory-oriented. Second-order confirmatory methods, which have not been applied with great frequency in the literature, allow the researcher to explore more thoroughly a reality that may be just as complex as are other formulated models. To make the explanation of applying confirmatory second-order methods more concrete, a data set involving responses of 487 undergraduates and graduate students (representing three pooled samples from previous research studies) to the Hendrick-Hendrick love instrument was analyzed for heuristic purposes. Two tables contain data from the study. Two appendices contain seven additional tables related to the analysis. A 31-item list of references is included. (Author/SLD)

In recent years, the number of traditional preservice teachers (18- to 21-year-old age range) has decreased, while the number of older, nontraditional students has increased. At the time of student teaching, nontraditional students seem to have more problems than do more traditional students. This study developed and field tested an instrument, the "Perceptions for Student Teaching Instrument" (PSTI), designed to ascertain students' feelings of preparedness for student teaching and to compare the attitudes of various types of students. Seven public and three private institutions in Tennessee participated in the study by administering the PSTI to all student teachers at the beginning of their spring semester (1990). The results of the study, based on 629 returned and usable surveys, indicated that, although the instrument did not detect differences between groups of students, it added another dimension to the evaluation of teacher education programs. Tables provide information on subjects by category; percent response, mean, and standard deviation for each statement on the PSTI; and means, standard deviations, and t-test for total score for traditional and nontraditional students, for males and females, and for public and private institutions. (JD)

A study examined the effectiveness of a method designed to increase active patient involvement in the health care context. Subjects, 38 patients visiting a three-physician dermatology practice one randomly selected morning, were asked to fill out a survey at the end of their visit. Half of the subjects were asked to read a "communication memo" prior to their meetings with their physicians, the other half were not. Results indicated that patients who read the memo encouraging questions were more at ease with their physicians, reported asking more questions, felt their physicians understood them more, and showed more of a decrease in concern about their health problems than did the control group. Results also indicated a positive correlation between the number of questions asked and perceived physician understanding. (Two tables of data are included; 28 references, the communication memo, and the survey are attached.) (RS)