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Successive samples from among students enrolled in French in grade 8 of the Ontario public schools were given English usage and mathematics concepts tests. Results revealed that an increase from 20 to 40 minutes per day of French instruction had no significant effect on students' achievement in English or mathematics. (JB)

Elementary students who have fallen behind their instructional group in reading can increase their rate of acquisition of reading skills through increased "time on task" (the time a learner actually spends attending to the learning task). In a six-month research project, subject students were pretested for reading ability, then grouped under three conditions: cross-age tutoring plus home-based reinforcement; cross-age tutoring, home-based reinforcement, and small group instruction during school hours; and cross-age tutoring, home-based reinforcement, small group instruction, and daily rehearsal of reading skills in their home classroom. Posttesting results indicated that although there was statistically significant improvement in the reading skills of all students over the six-month period, the groups that received additional help did not make any greater gains than the group that was only tutored. Two problem areas in providing additional time on task were uncovered during the project: the problem of implementing cross-age tutoring programs within the school system without the help of additional staff, and the problem of finding an acceptable method of providing additional time on task within normal instructional hours. (AEA)

Although students definitely improve their spelling skills when exposed to the Morphographic Spelling program (a set of rules that helps students analyze virtually any spoken English word for correct spelling), there are several questions about the program still unanswered. A limited study in London, England, to determine the effectiveness of using the program involved ten teachers and 137 students from grades five through eight including students in special learning disability classes. The students were pretested and posttested using the Morrison-McCall spelling scale and instructed in Morphographic Spelling for a period of six to nine months. As a result, 115 students made at least one month's gain in spelling skills. Unanswered questions about the program include whether the growth noted is educationally significant, whether students can realistically achieve the program's claim of learning to spell in excess of 12,000 words by the end of the program, and whether the program's single focus on teaching students to spell, eliminating other significant language skills such as word derivations, would necessitate using the program in addition to, rather than instead of, regular spelling programs. (AEA)

The results of a pilot study of a reading tutor program that had as its focus the creation of a suitable reporting system for insuring adequate implementation of the program are discussed in this paper. The use of learning resource teachers (LRTs) to train tutors, select tutees, monitor implementation, and establish home-based reinforcement is assessed. The problems with implementing a cross-age tutoring program without using outside resources are examined, including the necessity both for a suitable reporting system and for an expert in tutoring to review the records, monitor tutor performance, and take quick action to correct problems as they arise. The report concludes that cross-age tutoring should not be regarded as a time-saving program, but as a more cost-effective one. Appended are the forms developed for the program, including a tutor record sheet, an LRT weekly report form, a tutor efficiency checklist, a list of responsibilities of the ALRT (the LRTs' supervisor), a student progress chart, and an ALRT review report. (AEA)

Through a literature review and an analysis of student files of the London (Ontario) Board of Education, researchers made several findings on the effects of school absence on students' academic achievement. The literature review first revealed four problems in interpreting research results, involving identification of the reasons for absence, measurement of the time absent, awareness of absence's complex effects, and consistency in attendance recordkeeping. The publications reviewed related absence to (1) student characteristics (sex, grade level, and attitude toward school); (2) family characteristics (socioeconomic status and parental attitudes); (3) school characteristics (academic quality and teacher attitudes); and (4) environmental variables (weather or day of the week). Files covering the entire elementary and secondary academic histories of 3,179 students who entered grade nine in 1965-66 were analyzed statistically. Student variables examined included sex, grade, mobility, intelligence, achievement, grade repetition, and non-London residence. Among the findings were that absence has a negative effect on achievement at the elementary as well as the secondary level; that the pattern of absence in elementary school affects absence in secondary school; and that the effect of absence varies with the student's intelligence. (RW)