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Academic Remedial Training (ART) at Navy recruit training centers (RTCs) was established in 1967 to provide remediation to recruits who were not completing training because of reading deficiencies. Changes in recruit populations and training curriculum have occurred. Therefore, an evaluation was needed to determine if ART was meeting current needs. The evaluation answered four questions. What are the literacy requirements of the recruit training academic program including specific reading skills and reading proficiency (readability) levels needed to understand training materials? Are ART curriculum goals and objectives consistent with the literacy requirements? What are program demographics at each RTC? Are ART graduates successful in the Navy? The evaluation had two phases: Phase one determined the literacy requirements of recruit training and then compared these to ART instructional objectives. The second phase examined ART demographics and identified an ART sample which provided information about ART graduates who completed training. Recruit training instructional materials are heavily loaded with scientific and technical terminology and concepts. Analyses of training manuals determined that manuals had 10th and 11th grade readability levels. Academic tests had readability levels of grade 16 or higher. Program demographics showed more than 50 percent of population assigned were separated from the Navy before completing ART. A sample of ART participants had a mean reading grade level score of 6.2. Of the 292 ART recruits in the sample who graduated from recruit training, 209 remained in Navy service, 83 had been discharged. Program administration and management practices were identified that may have a negative impact on the program effectiveness. The effectiveness of ART is questionable. There is almost total mismatch between ART curriculum objectives and reading skills identified in RTC literacy analysis. Program graduates are not progressing at a rate comparable with peers. Recommendations were to continue the program; restructure the curriculum to address specific reading skills identified in the literacy analysis; align program management at all RTCs; and, examine and change administrative practices that may have a negative impact on program success.

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This study was designed to investigate college music education professors' assessment practices regarding background musical experiences of preservice elementary classroom teachers prior to enrollment in the elementary music methods course. Participants were 55 college music education professors who attended the Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods in 1 or more years, 1991, 1993, 1995. Professors were currently teaching at least one elementary music methods course. The four-part questionnaire gathered the following data. Part I asked questions pertinent to the methods course(s) taught in the institutions. Part II sought information regarding background musical experiences of the preservice elementary classroom teacher in the curricular design of the elementary music methods course; Part III obtained demographics describing institutions and professors' teaching loads. Part IV gave professors the opportunity to add comments. Data findings were presented through frequencies, percentages, and professors' comments. Analysis revealed a trend for elementary music methods courses to have common knowledge bases but great diversity in content and delivery. Reasons professors did not assess background experiences included they did not think background musical experiences were applicable to course design. A majority of professors did assess background experiences and used great variety in course design in attempting to meet needs of preservice teachers with strong musical backgrounds. Conclusions included: about one-third of professors did not assess background musical experiences; the majority of professors who assessed considered background musical experiences in development of content and delivery of the methods course; professors who assessed background experiences were divided in how to use the information collected; professors differentiated course delivery and content regarding background musical experiences; common themes were taught throughout the knowledge base of the methods course; there was great diversity in actual content and delivery of the methods course at local, state, and national levels. Further research which addresses music training of the elementary classroom teacher for the purpose of establishing a national standard for teaching the elementary music methods course could be timely. Development of a course other than the traditional methods course could meet needs of preservice teachers with strong musical backgrounds.

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ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the relations between retelling scores and three reading comprehension indicators. The four comprehension measures used in this study were the comprehension process score, post oral-reading cloze test score, oral retelling score, and the passage-dependent multiple-choice test score. The instruments represented different perspectives of the reading process. Correlations led to an examination of the oral retelling weighting scale as it related to the other indicators. A story was selected and original instruments were developed. After the passage was read orally and miscues recorded, the other three assessment methods were administered in counterbalanced order. Analysis of the data was based on the responses of 96 fourth-grade students enrolled in the extended day care programs in seven public elementary schools in Central Florida. Correlations from the data collected were used to develop multiple regression equations to suggest a modified weighting scale for the retelling score. In the assessment of reading comprehension, retelling scores were moderately correlated to other selected comprehension measures. Retelling specific information subscores had very little correlation with other selected comprehension measures. Retelling generalizations subscores had a very small correlation with other selected comprehension measures. Retelling major concepts subscores had a low level of correlation with other selected comprehension measures. The correlations and regressions between retelling subscores and other selected comprehension measures suggested a modified weighting scale. The choice of a reading comprehension measure should be based on the research objectives and theoretical and practical considerations. Data from correlations presented low to moderate correlations between the four comprehension measures in this study. These correlations may be due to differences in process and product indicators as well as amount of practice with the various formats. It may also emphasize the need to use multiple methods in assessing comprehension. The modified retelling scale suggested was applicable to this study. It pointed out the need to consider the weighting of subscores when using retellings with other passages.

Public transportation plays an integral part in a city's development, but transportation professionals disagree about whether it is feasible to increase the capacity of public transportation systems at a reasonable cost; and if it is, how. This study develops an agent based model that aims to answer this question and provide a framework to compare the effects of improvements in different aspects of the public transportation service. The results of this study show that it is possible to increase ridership enough to compensate for the increased operational cost, but only in certain circumstances. Interesting phenomenon that might have showed up in the real world arose in this model and are worth further investigation.