In this article, I describe the challenges students faced in interpreting literary--or fictional--texts in the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement in the English learning area. I explain why it is important for students to learn how to interpret literary texts at school and consider why they might struggle with this important skill. I…

This study describes how student unit assessment data helped support ongoing curriculum revisions in the Baltimore City School District. This project is situated in the STEM Achievement in Baltimore Elementary Schools (SABES) project, which is a National Science Foundation funded multi-year Math Science Partnership between the Johns Hopkins…

Implementing multimedia in the high school language arts curriculum has become necessary so that teachers may build connections between the background knowledge of students and the printed texts that are thrust upon them. This idea comes from an area of research in cognitive science known commonly as schema theory, which contends that every…

Research results show that there are no clear grounds for assuming that students today cannot read as well as they did 25 years ago. (DS)

Observers (n=94) of videotapes of a young woman with mental retardation engaging in either an age-appropriate leisure activity or an activity designed for much younger persons found that observers associated age-appropriate activities with higher ratings of estimated IQ and reading level. Findings support the development of age-appropriate and…

Outlines the importance of principals' focusing their school's curriculum on the development of reading skills through ideas such as (a) faculty inservice and orientation programs, (b) organization of faculty reading planning teams, (c) allocation of resources, (d) supportive classroom visits, and (e) informal evaluation systems to ascertain…

This study compared reading gains of low-socioeconomic status, at-risk kindergarten students within two curricula collaboratively written by classroom teachers and speech-language pathologists. Compared to the alphabet-based curriculum, the whole-language curriculum showed greater gains in the use of print to represent meaning and similar gains in…

Examines the history of California's reading program, reviewing its change to a literature-based approach and then back again to a phonetic- or skill-based one. Reviews key factors influencing California policy and speculates about the future of the state's reading program. (TB)

Examines five factors common to elementary schools that serve as major barriers to improved reading achievement: (1) grouping practices and the inappropriate use of instructional time, (2) low teacher expectation for student learning, (3) inappropriate instructional strategies for teaching reading, (4) differential curricula, and (5) inadequate…

Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, school leaders in Waterloo faced a gloomy horizon. Economic hardships, including declines in property values and rising unemployment, resulted in decreasing school enrollment and limited financial resources. By 1995, the district had accumulated several million dollars of debt. From 1995 to 2005, the student…

Gifted children in the preschool and primary grades may demonstrate advanced abilities in the verbal areas in several different ways. Many gifted children show precocious oral language ability by talking early and with greater complexity and manipulation of language than their age peers. Some gifted children also demonstrate precocious reading…

Addresses salient questions raised by a research project on interrelationships between adult literacy and English as a Second Language. A basic issue discussed is how "pedagogy" itself should be addressed in this context: i.e., how does it relate to curriculum content and how do theory and practice come together in this area? (Contains…

Recommends that drama be included in early childhood education, emphasizing preschool education. Cites research linking drama with enhanced language acquisition in children, ages 3-8. Emphasizes drama's effectiveness as a multisensory learning medium. Notes programs offering drama training for teachers. Suggests changes in teacher education and…