Professional development (PD) is a potentially important mechanism for enhancing classroom practices and children's learning. In this large-scale randomized controlled trial, we examined the effectiveness of language and literacy PD, with and without coaching, offered at scale to early childhood educators (n = 546) across 1 state. Relative to the…

This article presents a case study on two fourth grade students with learning disabilities in two different writing situations: writing for test preparation and writing for digital stories. The students' writing behaviors, processes, and products in these two settings are contrasted. The differences in the students' writing experiences suggest…

A perceived relationship between the teaching methods of traditional Zen Buddhism and those of process-based English composition is explored. It is noted that the four main processes of Zen teaching (meditation, physical work, personal interviews, and group lectures) focus on process, not product, as in process writing. Characteristics that Zen…

A teacher may assume he or she has power in the classroom and utilize what he or she considers to be thoughtful dramatic pauses to frame and enhance certain points during the lecture. A student, seated in the back row, may regard these pauses not as the rhetorical flourishes intended but as indicative of the teacher's hesitancy or confusion and…

A study investigated to what extent, if any, the modularization and individualization of composition instruction benefited students with severe skill deficiencies. Gain in writing skills--as measured by pretest/posttest differences--was compared with regard to two groups of students: those taught by a traditional lecture-discussion method of…

Shows that, although peer editing groups are effective, they also have their limitations, and advocates instead the use of revision workshops as a practical alternative. Contains a checklist used in a revision workshop. (NKA)

A study investigated whether a change in focus, viewing student writing as a process rather than a product, would have a significant positive effect on writing skill development. Secondarily, the study examined the effectiveness of actual teaching techniques, including a series of writing tasks interspersed with student-teacher interaction and the…

A study at Hawaii Pacific University investigated the use of collaborative peer feedback to improve student performance in an intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing course. Subjects were 53 students of widely varying language backgrounds in three class sections. Each section received differential preparation for peer feedback: (1)…

The writing patterns of adult native speakers of English was compared to that of students of English as a second language (ESL). Both groups wrote brief narrative accounts of a story they had seen on film. The writings revealed three basic organizational patterns, one pattern covering the six critical elements that made up the short story and two…

A college English instructor made an informal comparison of rewriting habits of students in a freshman composition course and two advanced composition courses. Notes kept on student rewriting focused on this central question: given peer and instructor response to their papers and a choice as to what and how to rewrite, what will students decide to…

A study investigated the writing strategies used by English as a second language (ESL) students in writing electronic mail (e-mail) messages, and to what extent certain ESL teaching variables influenced students' use of writing strategies. Subjects were 16 ESL teachers and their 208 university students. Students were administered a 50-item…

International students who have learned English in the classroom have different writing problems than U.S. resident language minority students who have learned English primarily by listening. Non-native speakers need information and practice in specific areas of academic prose such as content and organization. Many language minority residents also…

Many high school English teachers rank their priorities according to the expectations of the institution in which they work. The scope of high school English teachers' jobs also differs from that of their college sisters and brothers. The former see themselves as accountable for the growth of the whole child, in addition to the growth of the…

Proof of the value of bilingual education programs is usually based on evaluations which measure success solely on the basis of student test scores. An alternative method of evaluating such programs as it is implemented in three bilingual education programs in Connecticut elementary schools is reported in this paper. Eleven first- and second-grade…

The teacher of a class of pre-university students of English as a second language at the high-intermediate level assesses the usefulness of dialogue journal writing to develop second language skills and to promote better writing. The course emphasized essay-writing, not technical writing, and was organized around thematic units using a textbook.…