Writing conferences enable student writers to get feedback and make improvements as they write. Both teachers and students see writing as an evolving process rather than as a unalterable product to be corrected. Tips on how to manage conferences and examples of their use with students are given. (PP)

Learning activities to help encourage students' consumer awareness and develop their consumer skills are suggested. Objectives include teaching students to: (1) distinguish between wants and needs; (2) understand advertising; and (3) read labels and compare prices. Other information sources and reading materials for children are listed. (PP)

A city-wide elementary school reading program that emphasizes mastery learning and continuous progress in Chicago, Continuous Progress--Mastery Learning, is blamed for the declining reading test scores of high school students there. The program's origins and evolution are described along with a new program, Chicago Mastery Learning Reading, which…