The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy (CCSS-ELA) were adopted by approximately forty states (though in some cases, with significant revisions). However, researchers are still trying to understand how teachers are implementing the CCSS-ELA at the ground level--that is, in actual ELA classrooms. The CCSS-ELA call for…

In 2005, to address concerns about students who might fall in the "gap" between the regular assessment and the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), the U.S. Department of Education announced that states could develop alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). This article…

The Raygor Readability Estimate, described in this article, is much like the widely used Fry Readability Graph, except that it determines vocabulary difficulty by counting words of six or more letters, rather than by counting syllables. An evaluation found that Raygor was faster and easier to use and more objective than the Fry method. (RM)

Forty-two experienced teachers rated a set of reading passages by the SEER and the Rauding procedures. Findings indicated that the two procedures resulted in significantly different ratings, that teaching experience did not affect the rating, and that the SEER ratings agreed substantially with readability formula estimates of the same passages.…

At a workshop exploring practical methods that elementary and secondary teachers may use to analyze texts, three parallel texts were subjected to three forms of analysis: subjective analysis, examination of cohesive ties, and linguistic analysis of selected text variables such as word and sentence length. The subjective ranking of the passages'…

This study examined the academic performance of gifted students (especially female and ethnic minority students) moving from elementary to secondary education. Although no differences were found for female students, ethnic minority students took fewer advanced level classes and had lower grade point averages than did other gifted students. (DB)

Readability formulas applied to materials for hearing-impaired students do not account for important factors in reader-writer-text interaction. Factors include the reader's purpose, cultural background, and extent of background knowledge; writers' assumptions about readers; the text's structure, content, and cohesion; and the role of…

Two "sacred cows" inherent in reading instruction for disabled readers are rejected: Disabled readers must be taught with simple reading materials, and most teaching time must be spent on reading skills. Two case studies illustrate the teaching of decoding skills and "dyad reading" of books selected by the disabled reader.…

For Title I evaluations, it may be appropriate to test out-of-level; that is, to override publisher's recommendations concerning the difficulty, length, and content appropriate for a particular grade. It is seldom necessary, however, to move more than one grade down. If the mean is substantially higher than the median, then some pupils will have…

Reports on a study which attempted to determine the reading level of 70 filmstrips with captions that form logical sequences. Results indicate that the classroom teacher might want to use readability formulae in planning the use of filmstrips. (Author/SA)

The basic philosophy of mastery learning is that all students can learn if they are provided with effective instruction and practice. Research on mastery learning has been done in many countries and at all levels of education in different subject areas, and it has repeatedly shown excellent results. This teaching and learning strategy succeeds in…

The annotated bibliography provides information on commercially prepared materials that can be used in classrooms at all levels where English is taught as a second language. Twenty-four textbook series are described, arranged alphabetically by title. The listing is preceded by a categorization of the series by their content and focus:…

It is argued that despite a common assumption to the contrary, there is children's literature appropriate to students of English as a Second Language (ESL) aged 9-14. First, the unique needs and characteristics of the target population are examined. This population consists of limited-English-proficient speakers, usually immigrants or refugees…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…