The "High School Puente Program" aims to help disadvantaged students graduate from high school, become college eligible, and enroll in four-year colleges and universities. The program consists of three components: (1) a 9th- and 10th-grade college preparatory English class that incorporates Mexican-American/Latino and other multicultural…

This article offers an account of online experimentation and innovation that has taken place in the English department of the University of Wolverhampton from 2003 to 2005. Focusing on an introductory first-year module and two third-year modules, it explores how and to what extent a virtual learning environment (VLE) can enhance the teaching of…

The last few years have seen an increase in research studies on the impact and effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the teaching and learning of English as a school subject. It is against that research background and against recent developments in policy and practice in the UK that the present systematic review of…

This article describes an English language arts teacher preparation perspective that considers middle school students as part of the teacher educator team. Based on a recognized gap in the literature about students as powerful partners, the authors undertook a 3-year study to explore the question, "What do preservice middle school teachers…

Discusses the effectiveness of a week-long teacher inservice workshop on Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in the context of an analysis of participants' responses to a 10-question evaluation of the inservice. (AEA)

Describes the Pacesetter English course and its seven units of study. Outlines the program's objectives and methods. (HB)

Part of a series about research-based programs that show promise for raising student achievement (especially in low-performing schools), this paper describes seven promising reading and language arts programs. Each program shows evidence of high standards, effectiveness, replicability, and support structures. The paper opens with a brief…

Describes a project that connected a ninth-grade English classroom in Colorado with English classes grades 7-12 in remote, rural Alaska and a poet in Vermont in an online poetry exchange. Describes how it has changed the entire atmosphere of the rural Alaskan school, and turned into a life-altering event for students, staff members, parents, and…

Noting the recent massive effort on the part of the State University System in Florida to improve instruction in English and the Classics, this document reviews that system's Letters Program. Following a brief introduction, the first section offers information on how the report was compiled, and summarizes findings on the following: (1) the…

This program focuses on the elective English programs which are, in whole or in part, replacing traditional English offerings at the secondary school level. It is suggested that the newer elective English programs differ from traditional ones in at least six ways: (1) elective programs consist of a wide variety of courses; (2) students are…

A case is made for the assigned reading of ancient and modern literary classics, rather than modern essay collections, in college freshman composition classes. The effectiveness of a number of classics used for that purpose for 13 years in the freshman courses at Haverford College is discussed. Classwork in the Haverford program is described, and…

This article examines the linguistic benefits of Latin in light of recent research which seems to document the relevance of Latin in building English vocabulary and reading skills. Evidence is cited from eight educational projects in which an experimental group of students taking Latin, and a control group not taking Latin, were pretested,…

150 students at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, DC have engaged the Harvard Model for creating a culture of thinking. This Tishman, Perkins, and Jay framework introduced them to four forces of enculturation and six dimensions of a thinking classroom in combination with African American Literature and Future Studies as specific…

Preparing students for college and work in the Knowledge Age. That is the mission of this generic proposal. A counterpoint to Industrial Age mindsets marking most initiatives in the District of Columbia Public schools and described in the "fifth discipline" works of Peter Senge, Creating a Culture of Thinking in DCPS proposes a project…

A state-level summative review of the Letters Program of Florida's 28 community colleges was undertaken to examine issues that affect the program's leaders and planners, to make recommendations for policy changes and funding priorities, to identify areas of need, to observe trends, and to highlight thematic concerns among division/department…