In May 2016 an Invitational Symposium on the Reading for Understanding (RfU) Initiative was held in Alexandria, Virginia. Co-hosted by ETS and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the symposium brought together 160 state and local education leaders to examine the results of the RfU initiative. The goal of the U.S. Department of…

Using Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), this study explores whether the San Diego Schools are teaching and/or testing higher level cognitive skills. The Taxonomy arranges cognitive processes in ascending order in six areas; (1) recall of knowledge; (2) comprehension; (3) application; (4) analysis; (5) synthesis; and (6)…

After finding that French language learning was declining in Rio de Janeiro schools because of inadequate resources, oversized classes, and irrelevant curricula, several teachers turned to a magazine for adolescents for motivating students to read. Extracts from an article and a series of exercises developing varied competencies illustrate the…

This paper discusses the Thai reading curriculum in use at the Foreign Service Institute, focusing on the development of the Thai curriculum over the past four years. It describes the instructional materials used in the program, activities developed to accompany the materials, and suggestions for improvement. Feedback from instructors and students…

This research review focuses on the effects and implications of text organization, both physical presentation and text structure, and on reading comprehension, with special emphasis on the comprehension of diverse learners. The review includes students in kindergarten through college, who are high and low readers and comprehenders; low…

An overview of the literature of listening illustrates the lack of sufficient research in this area. A 1955 survey of curriculum guidebooks and bulletins for the inclusion of listening demonstrates the effect of limited research: most documents devoted anywhere from two to six pages to listening in elementary through secondary school levels. In…

Intended to enable teachers and other school staff members to implement the Responsive Reading Program, a comprehension-centered program for kindergarten to third grade children, this guide is divided into a brief introduction and five major sections. The second chapter discusses the theoretical background of the program and the skills or…

Describes a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. The article presents the practical problems among the staff that created the workshop, describes the workshop, and presents its limitations and advantages as well as broader implications for issues such as curriculum…

In order to bring about some continuity and coherence among the various English for Special Purposes (ESP) courses at the Universidad Simon Bolivar, a systematization project was undertaken. The purpose was to provide general guidelines for the production and future revision of materials while taking into account the specific characteristics of…

This guide to secondary school French reading instruction addresses a variety of general and specific instructional issues. An introductory chapter discusses program objectives, minimum program requirements, and the population to be taught. The second chapter looks at theoretical aspects of the development of reading ability: current thoughts on…

Adult literacy program outcomes have been disappointing. A number of principals and methods from cognitive and neuropsychological research can be used to make literacy instruction more effective, including the following: improving cognitive function; fast reading; reading practice; literacy as a motivator; and improving use of class time.…

Describes a long-term project where middle school students were taught to visually represent key text ideas through idea-mapping techniques. Instruction was inserted in the content area curriculum along with regular textbooks and supplementary material. Positive effects were found in recall, comprehension, and learning. (MJP)

This document is the syllabus of a Latin course developed by the Indianapolis Public Schools for elementary school children, based on the Latin FLES materials of the Philadelphia Public Schools. The program is based on the theory that the study of a second language will increase the student's understanding and control of his native tongue. The…