Contends that students in spatial analysis courses generally are familiar with computer use and programs but lack basic computer programing skills. Describes four exercises in which students learn programing using BASIC and dBASE. Asserts that programming exercises help students clarify concepts, understand the rationale behind calculations, use…

Discusses various responses to the author's book "Ways with Words--Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms" (1983). Describes how these reactions have led the author to see things in the work that she had not seen before. Strengths and weaknesses of the book she identifies have implications for the conduct of future ethnographic…

Describes the Family Focus for School Success Project, a model program that provides education and support to language minority families in poverty and their children through comprehensive early intervention for children at risk of academic failure because of their home environments. An evaluation of the first year's efforts with 69 families…

A qualitative inquiry describes the sociocultural aspects of an urban elementary school serving as the context for a reading/language arts early field experience and examines how the sociocultural factors of this school contribute to the professional development of the preservice teachers who work there and their three supervising teachers. (SLD)

Transition stress is intensified for students entering not just a new school, but a new country. Educators can help adolescent immigrants by providing access to information, supporting English language and academic development (via newcomer schools and sheltered English content programs), and promoting access to postsecondary education. (MLH)

This study examined the interactional social behaviors of six elementary grade children with specific language impairment. Data reviewed included teacher ratings of social skills and child self-perceptions of loneliness and peer contacts. Children also were observed during interactional tasks including access, negotiation, and cooperative work.…

Verbal-retelling abilities for social-studies lectures were examined in 20 adolescent boys with language-learning disabilities and 29 with normal language abilities. Lectures had either a comparison expository discourse structure or a causation discourse structure. Results indicated that the comparison discourse structure facilitated more…

Studies the pedagogical growth of two student art teachers as measured by their language during practicum interviews. Measured the level of description of teaching activity and level of explanation of activity success. Delineates the value of this research and notes factors that limit the drawing of broader conclusions. (DSK)

Examines literacy practices at Genoa Industrial Indian School (Nebraska), 1884-1934, one of the largest federal Indian boarding schools. Focuses on literary texts that students read, particularly "Stiya: A Carlisle Indian Girl at Home" and "Ramona"; student essays about preservation versus extinction of Indian languages and…

Features activities designed to enhance students' spatial reasoning ability combining geometry, language arts, and visual arts. (ASK)

Outlines a set of conditions in which literacy learning is more likely to occur, based on Brian Cambourne's theory of literacy learning defining eight "conditions for learning." Defines each of these learning conditions, gives examples of them in the real world, and offers examples of what each condition for learning looks like in a 10th-grade…

Reviews 31 collections of children's poetry that help students see the world from a fresh perspective. Notes how they were used in a variety of classrooms and how children responded to them. Organizes the books in terms of: making the ordinary extraordinary; looking at relationships in new ways; new views of the world; and a fresh look at animals.…

Explores relationships among enrollment in algebra or a foreign language in eighth grade, level of mathematics or foreign-language courses taken in high school, and application to a four-year college or university. (Author/SLD)

Attempting to increase reading engagement, a collaborative team implemented a year-long integration of reading/language arts and science instruction known as Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI). Compared to traditionally organized instruction, the CORI context increased strategy use, conceptual learning, and text comprehension more than…

Despite six decades of leading researchers' research findings upholding progressive, whole-language reading approaches, consensus is lacking. Pundits tend to discredit educational research. News media promulgate tougher standards while overlooking progressive classroom successes. Parents may fear children's exploration of a wide variety of books…