Intended for teachers who have asked for information on how to manage a multi-age classroom, this book outlines the ideal classroom as it exists when all of the multi-age components are put in place. Opening sections of the guide discuss creating the multi-age classroom, and the advantages and principles of multi-age instruction. The next sections…

This guide, which is intended for literacy instructors working with students learning English as a Second Language (ESL), contains materials for and about an integrated performing arts and literacy program that was developed for use with Asian Americans. Presented first is a brief history of the workshop's development for use in the Chinatown area…

A study explored ways that three university-based and two middle-school-based teachers might begin to alter or interrupt discursive practices that have in the past permitted inequities in classroom talk about text to go unexamined and unchanged. A feminist theoretical frame guided the study's focus on gender as a lens for examining power…

A profile of variables related to the status of students at risk of failure in Kosrae State, Federated States of Micronesia in 1993-94 is presented as part of a study of at-risk high school students in some of the American-affiliated Pacific political entities. Data collection was a challenge in Kosrae because of inadequate records, but data were…

Variables related to the status of students at risk of failure in public high schools in Chuuk State of the Federated States of Micronesia are profiled. This study was part of a larger study of at-risk status in American-affiliated political entities in the Pacific. In Chuuk, data were collected from 48 student records and interviews with 50…

Information on current trends and issues informally discussed and then delineated by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions, is presented in this 13th annual report. The commissions and their directors are: (1) Commission on Curriculum (Dorothy King); (2) Commission on Composition (Christine Kline); (3) Commission…

This paper discusses recent trends in provision of educational programs and services reflecting the Deaf community's recognition in Australia as a linguistic and cultural minority, focusing on the Bilingual/Bicultural program of the Thomas Pattison School in Sydney (Australia). The history of Deaf culture, language, and education in Australia and…

This paper reports the results of a large-scale portfolio pilot in which over 2,000 secondary students submitted portfolios in language arts, mathematics, and science classes. Students were asked to select work for their portfolios based on the criteria that would be used to evaluate the work. Students also reflected on how their work satisfied…

Despite disagreement about the value of multicultural education, schools are putting some multicultural learning into the curricula already in place. This guide for parents describes the different ways that schools are teaching multiculturalism. Some schools emphasize programs that focus on information and teach about different cultural groups by…

"Scaffolding" refers to the temporary support that parents and others give a child to perform a task. In narrative contexts, children's speech is guided and scaffolded by mothers who initiate and elicit children's contributions about past experiences. Unfortunately, data on this phenomenon from languages other than English are very…

As part of course requirements, preservice teachers in the reading/language arts early field program at the University of Southern Mississippi write two case narratives per semester about their teaching experiences in an urban elementary school. This paper discusses the benefits of case writing for preservice teachers and explains the specific…

This paper presents the results of a document and interview analysis focusing on the standards and frameworks materials that have been newly developed for teachers and administrators in New York to determine the fit between these guidelines and the developing sociocultural concept of curriculum as "conversation" within the domains of…

A large school district conducting a revision of its curriculum-based assessment program for grades one through six introduced performance assessments in response to a demand for more authentic assessment associated with national concerns for standards-based educational reform. This study reports validity evidence for the locally developed reading…

This digest presents recommendations for a staff development program for a multilingual multicultural teaching staff that has been tested and shown to be effective. Effective instruction in bilingual and multicultural schools requires that teachers combine a sophisticated knowledge of subject matter with a wide repertoire of teaching strategies…

How Chinese students and their teachers see the context and content of their learning is explored in the essays in this collection. Seeing these students in their own cultural backgrounds helps in the exploration of Western educational theory and practice as well. The contributions are: (1) "Learning Theories and Approaches to Research: A…