A fresh look should be taken at the traditional distinction between adults with reading disabilities and those with little or no literacy skills. Although the distinction may still be valuable for theoretical purposes, it may not be as useful as it once was for practical situations. Many adults seeking literacy instruction today have limited…

A study examined the effect of an alternative language arts program designed to encourage children to take up reading and writing in ways that they find personally, socially, and politically relevant. Throughout a school year, the development of the alternative language arts program in a third/fourth grade classroom in an urban school was…

The 1993 report presents information from an annual survey of the states concerning enrollment of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in public elementary/secondary and adult education. It updates an enrollment database covering the school years 1985-86 through 1993-94. An introductory section describes and summarizes the study. Subsequent…

This digest investigates seven of the most prevalent and damaging myths about literacy in the United States. In response to various claims about American elementary and secondary students' test score declines in reading achievement, the author interprets data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the International…

While it is important to improve the outcomes of bilingual and English-only reading instruction for English language learners at all grade levels, there is a particular need to see that students are successful in beginning to read in the early elementary grades. One program that has achieved a great deal of success in meeting this goal is called…

This study examined the relationship among educational aspiration, cross-cultural sensitivity, and field of study of 196 Chinese student teachers enrolled in the Faculty of Education for Fall 1994 and Spring 1995 at the University of Macau (China). The study investigated other patterns of cross-cultural experience and activities, including average…

Designed to supplement an established language arts and social studies program, this books deals with the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas of Latin America. All of the "Story Starter" books are intended to give a variety of vocabulary and story ideas to help with the writing process. Each of the books is divided into four main sections: (1) an…

An evaluation examined the efficacy of the program structure, implementation, and outcomes of the Worker Education Program (WEP), a partnership of Northeastern Illinois University; Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Employees; and 14 employers. WEP's greatest strengths were its conceptual design, program structures, relevant…

This 173-item annotated bibliography contains books on literacy primarily published in 1996 in the United Kingdom, although some books are included which were omitted from the guide for the previous year. In addition to an annotation, each entry provides author's name, full title, number of pages, place of publication and publisher, and ISBN…

This paper presents aspects of modeling, authoring, and presenting structured documents corresponding to teaching material presented in the World Wide Web. In this context, the importance of providing the formalization of the structure of the documents using Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is discussed. Next, specifications for…

Appropriate for elementary methods courses in Arts and Language Arts, this book extends traditional language arts content by offering multiple communicative channels for expressing, representing, and responding to ideas. It equips teachers with ways to maximize children's creative potential and critical literacy through activities involving "the…

A program was developed for improving primary level student intelligences in order to improve reading comprehension, prediction skills, and the ability to apply targeted reading strategies. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in a middle class community located in the far southern Chicago metropolitan area. The…

This paper responds to the complaints of several content area teachers that their students are not reading on grade level, and therefore are not able to engage in classroom activities. The paper is divided into two sections: the first section discusses research, effective instructional strategies, and steps to remedy the problem for working with…

Descriptive information is provided about students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) (Texas) with limited English proficiency (LEP) and the educational programs designed to serve those students. In Fall 1996 the HISD identified 58,425 LEP students, of whom 94.9% reported Hispanic ethnicity. The remaining students reported over 60…

This guide for French speakers describes the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process in Alberta, Canada. Different sections address: (1) components of the IEP; (2) when an IEP is necessary; (3) the process of developing the IEP (includes a flowchart); (4) how evaluation information is collected through the student, parents, professionals,…