In order to promote critical thinking in young children, particularly children ages 5-8, teachers need to understand skills and dispositions of critical thinkers. This paper discusses these skills, dispositions, and the appropriate classroom climate, within the context of pedagogy, along with learning activities for kindergarten and primary…

Papers by graduate students, and occasionally papers from their mentors which establish a context for the student papers, are organized by sponsoring University. Student papers presented are: (1) "Cognitive Strategy in Design: The Measurement of its Effect On the Student Design Project" (Michael Eckersley); (2) "The Effects of…

Both Hispanics and Whites have made important educational gains over the past two decades. However, Hispanics trail their White peers with respect to educational access, achievement, and attainment, although some differences have narrowed over time. This booklet summarizes data from "The Condition of Education, 1995," on overall educational trends…

This guide is designed for teachers of multilevel classes in English as a Second Language (ESL) at the adult level. The first section discusses principles, methods, and techniques for classroom instruction, including student grouping, appropriate ESL teaching methods (audiolingual, vocational, language experience, natural approach,…

This curriculum is an extensive revision and expansion of a previous competency-based survival English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) curriculum designed to bring ESL learners to a level of proficiency that would enable them to adapt to most everyday situations, even if not specifically trained for each situation. This curriculum maintains a…

Public schools have created the position of the Technology Resource Teacher (TRT) in an attempt to establish a technical and instructional support system at the school level to assure the proper usage of technology (particularly computers) by both teachers and students. This study explores the roles and responsibilities of the Technology Resource…

This nontechnical guide for parents and teachers examines learning to read from infants' babbling to the fluent reading of children reading independently for pleasure. Chapter 1, "Baby Speaks," describes language development in infancy. Chapter 2, "Our Alphabet: Language by Ear and by Eye," presents the alphabetic system and…

Children who are "at risk" are differentiated by their difficulty meeting standards for school success. This paper describes a model for a field-based component of an elementary education children's literature course involving in-school tutoring of at risk children. The program provided preservice teachers the opportunity to: (1) develop…

Information has become an increasingly valuable commodity. Access to full-text information, containing text, images, and in some cases, sound, is becoming vital to decision-making for organizations as well as individuals. The book covers the following topics: (1) the information marketplace in a cyberculture; (2) the telecommunications foundation…

This training package assists educators in improving the delivery of services to culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students at the classroom level. It is based on the necessity of addressing multiple systems (e.g., the child, the family, and the school), with emphasis on mildly disabled over other levels of disability and on…

The articles contained in this volume on second language writing evaluation focus on the evaluation of academic English learned as a second language (ESL). Essays include: "Assessment by Misconception: Cultural Influences and Intellectual Traditions" (Brigid Ballard, John Clanchy); "Reading the World Differently: A Cross-Cultural Approach to…

A recent National Research Council study, "Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children: A Research Agenda" examined the status of bilingual education research and the direction of future studies. The report is discussed here, in a format corresponding to the report's sections on domains of research and practice: bilingualism and…

The first-year evaluation of a two-way Spanish/English bilingual education program at two Austin (Texas) elementary schools is presented. The developmental program has as its objectives the development of students' oral proficiency in Spanish and English, development of grade-level appropriate literacy in both languages, increase in academic…

The Australian engineering company, Jaques, and Swinburne University of Technology conducted a joint project to write more than 190 operating instructions for the company's 77 employees. First, the university's Workplace Skills Unit (WSU) interviewed 75 production workers to identify their language, literacy, and training needs. The WSU negotiated…

Parents and teachers may often have wondered how preschoolers learn, or why certain things, events, or people are more interesting to them than others? This book provides information on how young children learn, and offers activities to encourage emerging literacy, promote creativity and imagination, and enhance knowledge and development in music,…