Preschoolers are passionate about learning, and a high-quality preschool program offers rich learning experiences in the areas of language and literacy. This engaging book gives teachers and other professionals fresh ideas, inspiration, and practical tools for integrating age-appropriate literacy instruction into the preschool curriculum.…

In this article, the author shares her experience in teaching sixth grade Spanish at Autrey Mill Middle School in Alpharetta, Georgia. Through the school's implementation of the middle school teaming concept, the author and her colleague on the sixth grade team have teamed up with other teachers in order to provide reading and writing…

The authors elaborate on the experience of creating for high school students effective multisensory, hands-on learning centers that address a full range of elements from the English language arts curriculum. Allison P. Movitz and Kerry P. Holmes detail the centers Movitz designed for a Mostly Medieval unit to show how learning centers can help…

A former high school teacher's reflections on the connections between basketball and poetry suggest the significance of extracurricular activities for teachers and students. W. Douglas Baker recounts how he guided students to make connections among "the collision of activities in their lives" by delving into the practices and discourses of three…

This report focuses on two aspects of teacher supply and quality: (a) the under-representation of racial/ethnic minorities, especially African Americans in the teaching pool, and (b) teacher candidates' performance on licensure assessments, including general skills tests in reading, writing, and mathematics (known as Praxis I[R]) and selected…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in the development and dissemination of instructional tools to support teachers' incorporation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction. Literacy experts have developed a framework and a set of templates that teachers and other educators can use to develop content…

This article describes an English language arts teacher preparation perspective that considers middle school students as part of the teacher educator team. Based on a recognized gap in the literature about students as powerful partners, the authors undertook a 3-year study to explore the question, "What do preservice middle school teachers…

This case study looks at the way in which the fundamental principles and practices of a well-established model of interactive radio instruction (IRI) were examined in light of the way that South Africa now wishes to teach language and mathematics. At stake was IRI's capacity to reinvent itself and still find a useful role for radio in the context…

With the increasing curricular demands on teachers, many educators wonder if students find adequate opportunities to think. While visiting educators and students in Franklin County, Tennessee, a college instructor discovered a successful program designed to help students think in meaningful ways about their lives. The contest, established by Sir…

This resource book is one in a series containing lesson plans for grades 1-3 designed to support children's literature books sharing familiar social studies themes. "Celebrations" presents eight different children's books related to the theme. For each book social studies concepts are presented, followed by four activities called "windows." Some…

This summary reviews the rationale for defining English language arts standards for K-12 students and the perspective on language learning that informs them. After presenting 2 of the 12 standards and discussing them briefly, the summary provides a vignette to illustrate how the standards might be manifested in a classroom setting. (RS)

One of a series of educational packages designed for implementation either in a workshop atmosphere or through individual study, this Hot Topic guide presents a variety of materials to assist educators in designing and implementing classroom projects and activities centering on the topic of outcome-based education. The Hot Topic guide contains…

This paper consists of some preliminary tips for teachers on how to hold portfolio conferences followed by 25 specific suggestions presented in the right hand column of a chart; the left-hand column contains related comments under the heading of "General Organizational Structure." A variety of portfolio conferences can be conducted in…

The result of a move in the State of New Jersey to establish a common core of knowledge and skills in specified high school courses, this paper presents the core course proficiencies for English courses students take to meet high school graduation requirements in English (Language Arts). The paper first briefly discusses the background, purpose,…