This practicum report describes development, implementation, and evaluation of a program which used an augmentative and alternative communication system with six nonverbal preschool children with developmental disabilities attending a special school. An extensive review of the literature on augmentative and alternative communication systems was…

This book, also available on audiocassette, is written for preadolescents and adolescents with learning disorders, and offers them empowering suggestions for overcoming their problems in school. The first chapter deals with basic concepts related to learning disorders and brain function. It emphasizes that there are many types of learning…

Hierarchical cluster analysis techniques were used to identify subtypes of 125 Minnesota students with learning disabilities (LD) in grades 1 through 6, and to investigate their academic performance. The measure used for clustering was the Basic Academic Skills Samples (BASS), an index of student proficiency in basic academic skill areas (reading,…

The perceived self-efficacy concept plays a significant role in predicting human performance in several areas of human effort, but self-efficacy theory has seldom been applied in the fields of adult literacy and English as a second language (ESL). This study designed a questionnaire for adult literacy and ESL learners to assess their self-efficacy…

A study examined the influence of a humorous genre study on children's writing from writer's workshop and children's projects during a language arts period. The study explored the type of humor selected by children to assimilate into their writing and projects. Humorous material with ambiguous language was presented in multiple formats of print,…

This book provides a multicultural curriculum that can be used alone or as a supplemental program for language arts and social studies instruction in kindergarten through grade 6. It uses the pluralistic values of the students' heritages to develop their social and problem-solving abilities. Each of the 30 units contains quotations that exemplify…

This paper describes a study in which one specific form of follow-up, the action plan, was used to assess the effectiveness of a teachers' course with 15 German teachers of English and offers an evaluation of the plan's potential as a program evaluation instrument. The course was taught for 20, 1.5 hour sessions, in the mornings; afternoons were…

Methods of computerized adaptive testing using conventional scoring methods in order to develop a computerized placement test for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) were studied. As a consequence of simulation studies during the first phase of the study, the multilevel testing paradigm was adopted to produce three test levels…

Based on a literature review and the 20 years experience of an Alaskan teacher and administrator, some recommendations are proposed to improve education in rural Alaska school districts with Alaska Native students, particularly Yup'ik Eskimos. Currently such school districts have an education system similar to that found throughout the United…

This study examined differences between stable (n=107) and mobile (n=39) students attending a three-year middle school in Terre Haute (Indiana). Demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, and family income were considered, in addition to mobility, to assess possible relationships with aptitude and achievement. Achievement was measured by the…

Intended as a comprehensive textbook for preservice teachers, this book aims to present a thoughtful, balanced approach to the teaching of reading and writing, incorporating the best of both traditional and holistic practices. It incorporates the teaching of both skills and strategies within a literature-based reading perspective, and is intended…

This book takes up the question of what shape high school English studies should take in the coming years. It describes an English program that blends philosophical depth with classroom practicality. Drawing examples from commonly taught texts such as "Macbeth,""To Kill a Mockingbird," and "Lord of the Flies," the…

This report, based upon studies carried out from 1994-96 by a task force of international educators, focuses on efforts to identify a language and a strategy for improving U.S.-Japan "international education." Several conclusions are reached and discussed in the text: (1) international education can be stimulated by a new transnational…

The development of educational computing in the last two decades has been largely uncritical and the field is dominated by technocentric approaches. With few notable exceptions, sociologists of education have not directly addressed educational computing. As a result, the social, political and cultural origins and implications of educational…

A project was designed to increase reading skills of a target group of kindergarten through second-grade students in a primary continuous progress (CP) house in central Florida. The original target group included 15 kindergarten students, 34 first graders, and 54 second graders. Strategies included 4 parent language arts inservices, developing…