Suggests that since most newborn infants (65%) preferred to lie with their heads turned to the right, whereas 15% showed a distinct preference for the left, right head-orientation preference may contribute to the early development of right-handedness. (Author/SK)

Reviews and updates handwriting research conducted in the 1980s, adding two categories of research efforts to previous work: the use of mental models in forming letters during handwriting instruction; and handwriting instruction for special needs populations such as adult literacy and learning disabled students, remedial education students, and…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) contains a direct writing assessment, and examinees are given the option of composing their responses at a computer terminal using a keyboard or composing their responses in handwriting. This study sought to determine whether performance on a direct writing assessment is comparable for examinees…

A study of children's progress through the first 3 years of school followed 32 students in 10 schools in the Wellington, New Zealand area. Data were collected through interviews with children, teachers, and parents; school records; and video recordings of children in the classroom. Sections of this report of the study discuss: (1) assistant…

This guide provides practical and specific step-by-step methods for developing and using curriculum-based assessment (CBA) in an educational setting. It is organized into six basic skills chapters. Chapter 1, "Assessment: An Overview" (Carroll J. Jones), includes the basic reasons for assessment and types of special education assessment, as well…

A survey was conducted among community college and university faculty to obtain information on writing task assignments and evaluation in classes (excluding English classes) taught during the first two years of postsecondary education. It was found that faculty in two- and four-year colleges commonly require only essay responses in tests and…

Six strategies for teaching handwriting skills to learning disabled elementary students are presented, along with a rationale and illustrated step-by-step teaching procedures for each. Skills addressed include the following: (1) improving eye-hand coordination through dot-to-dot alphabet letter tracing; (2) teaching basic strokes in manuscript…

Part of a series focusing on the classroom needs of special students, this book supplements more comprehensive and theoretical treatments of teaching language arts with practical classroom teaching strategies. The book is divided into the following five parts: (1) "Special Language Arts Needs of Special Learners," with chapters outlining…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in postsecondary marketing student performance on essay tests based on test format (i.e., computer-based or handwritten). Specifically, the variables of performance, test completion time, and gender were explored for differences based on essay test format. Results of the study…

This module was not meant to make handwriting analysts of students, but to make them aware that mathematics is used in analyzing handwriting. Activities revolve around ratio, mean, mode, measurement and some graphing. Sample spaces are explored and used to gain insight into how people write habitually. (Author/MK)

TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE UNDEREDUCATED WHOSE SKILLS APPROXIMATE FOURTH TO EIGHTH GRADE READING LEVEL AND THOSE FOR WHOM LEARNING ENGLISH AS A NEW LANGUAGE IS THE FIRST STEP IN JOB TRAINING, 20 OCCUPATIONALLY-ORIENTED UNITS OF INSTRUCTION IN READING AND RELATED SKILLS AND A SECTION ON TEACHING THE COURSE ARE OUTLINED. UNITS, PLANNED FOR 20 40-HOUR…

A CONFERENCE WAS HELD TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND A FUSED CURRICULUM IN BEGINNING READING. THE CURRICULUM HAD BEEN DEVELOPED AND TENTATIVELY EVALUATED AS PART OF "PROJECT LITERACY," A BASIC RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN AREAS OF EDUCATION RELEVANT TO THE ACQUISITION OF LITERACY SKILLS. THE FOCUS OF THE CURRICULUM WAS ON A…

Elementary school teachers acknowledge the need for better writing instruction, but seldom have time for it within their already crowded curricula. Writing instruction suffers from placing skills development before writing activities, from emphasis on reading, and because many teachers are not well prepared to teach writing. A low priority is…

Following suggestions by the editors on how to evaluate their selections are 49 articles on research and on programs and procedures in remedial and corrective education. Papers included treat the following topics: problems of underachievement, correlates of learning disability, approaches to the diagnosis of learning problems, approaches to…

Prepared for use in grade seven, this language arts curriculum guide bases its reading strand on "Discovery through Reading" (Ginn 100), its English strand on "Roberts English Series" (Harcourt), its spelling strand on "Sound and Sense in Spelling" (Harcourt), and its handwriting strand on "Better Handwriting for…