This article outlines the results of an issues-based study conducted over a 12-month period that investigated how the systematic inclusion of teachers within the design, operationalization and implementation of an online curriculum development project in Florida led simultaneously to teachers' own professionalizing in areas of education they were…

The intention of this study is to explore mathematical discourse and teaching methods in Grades 6 and 7 of primary school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The school's student population changed from predominately white English/Afrikaans-speaking learners before the 1994 election to predominately black Xhosa-speaking students in…

The purpose of this article is to highlight ways in which middle school content area teachers can more effectively assess English Language Learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. This article poses five questions to guide middle school content teachers in making adaptations and accommodations when using traditional classroom tests. The objective of…

This article reports on an exploratory qualitative study on 37 students' acquisition of language and literacy. The study closely analyzes a linguistics assignment written in English, the dominant language, given to students at University of the Western Cape belonging to groups speaking English, Afrikaans, or an African language. The study…

Understanding abstract concepts and ideas in mathematics, if instruction takes place in the first language of the student, is difficult. Yet worldwide students often have to master mathematics via a second or third language. The majority of students in South Africa--a country with eleven official languages--has to face this difficulty. In a…

The present study focuses on the task characteristics of reading passages and key sentences in a test of second language reading. Using a new methodological approach to describe variation in test task characteristics and explore how differences in these characteristics might relate to examinee performance, it posed the two following research…

When non-native English-speaking elementary school students, exposed to English in the school environment only, were given high-interest, well-illustrated reading materials in English, measures of reading comprehension, English structures, word recognition, oral sentence repetition, and composition writing indicated that second-language…

This implementation guide is intended to support the Grade 4 to Grade 6 portion of the Spanish Language and Culture Nine-year Program (the program of studies). It was developed primarily for teachers, yet it includes information that may be useful for administrators and other stakeholders in their efforts to plan for and implement the new Spanish…

This document is designed to provide assessment materials for specific Grade 4 outcomes in the Ukrainian Language and Culture Nine-year Program, Grades 4-5-6. The assessment materials are designed for the beginner level in the context of teaching for communicative competence. Grade 4 learning outcomes from the Ukrainian Language and Culture…

Presented at the Annual National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in New York in March 2008. This presentation explores how different item weighting can affect the effective weights, validity coefficents and test reliability of composite scores among test takers.

This case study briefly explores how an online, multimedia learning module based on a Cognitive Apprenticeship higher level pedagogy can positively affect students achieving the learning outcomes of a Constructivist project-based curriculum in a blended e-business management program in the Middle East. The cohort in this program is nonnative…

The first comprehensive research handbook of its kind, this volume showcases innovative approaches to understanding adolescent literacy learning in a variety of settings. Distinguished contributors examine how well adolescents are served by current instructional practices and highlight ways to translate research findings more effectively into…

In today's world, contact with other cultures is an inevitable part of university and college life. "Learning and Teaching across Cultures in Higher Education" is intended for anyone who has an interest in intercultural aspects of higher education. The book contains theoretical rationale, resources and examples to help readers understand…

This brief presents the most current data available on the health, education and family well-being of children in California's immigrant families, who represent 51% of the state's total child population. It challenges misinformed and negative stereotypes about children in immigrant families. For example, 85% of children from immigrant families in…

This volume in the Language Teacher Research Series (Thomas S. C. Farrell, series editor) presents research conducted by language teachers at all levels, from high school English teachers to English language teacher educators, reflecting on their practices. The countries represented in this book are Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador,…