This article represents an attempt to begin a dialogue among the research community to identify what is known about using technology in various content areas. Although it does not present new empirical data, it does offer the reader one researcher's perspective on technology in literacy and language arts. The author discusses the effects of…

Students in an introductory psychology course evaluated 3 types of outlines (traditional, graphical, alphabetical) and then provided summary information about their use of outlines and rank ordered their preferred type of outlines. Over 75% of students agreed that outlines are useful, and students clearly prefer the traditional, Roman…

This study emerges from the lack of empirical research on gifted students' attributions about academic success and failure in multiple subject areas and school in general. We explored differences in top attributional choices between boys and girls for success and failure in general academics, language arts, science, and mathematics. Gifted…

Kimberly Huber's preliminary exploration of critical literacy is traced. The critical literacy project in which a complex set of literate practices taught the grade 2 and 3 children about power and the possibilities for local civic action is discussed.

The authors argue for teaching queer-inclusive English language arts (ELA). They report on a study that surveyed high school personnel across the United States, revealing that very few people in charge of ELA curricula value such inclusion. In response to these findings, the authors offer "images of the possible" in which texts and…

Teachers improve society by helping the students to read and write and by exercising authority, not relinquishing it. The advocacy of inquiry method by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner and the impact of the critique of conventional schooling on the preservice teachers in the English language arts classroom are discussed.

One of the most important concerns expressed in A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1984) was being related to how effectively classroom instruction time was being used in America's schools. In response to that report, many concerned educators and community patrons at national, state, and local levels argued that…

The purpose of this article is to explore the evidence suggesting the effectiveness of literacy instruction through communicative and visual arts, according to Flood, Heath, and Lapp (1997). Visual arts includes everything from dramatic performances to comic books to television viewing. The communicative arts, such as reading, writing, and…

Most arguments in support of teacher research have been epistemological and political. They have focused on its potential benefits for improving instruction and for reforming the culture of schooling. Advocates of the teacher-research movement have claimed that it can empower the teacher as a maker of knowledge, encourage collaborative inquiry…

In this article, the author talks about the changing role of the elementary library media specialist. Unfortunately, library media specialists (LMSs) are too often left out of the literacy loop. Traditionally, their roles in literacy were to be the support team, the purveyors of books, the sometimes nearly invisible element in literacy, but this…

A considerable body of previous research has demonstrated that differences between schools and classes have an impact on students' learning and acquisition of skills. It is not yet clear, however, whether the effects persist in the longer term. The present study examines the effect of primary schools and classes on language and mathematics…

Schmoker asserts that the kinds of skills students need to succeed in college--skills like clear thinking, effective writing, and the ability to analyze international and policy issues--are equally needed for non-college-bound youth. He maintains it is possible--and necessary--to provide an intellectually challenging and culturally enriching…

The authors examined whether taking a first-year "Inquiry" course, Inquiry in Social Science (1SS3), makes a difference in students' learning and performance. Using five years of data from McMaster University, they compared students who took first-year "Inquiry" with comparable students who did not in terms of how well students performed during…

This study was designed to examine the effects of looping, a practice whereby teachers and students stay together for more than one year, on perceived values and academic achievement in language arts at a Fresno Unified School District elementary school in Fresno, CA. Looping has many perceived advantages, such as the development of long-term…

Validation of assessments intended to improve instruction and learning should include evidence of instructional sensitivity. This study investigated the instructional sensitivity of a standards-based ninth-grade performance assessment that required students to write an essay about conflict in a literary work. Before administering the assessment,…