The comparison of adult literacy in the United States and in other countries is based on data gathered in interviews with a sample of individuals representative of the population aged 16-65 in twelve countries: Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland,…

This British guide contains reviews of software available for Basic Skills, including English for Speakers of Other Languages, in both education and training for employment. In addition, it offers guidance on how to use software effectively to develop basic skills. Section 1 provides information about the following aspects of the guide: computers…

Intended to help international business people create business documents of style and substance for correspondents in many different cultures (correspondents whose second or even third language is English), this guide is extremely useful for the millions who travel internationally, work abroad, and correspond with business people in other…

This report provides annual information for the 1998-99 school year on grade-level retention in the Texas public school system, based on the Public Education Information Management System. Data on retention are provided by grade, ethnicity, gender, participation in special education, degree of English proficiency, and socioeconomic status. In…

This booklet is designed to introduce aspects of effective reading instruction that should be considered when teaching reading to students with disabilities. An introduction discusses general principles for teaching reading to students with disabilities and emphasizes the importance of individually designing a program based on a student's…

Meant to guide administrators and teachers as they strive to meet Governor George W. Bush's goal for all students to read on grade level by the end of grade 3, this booklet presents descriptions of components of a research-based beginning reading program. The first section describes 12 essential components of a beginning reading program. In this…

This book explores the ways in which fourth-grade students use story, metaphor, and language to develop mathematical thinking skills and strategies. Replete with children's stories and illustrations, the book looks at children as sense-makers, storytellers, language creators, and problem-posers. It focuses on how to create a classroom community…

This guide outlines four core English learning goals for high school students in Maryland. The guide lists extensive student educational objectives for each indicator. It is divided into separate sections for each of the four goals: Content and Skills for Success Indicator Matches for Thinking and Communication. (NKA)

Aligned with its 1998 standards for first- and second-language learning, Alberta Learning has published lesson plans that aim for a closer relationship between learning and evaluation. Each volume in this series presents a specific task for students that involves planning, carrying out, and evaluating their work. The task for eleventh grade…

This paper presents suggestions for a 60-hour course in intercultural communication that develops cognition skills needed to understand life in foreign countries. The initial part of the course is intended to heighten the participant's awareness of his or her own "home-culture"; the latter part concentrates on assumptions, values, and…

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning units were created for K-12 students. This unit, "Water…

This report presents preliminary results from four sets of tests that are part of the North Carolina state testing program. The Grade 3 Pretest is a multiple choice reading and mathematics test administered to students at the beginning of third grade. This pretest was administered to more than 102,000 students in the 1999-2000 school year, and…

This paper provides an overview of the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI), a research-based instructional program designed to improve students' ability to read, understand, and communicate in English. The program focuses on pre- and inservice professional development for teachers who are trained in a highly structured,…

A study inquired into the cross-cultural perceptions of the place of English-speaking teachers teaching English to English language majors in Chinese tertiary institutions. A case study was conducted in 1997 in nine Chinese tertiary institutions in a southwestern province of the People's Republic of China. Four groups of people participated in the…

This paper reports on a study that investigated group learning processes in computer-supported collaborative concept mapping. Thirty 5th grade Taiwanese students were selected to attend a computer-mediated collaborative concept mapping activity. Dialog messages and map products tracked and recorded by the mapping system were analyzed. The…