This report describes a program designed to improve students' expressive writing in a midwestern elementary school classroom. The targeted third and fourth grade students demonstrated inconsistencies in the quality of their writing which interfered with their success in the classroom. Evidence for the existence of the problem included district…

The 11 papers in this collection address various aspects of the adoption and implementation of technology in the education of students with disabilities. An introduction by David B. Malouf of the Office of Special Education Programs introduces the collection. The following papers are included: (1) "No Easy Answer: The Instructional Effectiveness…

An adult educator in Butler, Pennsylvania, noticed that, although students who took the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) seemed highly motivated to improve their basic skills in mathematics and spatial relations, only 2 of her 20 students who took the GATB made a concerted effort to develop their vocabulary. Thinking that those two students…

The Education Graduates' Post-Degree Learning Needs Study, conducted in fall 1996 and winter 1997, examined the post-degree learning needs of faculty/college of education graduates. Research activities included a literature review, a written survey of education graduates, research in two university graduate classes, telephone interviews with…

Intergenerational learning communities develop when learners from one class create materials that learners from later classes can use. If information for a class is collected and maintained in an electronic archive, each successive class, or generation, can use that material and build upon it. The compilation of documents results in a…

Portfolios provide a means to represent excellence and variety in the work of one preparing to be a teacher. This paper reviews the implementation of portfolios with preservice teachers and describes appropriate electronic artifacts for inclusion in an electronic portfolio. Teaching portfolios are typically composed of artifacts, reproductions,…

The psychological benefits of a high school tutoring program were investigated. Results gathered from questionnaires answered by high school students tutoring junior high school students, both before and after the tutoring experience, indicated that tutors' empathy, altruism, and self-esteem increased as a result of program participation.…

Analyzes teacher-fronted and pair interaction involving two learners of Japanese as a second language in an intermediate class. Shows learner-learner collaborative activity between these students of differing levels of proficiency that results in creative interaction that creates a positive learning environment. (57 references) (Author/CK)

Peer tutoring facilitates the inclusion of students with disabilities in physical education classes. The paper explains how to establish traditional peer tutor programs and train peer tutors. It also describes the classwide peer tutoring model, which lets students instruct each other while practicing certain skills. The role of the physical…

A program of Frontier College (Toronto), Beat the Street uses student-centered, individualized learning to give "street people" self-esteem and literacy skills. The program uses the street as a curriculum and volunteer tutors who are themselves street people. (SK)

The University of California at Santa Barbara Reader's Theater program educates students about the prevention of alcohol abuse, sexual assault, and HIV through a live, dramatic script reading. Peer educators serve as both actors and follow-up workshop discussion facilitators. (SM)

Peer-delivered self-instructional training was evaluated with three adolescent students with moderate to severe disabilities and their two peer teachers (with mild mental retardation). Two students learned the job skill and were able to generalize it. The third student required picture cues and training by a nonpeer trainer. (Author/DB)

The paper addresses placement of students with severe disabilities in regular or special classes within home schools, describes Vermont's Homecoming Model Project, and identifies best educational practices. The roles of state-level support and school leadership are stressed. Instructional strategies including data-based methods, partner learning…