Intended to help students improve their writing and perform better on writing assessments, this concise guide discusses strategies for planning, writing, and revising a timed essay. The guide offers dozens of assignments and sample questions which provide many opportunities for students to practice and build confidence. It also informs about…

A study examined the influence of an intergenerational approach on the literacy development of parents and on the practice of family literacy at home. During a 3-year period, 367 families enrolled in multilingual, multiability literacy classes for at least one instructional cycle. The adult basic education classes were held in a community center…

This handbook is one of a set of six which provide a systematic means to help students in grades 4 through 8 learn the process of writing while building specific writing skills. The handbook focuses on paragraph writing, and offers 25 reproducible lessons, in a variety of formats, to help students improve their use of descriptive, narrative,…

This study compared 1985 and 1991 teacher education candidates on three different measures, to determine whether students entering the teaching profession today are qualitatively different from those in the past. One hundred essays written by preservice students at the College of Education at Eastern Kentucky University in 1985 and 1991 were…

A 10-week course called "Communiclearsory" Training was developed to improve the written and oral communications skills of supervisors/foremen in the manufacturing trades. A total of 39 selected supervisors from 2 manufacturing industries in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, were assessed by using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE)…

This booklet provides parents with insights as to what study skills are needed for successful learning and to illustrate their role as encouragers, motivators, and guides. It also provides parents with a review of the study skills students must use in order to improve their ability to learn. The ultimate aim of a study skills program is to develop…

Compiled from a variety of sources, this booklet offers practical tips to help students develop better learning and study skills. Topics discussed in the booklet are: listening in the classroom; getting the most from textbooks; taking notes; the Cornell note-taking system; how to write well; improving math study skills; how to do well on essay…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a text revision strategy in improving the writing skills of college students (St. Lawrence Campus of Champlain College in Quebec) of French as a second language. Subjects were two groups of students in one course. One group (n=24) was taught a revision technique using self-questioning to detect and correct…

This competency analysis profile contains a list of 70 communications skills that have been identified as core competencies for inclusion in programs in 49 occupational areas. The core competencies, which have been identified by employers and verified by English-certified instructors, have been organized into units devoted to reading, writing,…

The workplace research of Sylvia Scribner provides a model with which to study relationships between socially and institutionally organized practices and individual cognitive processes as well as to explore relationships between practices and processes in writing and the teaching of writing. Observations and conversations in one inner-city,…

When she began teaching, one instructor thought everything had to come from her. It took a couple of years before she understood that what students themselves bring to the experience is instrumental--even vital--in helping them connect with what happens in the classroom. In their freshman composition journals, students produced writing based on…

This document consists of a final report, informational packet, and training manual. These materials are from a 1997-98 extension of a project during which several educational agencies used the Cumberland Valley (Pennsylvania) diploma model to develop their own high school diploma program for implementation. The report itself describes the diploma…

A study at Queens College (City University of New York, New York) investigated the literacy backgrounds of nine non-native-English-speaking students of varied ages and language groups who failed the freshman composition test. Data were gathered in focused interviews (questions appended), which asked for the student's recollections of the…

This handbook for Adult Basic Education (ABE) and General Educational Development (GED) instruction synthesizes research and combines it with selected instructional strategies for instructors, tutors, and volunteers. This handbook is a reference tool that sets the scene for instruction in literacy and adult basic education. The handbook includes…

This English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) assessment kit was designed for use by teachers and program managers who are involved in the initial interview, assessment, and referral of students and who are responsible for placement of learners in programs and classes. Its aims are to help the interviewer to: (1) identify the relative priority of…