This report describes the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a learning activity package intended to enable middle school students to view and use the computer as a tool that has application in their everyday lives. Eighth grade students in two keyboarding classes used the computer as a word processing tool in the subject of…

This guide to designing activity-oriented classrooms for grades K-3 is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of research findings concerning the way children learn and the environments that best facilitate their learning. Chapter 2, which explains ways to set up an activity-oriented classroom, covers the administration's role…

This book examines, through analysis of three liberal arts colleges (Antioch, Reed, Swarthmore), the factors contributing to the greatness of a first-rank liberal arts college. The writer begins with a presentation of the historical development of the three schools, followed by a detailed description of how broad institutional innovations were…

Modifications to an existing secondary school foreign language program in Arlington County, Virginia, are described that were developed when the middle school program began in September, 1990, and sixth graders were incorporated into the foreign language program. Lessons were tested in an alternative school prior to adoption in the middle schools.…

This book presents a conceptual approach to multicultural education, with practical suggestions for achieving education that is multicultural throughout every facet of its structure and process. A step-by-step method is offered for developing a multicultural curriculum, and various teaching strategies and techniques applicable to classroom…

This document, part of a series of papers which describe the assessment of student learning in areas of the curriculum from prekindergarten through grade 12, focuses on assessment in the language arts. Current practices are reviewed. Subsequent sections describe guidelines for appropriate curriculum goals and content in language arts programs. A…

This report describes significant phases in the development of Southeast Missouri State University's "University Studies" program instituted in 1988 as part of a general movement among American institutions of higher education to review and redesign their general education curricula. The report highlights unique program characteristics,…

A project is planned to explore how low income youth of color experience their employment in the highly segregated neighborhoods of museums and where people of color are in museums as visitors and employees. The researcher will use personal experiences with young people of color directed to the institutions through foundationally and federally…

This essay addresses six pedagogical issues that English language arts teachers should consider in preparing to use Holocaust literature to address "intolerance and bigotry" in their teaching. Teachers should ask themselves: (1) Does the literature unit emphasize anti-Semitism as a cause of the Holocaust?; (2) Does the unit provide all…

This report identifies and reviews 34 programs that have been used as after-school programs by schools or communities, including extended-day programs and some supplemental school programs that have potential for after-school use. Five categories of programs are reviewed: (1) language arts after-school programs; (2) study skills programs; (3)…

This Digest discusses School-to-Work (STW) programs, which are aimed at developing an integrated secondary school curriculum that facilitates students' transition from school to the workplace. It addresses school-based learning in STW programs, especially the practices that language arts teachers can use in classrooms to meet STW goals. The Digest…

Based on the assumption that project learning is an effective way of actively engaging students, this guidebook contains nine projects at basic, intermediate, and advanced levels which may be adapted for use with students in classrooms fostering multiple intelligences at any grade level. The guidebook's introduction distinguishes between different…

An arts-based supplemental education program was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. It was hypothesized that this classroom program would cause gains in critical thinking skills, as measured through writing ability. The program provided 87 teachers in grades 3 through 12 with a classroom set of "Arts Indiana" magazine and an accompanying…

This 16th annual report presents information on current trends and issues informally discussed by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions. Issues discussed included the following: (1) Commission on Composition (Rick Gerhardt, director): the role of writing in literacy; computers and writing instruction;…

A practicum addressed the problems of low reading levels, deficient writing skills, and poor attitudes toward reading. The objectives were to increase reading levels, improve writing skills, and improve attitudes toward reading and in this process to improve critical thinking skills. The target group was a sixth-grade language arts class of 23…