Research verifies that successful reading and writing programs need administrative support. One way to get administrative support is for teachers to convince their administrators that they know what works best for children in their classroom. Teachers can help in moving from practice to research and can gain the support of their administrators by…

This document, developed by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners, offers lists of topics covered in each day of a 24-day course designed to teach General Motors employees the following skills: document information; write clear directions and instructions; outline and organize thoughts and ideas; write memos and business…

Findings from a study that sought to determine the degree to which teachers used an inservice program for the implementation of a primary language and literacy program are presented in this paper. To measure teachers' level of use of the whole language philosophy of learning, the Language and Literacy Questionnaire was administered to 112 primary…

This book presents articles that deal with literacy, both in a scientific, as well as in a practical and experiential way. Papers in the book are: "Opening Address" (Birgitta Ulvhammar); "Illiteracy: A Global Problem" (Eve Malmquist); "Swedish Cooperation with Developing Countries in the Field of Literacy" (Agneta…

Professors in a Communication Arts methods course for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers sought to move the content of the language arts curriculum from a direct instruction to a whole language model. A transformation came about as one professor realized that her efforts to enthusiastically convey the importance of authentic…

Providing personal yet professional guidelines for introducing students to the life of a writer, this book provides a rationale, a set of principles, and some possible methods for using small groups in writing workshops. The book discusses how small groups can provide growing writers with the four essentials which all writers need: time for…

A pilot adult basic education (ABE) language experience curriculum was designed and implemented with older adults in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The objectives were to improve writing skills, to increase self-esteem, and to create a historical record of the area as seen through the eyes of the average older citizen who had lived through many…

This packet contains eight workbooks of lessons covering daily living skills for adult basic education or adult literacy education students. The books contain 160 short lessons organized in 13 units. The units cover the following topics: filling out forms; numbers, days, months; money and banking; monthly bills; post office; alphabetical order;…

A case study narrates the development of one preservice teacher enrolled in a composition methods course that was based on inquiry, reflection, collaboration, and theory-building. Much of the course content centered on exploring, extending, and even transforming future secondary English teachers' beliefs about writing instruction and assessment.…

In studying the lyrics of popular music, and particularly aspects of violent attitudes toward women, teachers discover what language represents to students and what students experience through the songs. The texts created about artifacts like song lyrics suggest more about the students as knowers than about the objects being studied. Exploring…

A study determined whether former participants in the Winthrop Writing Institutes (annual summer institutes based on the National Writing Project model) had improved classroom instruction in writing by using strategies taught in the institutes and whether they had continued to grow professionally. Surveys were returned by 49 of the 89 (1981 to…

An exploratory study investigated the relationship between perceptions and practices in reading and language arts, and examined whether teachers were using practices to develop students' literacy skills suggested in work by Marie Clay. Subjects, 16 out of a possible 22 kindergarten teachers in one southern school district, responded to a 138-item…

A practicum was designed to motivate primary students to increase the quantity and improve the quality of their writing. Publication of student works was the prime motivating factor. Other objectives were to develop in students a more positive attitude toward writing and gain the agreement of teachers that the publishing of their students' written…

A study analyzed teacher and student perceptions of a literature-based reading/writing curriculum for at-risk high school students. Eighteen students, (3 girls, 15 boys) ranging in age from 15 to 18 years, began English 9, a redesigned one-semester literature-based make-up course for students who failed ninth-grade English. Prior to the study, the…

It was once thought that research skills were too cognitively demanding for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. This paper presents guidelines for teaching the research process to secondary ESL students at both beginning and advanced language proficiency levels. The following steps related to writing and presenting orally a research…