This study examines the systemic reform process that was initiated in Maryland in 1991. The Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) consists of learning outcomes, a framework for performance assessment, guidelines for school decision making, and suggestions for staff development. One year following the initiation of the MSPAP, a…

Designed to be an all-in-one resource to give students an understanding and appreciation of literature, this book presents over 130 whole-learning activities that get students excited about literature while building reading, writing, and thinking skills. The book includes a wide variety of reproducible student worksheets, teacher-directed…

This paper presents a syllabus and proposed course outline for X100, a skills-based college remedial reading class (at Indiana University at South Bend) keyed to the whole-language literature. The paper: (1) reviews two sourcebooks for information regarding the use of whole language at the secondary level and lists viable whole language strategies…

A study examined the degree to which teachers employ or perceive that they employ writing/reading strategies in their classrooms, and their perceptions regarding the degree to which their school system should support that effort. A pilot sample of 15 practicing teachers was drawn from a demonstration school in southwest Louisiana. Subjects, 71 K-8…

A study focused on enhancing the validity of foreign language (L2) reading comprehension assessment measures. Subjects included 131 cadets (88 beginners and 43 non-beginners) enrolled in French courses at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. First language (L1) reading comprehension was measured using the…

A report prepared for the U.S. Department of Education on three school program models for limited-English-speaking children is examined. The models include a structured English immersion strategy and early-exit and late-exit bilingual education. The report describes the three models, reviews evidence of their relative effectiveness, and assesses…

Specific difficulties in mathematics tend to receive much less attention than do parallel difficulties with language. Accordingly, as its contribution to an ongoing project on children's learning difficulties and what to do about them, the Tayside (Scotland) Region decided to focus on children's specific problems with mathematics/arithmetic and…

Eighteen works, including summaries, are cited in this bibliography. Topics include the nature of medical encounters; power, gender, and discourse change in physician-patient interviews; women's language in the medical interview; nurses' communication with physicians; and language patterns in therapeutic change. (JP)

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project offers a coherent model for elementary and secondary language curriculum design. Book 3 of the four-volume series focuses on teaching methods, appropriate instructional resources, and student evaluation and provides advice for teachers in each of these areas. The section on methods discusses the…

A report on the New York City Central Labor Council-Consortium for Worker Education Workplace Literacy Program documents 15 workplace literacy program activities undertaken by 16 unions. The report has five sections. The first section covers the history and socioeconomic context in which the state-funded program emerged, and the roles of the two…

This nutrition education kit is designed for use with 3- to 5-year old children. It introduces children to new foods, involves them in the process of food preparation, and creates an awareness of the importance of eating foods from all food groups. The kit has been designed to provide a variety of opportunities to develop and practice language…

An interpretive field study examined how beginning teachers with a whole language perspective went about manifesting their beliefs. Using the methods of purposeful sampling, four student teachers who were both committed and knowledgeable concerning the tenets of whole language were observed and interviewed during the student teaching experience.…

Based on a journalist's experience with students, observation of and conversations with hundreds of teachers and principals, and 22 years' experience as an employer in business communications, this keynote speech reports on the current crisis teachers face in developing the communication skills of their students for the future. The speech outlines…

Designed to help teachers monitor their students' progress in beginning literacy, this book describes some classroom observation tasks which have been used systematically by New Zealand teachers to guide their teaching of young children in formal school programs. The book is designed for: teachers who work individually with children having…

Including revisions and updates in all areas, this book functions as a pre-service and in-service teacher self-instructional manual in word recognition skills. The first part of the book discusses the controversy concerning early phonics instruction versus use of the whole language approach, and then discusses consonants, vowels, reading…