One hundred sixty college students were randomly assigned to eight groups defined by the possible combinations of teacher vagueness in instruction (vagueness v. no vagueness), teacher mazes conditions (mazes are defined as false starts or halts in speech, redundancy, and semantically nonsensical word combinations), and additional unexplained…

A workshop on "Curriculum for Early Childhood Education," held in the summer of 1979 at the Kenya Institute of Education, aimed to familiarize participants with the problems facing early childhood education in Africa. Specific workshop objectives were (1) to familiarize participants with the psychological, social, political, and economic…

Noting that reading development is a crucial factor in breaking down social, intellectual, and political barriers, this paper uses Nigeria as an example of a developing multilingual country in order to examine the problems and challenges that learners and educators in multilingual societies face. The discussion is focused on children at the…

This guide examines the problem of providing orientation for foreign students attending U.S. universities. Ideas and suggestions for the design and conduct of orientation programs are provided. Inherent constraints that may impair program success are enumerated, including erratic student arrival times, lack of motivation to participate in…

The 32 articles in this special journal issue are intended to familiarize teachers with recent, good young adult literature and to provide them with ways of integrating it into the literature curriculum. Topics discussed in the articles include: (1) the changing hero in young adult literature, (2) book clubs, (3) the place of young adult fiction…

The later effects of the Direct Instruction Follow Through program were assessed in five diverse sites in the United States. Low income fifth and sixth graders who had completed the full 3 years of this first through third-grade program were tested on the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT), Intermediate Level, and the Wide Range Achievement Test…

PEOPLE (Pruebas de Expresion Oral y Percepcion de la Lengua Espanol) was developed as a test to help distinguish between a language difference and a language deficit in non English proficient (NEP) and limited English proficient (LEP) elementary Hispanic students. PEOPLE was developed, pilot tested in 14 school districts in Los Angeles County with…

A teacher's French-English guide to a cultural module that is designed to provide introductory reading materials for students of French as a second language is presented. The module, "La Fete de la Ste-Catherine," aims: (1) to develop an awareness in the students of a few of the special events that reflect the multicultural nature of…

Intended for teachers of preschool and primary school children, this booklet contains materials and methods designed to help make literature the core of the early childhood curriculum. The first chapter presents a rationale for making literature an integral part of the curriculum, as well as goals for the appreciation, comprehension, and extension…

The reading and writing behavior of seven mildly mentally retarded and 12 moderately retarded adolescents was analyzed. Data were collected in the classroom on 11 language tasks, including drawing, forming letters and numbers, and performing general print production. Ss were also asked to answer historical/experiential questions and…

Project SELL (Spanish/English Language Learning) served 344 limited English speaking (LEP) and 40 non-limited English speaking (non-LEP) students from intermediate and junior high schools in Queens, New York. Non-LEP students acted as role models for LEP students to assist in the improvement of English language skills while LEP students acted as…

This guide provides junior high school and senior high school educators with descriptions of specific techniques for teaching language arts skills, suggestions for planning units and elective courses in the language arts curriculum, and models for changing the English curriculum. Specific topics discussed in various sections of the guide are (1)…

Intended for use with trainable retarded, moderately to profoundly multihandicapped students, and young mildly handicapped learners, the curriculum guide provides task objectives, task analyses, and exercise ideas for six categories: self help skills, language skills, motor development skills, basic academic skills, home living skills, and…

A selection of seven articles on teaching reading to high school students is presented in this report. The topics discussed are: (1) a structured approach to reading expository prose, (2) the effectiveness of sustained silent reading, (3) readability variations in secondary remedial high interest books, (4) the effects of previewing difficult…

Children residing in McLean County, Kentucky, and attending grades three through six who either had or had not attended kindergarten were compared in terms of academic aptitude, total reading, language expression, and math application scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). It was found that students who had attended kindergarten…