Results of the Diploma Examinations Program conducted by Alberta Education during June 1989 are provided. This report is designed to assist policymakers and educators in reviewing the effectiveness of their programs and in reinforcing instructional successes previously achieved. The grade 12 program is intended to develop and maintain excellence…

Developed as part of the Arkansas Minimum Performance Testing Program (MPT), these item specifications relate to the eighth grade language arts minimum performance test. There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. Item specifications are intended to provide an overview of the general content and format of…

Designed and programmed by the staff of the Courseware and Curriculum Applications (CCA) Group (a unit of the Computer-Based Education Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), this instructor's guide describes a computer-based language arts curriculum intended to move adult and adolescent students performing at the…

The writing assessment used in grade 10 of the Cherry Creek, (Colorado) schools is described. Over the past 3 years, the focus of the assessment has changed from an assessment heavily weighted on multiple-choice items, with minimal constructed response tasks, to an assessment based entirely on a written product. Students are provided with multiple…

This curriculum adaptation provides a methodology that enables the classroom teacher to recognize the needs of the otitis media-affected child in the classroom. It discusses areas of concern related to otitis media; suggests activities that can enhance these children's language skills; and shows ways to enhance the learning environment by…

At-risk children's acquisition of reading skills can be accelerated if they are provided with more and better instruction than is given their peers who seem to acquire reading rather easily. One aspect of better instruction is a coherent curriculum plan that provides learners with sets of activities that link together and foster learning. Children…

Materials containing hazardous substances present serious problems to human health and to the health of the environment. There are many potential problems related to the site of a house or apartment, the construction materials used in the house or the apartment, products and materials used in and around the home, and disposal of materials.…

Textual information, 32 tables, and 12 figures are used to describe Alaska high school seniors in this 12th annual survey report. During the fall of the 1988-89 school year, 3,254 seniors attending Alaska public and private high schools responded to the questionnaire sent to a total of 5,910 students for a return rate of 55.1 percent. The…

This document consists of three papers which explore aspects of language use in science classrooms descriptively and prescriptively, based on naturalistic and experimental observations. The discovery of the importance of the verbal mode of communication through involvement in creating computer-based activities is discussed. Papers include: (1)…

This revised edition, based on literacy programs in Michigan, was written to reflect changing trends in reading and literacy in a book that can be used to train volunteer tutors, as well as by tutors and students together in weekly sessions. The book is organized in eight sections. The first section differentiates literacy and reading and…

A discussion of the use of dialogue journals in second language instruction integrates research and personal teaching experience in an analysis of the technique's benefits and challenges. The first chapter reviews what dialogue journals are and how they differ from other teaching strategies. Their use in different adult education contexts are also…

Designed as a channel for communication among City University of New York faculty regarding initiatives to reduce attrition and promote student success, this publication contains articles on student development, counseling and student services, and academic support. Following an introduction by Anthony F. Russo, the following articles are…

This report describes the implementation and evaluation of a 12-week oral vocabulary development curriculum for use with transitional first graders. The transitional first grade is a class between kindergarten and first grade to provide students with an extra year of academic instruction to learn the skills needed to enter first grade. A natural…

Ottawa's program of middle French immersion (MFI) instruction, beginning in fourth grade, was evaluated when the first cohort reached sixth grade. Results of the study were compared with those of other groups, particularly the early French immersion (EFI) program and late French immersion (LFI) program students. The evaluation also added data from…

This practicum report describes an individualized multiple methods/materials approach to the teaching of reading to improve the critical reading skills of seventh grade students in a middle school in Georgia. The core of the program was the use of novels selected with the particular interests of adolescents in mind. Sixty-four students in the…