This quasi-experimental study (based on parent self-selection) examines the effects of a parent involvement program on kindergarten children's English language skills. This program was implemented as one component of a Migrant Even Start Family Literacy Program. The study was conducted at a rural Midwestern elementary school with 14 kindergarten…

In this article, the author presents the 12 benefits of playing as a reference and guide for teachers in helping young children develop their cognitive skills, motor ability, socio-emotional, and academic development during play time. The following 12 benefits are described: (1) Play Enhances Bodily Gracefulness; (2) Play Promotes Social Skills;…

This article describes a qualitative research study that explored how a middle school case-study class read and responded to "culturally conscious" African American children's books (Sims, 1982, p. 49). First, I relied on literary analyses conducted mainly by Sims (1982) and Harris (1995) to identify African American textual features contained in…

The No Child Left Behind Act is slated to be reauthorized in 2007, and both President Bush and the leaders of the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress have signaled their interest in keeping renewal of the law on schedule. Many observers expect the debate over renewing the law--which itself was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary…

This study conducts a meta-analysis using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to address the questions of the extent of gender differences in reading, whether or not these differences apply similarly across English and non-English speaking countries and decrease with age. Female secondary students performed 0.19 standard deviation units above their…

Large companies and major business groups are known for hiring well-heeled lobbyists to push for their interests, especially in such areas as tax and spending laws. Their federal lobbying presence on education issues has been relatively modest. The author discusses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable--two prominent…

These curriculum units were developed by participants in the National Endowment for the Humanities seminar at the University of Oregon in 1993. The lessons include: (1) "Schule, Freunde, Liebe: Wien um die Jahrhundertwende (School, Friends, Love: Vienna at the Turn of the Century)" (Linda Hansen; Glenn Tetterton-Opheim); (2) "Kultur…

A study evaluated the Chapter 1 Reading Program that served 5,946 underachieving pupils in grades 1 through 8 in the Columbus, Ohio, public schools. These children appeared unlikely to learn to read successfully without additional reading instruction. The program featured small group instruction each day for 40-45 minutes on reading and writing…

The Limited English Proficient (LEP) Parent Involvement Project, a collaborative project between two state agencies, aims to help refugee and immigrant parents to be effective in their new American culture. Materials are provided (entirely in Russian) that were developed for use in various adult education settings such as…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans focuses on helping elementary-school students to work together as they learn to read, write, and communicate. The 48 lesson plans in the book cover writing to communicate, reading for information, responding to literature,…

This guide offers ideas for adult literacy curriculum development using a participatory approach. Its intent is not to prescribe a curriculum but to raise issues associated with the varied needs of limited-literacy students and with development of curricula to address these needs. An introductory section discusses how the guide evolved and can be…

This bibliography lists the library holdings of the Illinois Bilingual Vocational Education Project that pertain to vocational English as a Second Language (VESL), career, and vocational education for the limited-English-proficient (LEP) population. The project is a statewide technical assistance and staff development center designed to help…

This book, appropriate for secondary students, includes brief biographies of 21 Native Americans of the 20th century. The biographies focus on childhood experiences, cultural heritage, and career goals. The book is divided into four units that feature Native Americans with successful careers in the fields of literature and drama; fine arts and…

This paper describes what occurred during a senior political science seminar when taught by two faculty members, one with and one without disabilities. Such team teaching in political science had not been done before. The study explored the issues raised during the instruction of the course when one instructor was in a wheelchair and had impaired…

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has contracted with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research to develop and field test performance assessments in mathematics, language arts, and science. Together with a Wisconsin-developed knowledge and concepts test, the new performance assessments will provide important information about the…