The courses U.S. high school students select, differences in course offerings across different types of schools, and course-taking patterns by race, gender, and socioeconomic status were studied. In general, the study found that public, secular private, and Catholic schools were more similar than different in their course offerings. Most striking…

This framework details Vermont's educational standards and learning opportunities for Kindergarten through grade 8. The standards are to be used to: (1) provide structure from which standards-based district, school, and classroom curricula can be developed, organized, implemented, and assessed; (2) provide the basis for development of a state,…

Even Start family literacy is a comprehensive approach that focuses on the family unit, addressing language and literacy competence for children and adults through integrated educational activities. Four core program components build upon one another to support children's school success and literacy outcomes. The components are: (1) adult basic…

This report describes a program for improving moral character to increase academic achievement. Targeted population consisted of middle school students in a growing middle class community in a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The problem, an absence of proper moral character, was documented through data collected from discipline referrals to…

This document contains results for 1998-1999 for several North Carolina state testing programs. The Grade 3 Pretest is a multiple-choice reading and mathematics test administered to students in the first 3 weeks of third grade. This pretest was administered to more than 101,000 students in the beginning of the 1998-1999 school year. Results show…

This 17th annual report presents information on current trends and issues informally discussed by the directors of six National Council of Teachers of English commissions. Commission on Composition (Richard Gebhardt, director) discussed the role of writing in literacy; interactions of race, class, language, and learning; teaching grammar;…

This final report describes the FOCUS project, which published 5 bulletins featuring reviews of 26 exemplary adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) projects from Pennsylvania and 8 states; undertook a feasibility study that reviewed 41 projects; produced a revised recruitment brochure; and revised a workshop. Next are the following four project…

This paper discusses how to use stories to promote beginning communication and language in students with severe communication and/or cognitive impairments. It describes a layering approach for building emergent literacy and augmentative and alternative communication skills. This layering approach is used with professional staff to introduce…

Essays on political issues in multicultural and bilingual education include: "Cultural Recognition and Civil Discourse in Democracy" (Carlos J. Ovando, Peter McLaren); "The Political Life of Language Metaphors in Writings About Diversity in Education" (Sharon Pugh, Ovando, Nicole Schonemann); "Contesting Whiteness:…

The collection of articles in this volume provides a review of research and scholarly work in the field of education that has been undertaken in Australia during the past 30 years. Part 1, "Background Perspectives," includes (1) "Social Context of Education" (Kevin Majoribanks); (2) "Politics of Education" (Grant…

Beginning in the 1992-93 school year, the North Carolina State Board of Education authorized the administration of North Carolina-developed end-of-grade tests aligned with the state's "Standard Course of Study." These curriculum-based tests were administered to over 553,000 students in grades 3 through 8 at the end of the 1997-98 school…

This report focuses on total welfare enrollments in two-year colleges and the enrollments in four new WorkFirst training programs that started in fall 1998. The new programs initiate a wage and skill progression strategy that gets WorkFirst students started in better jobs than they could find without training and helps them to advance in…

The U.S.-Mexican border is an extensive geographical region that is socially and economically distinct from either the United States or Mexico. It has always been a multilingual and multicultural place. This book examines the social and cultural complexities of life in one small rural border town and its high school. Chapter 1 describes Havens,…

What are the thoughts of exemplary teachers from high poverty schools on linguistic diversity and cultural responsiveness? What do inner-city children say about their best teachers? In focus groups, faculty and students from high poverty schools were asked about the qualities and characteristics of exemplary urban teachers. One focus group…

This digest describes ways in which professionals who work with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds can create an educational climate that accepts and respects the language and culture of its students and empowers them to feel confident enough to risk getting involved in the learning process. Methods of creating such an…