Covering everything from day-to-day learning activities to schoolwide goals, this engaging book reviews key topics in literacy instruction for grades 5-12 and provides research-based recommendations for practice. Leading scholars present culturally responsive strategies for motivating adolescents; using multiple texts and digital media;…

Shifting focus from typical data and information about the status of educational achievement in the United States and about gaps in achievement among the nation's students, this report undertakes investigation of less-frequently-asked questions. As required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), educators are continuously monitoring whether more…

The Accelerated Math and Science (AMS) Project is a 3 year program funded by the California Migrant Education Program Improvement Program. It targets 6th, 7th, and 8th grade low-achieving migrant students who are 2 to 4 years behind their language peer group. Two questions guided the second year evaluation study for the Region IX Migrant Education…

This research review focuses on the effects and implications of text organization, both physical presentation and text structure, and on reading comprehension, with special emphasis on the comprehension of diverse learners. The review includes students in kindergarten through college, who are high and low readers and comprehenders; low…

This paper examines research on the individual needs of gifted children, with a special focus on underachieving gifted students, and provides results of a study of students in a 10-week after-school enrichment program in Queensland, Australia. Over 300 gifted children (ages 5-8) attended the program, and five case studies are provided using…

Historically, educators in the United States have responded to differences among individuals and groups by separating students and altering the content of the curriculum to which they are exposed. Since the 1920s, most high schools have offered a tracked curriculum, and tracking starts as early as elementary school. Research and public commentary…

With the failure of the Pennsylvania General Assembly to adopt the governor's education reform package, the time is opportune to review the major problems with education in Pennsylvania and some actions that would relieve these problems. The main symptom of education problems, in Pennsylvania as in the nation as a whole, is weak academic…

Citing research indicating that U.S. teachers commonly use verbal persuasion techniques to help low achieving students, this study extends the research to Sri Lanka to explore differences in helping strategies adopted by teachers across cultures. Study participants were 237 Sri Lanka teachers who represented the majority Sinhalese population and…

A study determined whether the gap that separates bilingual reading disabled high school students from English speaking high school students could be bridged in a more efficient manner than the methodology presently being used in many schools throughout the New York City Public School System. Subjects were 33 bilingual students diagnosed as…

This publication, which includes both English and Spanish versions, explains that standards describe what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. Every school that receives money from Title I, the federal educational aid program that provides extra educational services for children who are behind in school, must have standards…

The Charter School of San Diego (California) began operations in the 1994-95 school year. Its program and facilities previously operated as one of the city's alternative education programs designed to provide individualized support for holistic engagement of students, many of whom enrolled because of difficulties at comprehensive schools. The…

This research report presents data showing that overcrowding in the New York City public schools is having significantly negative effects on instruction and learning in the system. The impact is particularly strong in schools that have a high proportion of students of low socioeconomic background, where overcrowding is sharply linked to lower…

An insider/outsider approach to Appalachian culture examines cultural differences of Appalachian people that necessitate cross-cultural educational studies usually reserved for ethnic and racial minority groups. An overview focuses on current economic conditions affecting the region's culture and some stereotypes of Appalachians that remain…

This paper discusses finding a balance for the use of tracking in school that benefits both high and low achieving students. Tracking can arguably be traced to the pervasive mythology of biological determinism and the advent of IQ testing. As time passed, schools increased the use of testing to separate students into different ability levels, but…

A study compared the comprehension abilities of readers when reading narrative and expository discourse. It was designed to investigate how middle-level high-achieving and low-achieving readers comprehend the two discourse genres, testing the readers' comprehension of main ideas in the text under both conditions. Also examined was whether…