To improve the teaching of writing in public schools, pre-service teachers should be trained in the theories and practice of composition and rhetoric through new courses in rhetoric, regardless of the teacher's subject area. Although the academic discipline of composition studies is now established, many public school teachers are not familiar…

Intended to serve as a general model for the teaching of poetry writing, and written from the perspective of one individual teacher's thinking and experience, this guide, although originally written for teachers of seventh and eighth graders, is adaptable to other levels--elementary, high school, and college. Chapter 1, "Students and…

Four studies by the Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing project at the Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University, examined the acquisition of expository writing skills in fifth and sixth grade students. The first study examined the effects of teaching sixth grade students about comparison/contrast text structure. Results…

This curriculum and teaching guide outlines the ISTEP (Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress) 1988 Summer Remediation Program in reading, language, and mathematics provided for students in grades 1, 2, 3, and 6 who did not pass the minimum state standards for promotion to the next grade level based on the results of the ISTEP test.…

In an interdisciplinary curriculum for adults, four seminars were created that presented literature as reading, encouraged writing, and met the adult concern for relevance and shared learning. The four seminars focused on basic human concerns and relationships in a sequential ladder moving from individual to interpersonal to social and…

The second of a two-volume report, this document focuses on the study of written language growth and development among 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old children. The first section of the report introduces the program of research by examining its methodological and conceptual contexts. The second section provides illustrative and alternative looks at the…

To explore student facility with argumentative writing, 40 persuasive essays of 5th, 7th, and 11th grade students were analyzed for their relative percentage of reporting (narrating), interpreting, generalizing, and speculative sentences. Fifth and seventh graders were found to use significantly more narrative and fewer generalizations than older…

This monograph presents the case study of four fifth grade boys involved in a writing program designed to teach reading skills and to address the following questions: (1) Are reading and writing really related in any practical sense? (2) What effects might humane, process-oriented writing instruction have on student achievement, self-esteem, and…

This research-based review discusses effective computer applications for students with mental disabilities. Most computer-based instruction currently in use is of a drill-and-practice variety, which is needed to develop fluency in basic academic skills. Studies conducted on math fluency indicate that when students are using counting strategies to…

The Bidwell Training Center, Inc., in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, evaluated the effectiveness of IBM's Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS), an interactive instructional program to teach adolescents and adults writing and reading skills. Bidwell's goal was to use PALS to teach large numbers of adults who read below the fifth-grade level.…

This guide presents a statewide strategy to ensure that all South Carolina vocational educators are properly prepared to provide relevant basic skills reinforcement instruction as part of all vocational courses. The guide is organized in three sections. The first, a short section, answers the following questions: (1) Why should basic skills be…

Examining efforts to provide both remedial and special education programs through Chapter 1 of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1980 (ECIA), a study considered two broad areas which influence the quality of remedial instruction offered in schools: (1) aspects of district-level organizational policies and how they influence…

A small scale research project involving teaching writing skills to slower learning students in three different Scottish schools is the focus of this volume. Chapter 1 discusses the context and nature of the project, while chapter 2 presents teachers' accounts of their professional practices in teaching writing, including their perceptions of…

Integrating reading and language arts at all levels is the focus of this journal issue. The articles and their authors are as follows: "Reading and Writing: Close Relatives or Distant Cousins" (Kathryn A. Koch); "The Reading-Writing Relationship: Myths and Realities" (Timothy Shanahan); "The Classroom Teacher as an Action Researcher: Beginning…

An instructional management system, called Response System with Variable Prescriptions (RSVP), is described in this report as it is used at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC). Following introductory material, the relevance of such a system to current educational issues is explored and the use of computer technology in education is discussed. The…