Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest provides a rationale for an integrated language arts curriculum. The digest first defines integrating the language arts curriculum as providing natural learning situations in which reading, writing, speaking, and listening can be developed together for real purposes and…

A survey was conducted to determine the nature of career education programs provided for gifted/talented (G/T) students in the West Kentucky service region. Thirteen gifted coordinators completed questionnaires on programing. All respondents indicated that some type of pull out program was employed for their G/T students. Fifteen percent also…

Viewing language learning in terms of the development of proficiency has important implications for the process of curriculum development in English as a second language. A proficiency-oriented curriculum derives not from an analysis of the language code, but from an analysis of target language behaviors. The interest is in both the product and…

Retreats, which have been used by churches and corporations for some time, are currently being looked into by college presidents and boards of trustees as a means of training and problem solving. While many types of retreats may not be appropriate for boards, a well-planned working retreat can be an effective way for trustees to: (1) really get to…

A three-stage model to diagnose and treat learning difficulties is presented. The three stages include: status assessment; cause estimation; and treatment recommendations. This paper concentrates on the first part of the second stage--that of generating likely causes for the learning difficulties in a given case. A list of questions is offered to…

Between-group designs constitute the experimental methods traditionally applied in the field of education. Another level of analysis, however, is commonly used in clinical psychology but seldom applied in educational settings: single-subject designs (actually applied to small groups). This design allows a researcher to evaluate the influence of an…

In a study of how primary teachers assign and monitor independent reading seatwork (workbook) activities, 12 first, second, and third grade teachers were observed during their scheduled reading periods. The seven major observation categories were (1) to whom assigned, (2) when assigned, (3) materials, (4) material focus, (5) instructions for…

Intended for the growing number of composition faculty members involved in training graduate teaching assistants (TAs) and adjunct faculty to teach, as well as new teachers, this book presents essays addressing how best to prepare new teachers to teach writing, and what advice to offer new teachers about particular aspects of teaching writing.…

This paper examines teacher assessment in light of contemporary cognitive science and anthropological research on teaching. Attention is given to why some teacher tests are inappropriate for assessing competence and the need for development of an effective, comprehensive assessment system that acknowledges the inadequacy of current test…

Intended for those groups contemplating the establishment of any type of literacy services within a community, this resource is designed to help in the analysis of both the need for literacy services within the community and the currently available resources for meeting that need. Five steps are recommended to identify clearly both the needs and…

In a fifty-minute period, a class of speech students can be given an object lesson in listening skills. Materials needed are an article that can be read aloud in ten minutes, enough copies for class distribution, and a carefully composed list of ten to twelve questions. When the students arrive for the first class, the teacher reads the article…

A stakeholder approach was used in the evaluation of the basic science courses of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. The stakeholder approach attempted to structure the working relationship between the evaluator and the program stakeholders so that they participated in choosing issues, data to be collected, and ways to organize and…

A systematic methodology is proposed for the evaluation of curriculum. Four domains are identified, including the evaluation of: (1) curriculum planning; (2) curriculum development; (3) curriculum implementation; and (4) curriculum effects. Evaluating curriculum planning must include determining the legality of the curriculum and must consider the…

Kentucky's Institute for Beginning Principals was designed and implemented by a study group sponsored jointly by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA) and the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL). AEL's study group concept calls for an association to select a topic for study--one of high priority in the state related to…

A curriculum model for teaching Arabic that closely follows the "Natural Approach" is outlined. The method stresses skill development through language use in a variety of realistic situations from the outset of the course. It differs from traditional approaches to Arabic instruction in its emphasis on the communication of meaningful…