The Word Writing CAFE is a new assessment tool designed for teachers to evaluate objectively students' word-writing ability for fluency, accuracy, and complexity. It is designed to be given to the whole class at one time. This article describes the development of the CAFE and provides directions for administering and scoring it. The author also…

Discusses "The Social Context of Instruction," a summary of the existing knowledge of research methods on instructional grouping prepared by experts of various disciplines in order to share their perspectives on instructinal grouping and research methodologies. (EL)

Suggests that by using this chart, teachers can augment their reading program, and notes that the many publishers listed offer a wide range of materials according to difficulty level. (JC)

Teachers today face increasing demands to ensure their students achieve high levels of literacy. They may feel overwhelmed by the challenges of teaching reading comprehension strategies that foster the integration, interpretation, critique, and evaluation of text ideas. The challenges are compounded because students of diverse backgrounds often…