Suggests a timeline and activities for early childhood educators to plan for a new school year. Provides a sample meeting agenda, teacher to-do list, classroom readiness checklist, a rules and expectations list for students, a substitute teacher packet checklist, and a list of things to do for the first week of class. (MOK)

The ideal classroom climate promotes deep understanding, excitement about learning, and social and intellectual growth. Students are active decision makers, teachers work with students, and learners' interests and questions drive much of the curriculum. This brief article provides guidelines and a checklist to help administrators, parents, and…

Describes how simple curriculum-based assessments can be used to evaluate the writing process, the product factors (fluency, content, conventions, syntax and vocabulary), and the writing purpose of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. A process checklist is included that can be used to assess strategies students do or do not use when writing.…

This article provides a rationale for incorporating early literacy screening into speech language services for young children with communication impairments. Recommendations concern identifying which children and what areas of literacy should be targeted for screening. Guidelines for interpreting findings and for using screening to guide early…

Identifies and discusses seven critical issues in the implementation and maintenance of a library automation staff training program: timing, a modular learning approach, training location, trainers, documentation, lesson reinforcement, and continuity. An appendix describes some of the options available for computer assisted training programs.…

Discusses how to develop effective instructional graphics for multimedia instruction. Topics include graphic symbols; how graphic symbols are processed cognitively; how multimedia graphics affect learners; how graphics can be adapted to educational products for a variety of populations, including adults and children; and a checklist for creating…

Discusses techniques that elementary school teachers can use to help students assess their own achievement. Suggests that writing checklists can be used to evaluate content, organization, grammar, and diction and that student self-assessments are also a useful part of parent-student-teacher conferences. (MDM)

Presents results of a survey that examined what project management team members enjoyed most in recent projects. Ideas are summarized in a checklist for project management that provides guidelines in four areas: project planning, internal and external communication, personal qualities, and morale. (SLW)

Defines computer assisted language testing (CALT), discusses the various processes involved, outlines the advantages and disadvantages, and examines psychometric aspects of computer testing. A table of factors distinguishes between test content and the mechanics of test taking. These factors constitute a table for developing a CALT checklist. (24…

Argues that teachers need to become more aware of the types of discourse they use in their classroom and become better able to distinguish between discourse patterns that promote second-language learning and those that do not. Provides a checklist for the self-assessment of teacher discourse patterns. (eight references) (MDM)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using the Observational Checklist of Conversational Skills to facilitate early teacher referral of 37 primary-level children suspected of having language problems and 37 age-matched peers. Twenty-five of the at-risk group scored at least 1.5 standard deviations below the mean; 27 were subsequently referred…

This article offers guidelines on locating the most appropriate educational program for gifted students. It recommends first a thorough assessment of the student's abilities and then presents a checklist which considers program admission standards, philosophy, teachers, instructional methods, curriculum, and other factors. (JDD)

Reactions to the national study of children's problems and competence by Achenbach et al. are offered, with focus on the development of a new survey instrument, the ACQ Behavior Check List. A reply from the researchers is included. (12 references) (LB)

This study, involving 11 young children with mild disabilities, found that, on reduction of teacher attention, children in 2 classrooms performed their reading tasks appropriately whereas children in the third classroom did not maintain on-task behavior with minimal teacher support. On implementation of a simple checksheet procedure, three of the…

Five major steps are involved in evaluating school reading programs: clarifying evaluators' role, data collection, data analysis, data reporting, and followup. This article explains these steps and presents a checklist for guiding the measurement of motivation, clarification, application, and satisfaction components. (MLH)