Describes research demonstrating how a group of urban Black elementary school students were denied full access to literacy based on teacher assessments of their attitudinal displays as inappropriate, although they demonstrated literacy skills in peer and nonschool contexts. Argues that admission to literacy not acquisition of literacy was the…

Uses complaints leveled against English teachers in l912 to support three points about the crisis in literacy: (1) the "writing crisis" is not new, (2) teaching basics will not solve crisis, and (3) solution to problem should be based on what is known about history and theory of composition instruction and about successful and unsuccessful methods…

Argues that microcomputer programs in LOGO can support children's development of invented spelling within a language experience approach. Presents protocols of three nursery school children using such programs that show promising growth in their writing and reading skills. (FL)

Shows the unexpected consequences of being a part-time guidance counselor and a part-time English teacher at the same time. Shares two experiences, in literature and in composition, that show a greater understanding of students' reactions. (EL)

The multifaceted structure of sentence-completion test items was analyzed to explain verbal comprehension. The three stimulus constituents were technical, logical-semantic, and associative-contextual. Guttman's facet and order theories and smallest space analysis were used. Results confirmed the multiple skills involved in solving these tasks.…

Teaching can no longer be defined as going into the classroom, shutting the door, and doing an exemplary job. Teachers--especially teachers of English--can and should have an influence upon the curriculum by assuming responsibility for purposes, programs, and progress made. (Author/TE)

Addressing major themes of the commission's "Open Letter to the American People," this article discusses reading and writing skills development, and the cognitive skills involved in these processes. An effective teaching method, the Language Experience Approach based on aural/oral language with reading and writing combined, is detailed. (MBR)

Offers annotated citations for several recent ERIC documents concerning how children think and learn and how those involved with them can assist in the development of these processes. (RH)

The conception, development, and outcomes of workshops for Third World students, studying in a British university and having problems with study, research, and written communication skills, are described. The workshops addressed typical frustrations with study in a foreign language as well as specific research project needs. (MSE)

An information systems approach to instruction to reduce freshman attrition at Morehead State University is described. The diagnostic-prescriptive approach to alleviate the cause and effect of developmental lag has provided an educational plan to ameliorate the low academic functioning of students and increase their intellectual development. (MLW)

To identify the most effective teaching strategies for use with Cree-speaking children, 1six student teachers taught lessons in 25 grade one-four classrooms in eight northern Manitoba schools using six strategies organized under four major approaches. Most effective were group problem solving at elementary levels and individual assignments at…

Describes an adaptation of a television quiz show that was used as an introductory inservice session to help defuse potential teacher antagonism and resistance to a new reading method about to be implemented in a demonstration school. Includes questions used in the game. (FL)

This book represents the second of two volumes that is designed to update readers on some of the more recent developments in the field of dual diagnosis, as applied to those with intellectual disabilities. While the last few decades have boasted newer and better advances in the field, particularly in terms of assessment devices and treatment…

Writing, essentially a social act, is concerned with cognition and is allied to context. Most writing takes the form of dialogue and it is out of dialogic processes that language acquisition takes place. Writers and readers convene in the cognitive and social space that is at the heart of a discourse community. The social aspects of writing are…

Students in adult literacy education, including basic and secondary education and English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), are increasingly using computers to write, find information, publish their writings, communicate by e-mail, learn basic skills, and for other purposes. In this chapter the focus is on computers, the Internet (including…