The Cheche Konnen (Haitian Creole for "search for knowledge") project was designed to address the following concerns in the education of language minority children: limited access to science and mathematics education, separation of science and mathematics from literacy development, isolation in and outside of school, and inadequate…

Textual information, 32 tables, and 12 figures are used to describe Alaska high school seniors in this 12th annual survey report. During the fall of the 1988-89 school year, 3,254 seniors attending Alaska public and private high schools responded to the questionnaire sent to a total of 5,910 students for a return rate of 55.1 percent. The…

This document consists of three papers which explore aspects of language use in science classrooms descriptively and prescriptively, based on naturalistic and experimental observations. The discovery of the importance of the verbal mode of communication through involvement in creating computer-based activities is discussed. Papers include: (1)…

Computer-based technologies are rapidly changing fundamental concepts about texts and how students interact with and learn from those texts. Early use of microcomputers included drill and practice work, tutorial programs, and word processing. In conjunction with information storage devices like magnetic and laser disc, the microcomputer has also…

A study demonstrated the viability of an instructional paradigm that identifies adult mediation within the zone of proximal development to be a significant factor in young children's learning. Six teachers participated during the first year and eight teachers during the second year. Complete data were collected for 200 kindergarten children.…

Testimony offered to the United States Department of Education focuses on the need to legitimize the value of adult biliteracy, particularly among the Hispanic population. Using the demography of Lawrence, Massachusetts as an example, it is suggested that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction alone will not lower the language barrier…

The lack of opportunity for high school sophomores to learn database searching was addressed by the implementation of a computerized magazine article search program. "Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature" on CD-ROM was used to train students in database searching during the time they were assigned to the library to do research papers…

A study identified trends influencing the literacy requirements of two entry-level jobs at each of three manufacturing sites and three hospital sites. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and focus groups with workers, employers, and union representatives. Materials that workers were expected to read were analyzed. The study…

The intention of this report is to build a strong case for a portfolio approach to assessment of reading and writing during the middle school years. A portfolio is both a collection of the artifacts of students' reading and writing and a disposition toward assessment. This disposition is characterized by the belief that assessment must be…

The High School State Incentive Grant was established to improve the quality of instruction given to New York students with handicaps by providing high school special education teachers with an intensive staff development program designed and implemented at the school, district, and citywide levels. The program consisted of three major components:…

The overall illiteracy rate has been in sharp decline in Latin America, falling from 27.3 percent in 1970 to 17.3 percent in 1985. However, the total number of illiterate people has remained practically stable over the same period. Overall literacy rates tend to increase with the rurality of the population, the proportion of women, the absence of…

In order not to waste the time of the people working hard and sacrificing to become literate, literacy must offer them a real opportunity to change their life situation. Although many literacy programs are designed to fit the everyday lives and situations of their students, the same is not true for programs that teach arithmetic. Most adults…

Midway through this century, Braille was placed within the reach of blind persons throughout the world when Unesco began the major task of adapting Braille to accommodate all languages and dialects. Invented in France between 1825 and 1829, Braille's role as the key to the cultural emancipation of the blind had previously been limited to countries…

Literacy teaching and education of migrant workers and their children is an intense, emotional issue because the education of migrant workers is the point of intersection of two major social problems: education and immigration. Nonformal adult education radio and television programs have been set up in some countries to reach unemployed migrant…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Parent Readers program, an intergenerational reading project which attempted to change the reading behaviors of underprepared community college students who are parents and to affect the literacy environment of the home in ways that promote the literacy status of the parents/students and their children.…