A study determined whether instruction on story elements within rich contexts can increase students' understanding of the characters' traits and motives, their comprehension of stories, and their ability to write causally coherent stories. Instruction was organized around an "anchor" (a story rich with embedded information presented on…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans focuses on language arts activities for gifted middle school students. The 40 lesson plans in this book cover history, literature, mass media, reading, theater arts, thinking skills, and writing. The book includes an activities…

Project CALA was a special alternative program at the International High School in Queens (New York City). In its first year, the project provided instructional and support services, emphasizing career education, to 171 high school students of limited English proficiency (LEP) who had lived in the United States for less than 4 years. The project…

This resource guide, for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy facilitators, reviews a variety of resources for ESL literacy. The guide contains three sections. The first section cites four books that provide a theoretical context for literacy work: "Ah-Hah! A New Approach to Popular Education" (Gatt-Fly); "Approaches and Methods in Language…

This document contains 10 papers presented at a symposium on corrections education. The proceedings are organized in two parts; the first part contains six research and program reports, and the second part contains four papers on various instructional strategies. The papers in Part I are as follows: "The Politics of Rehabilitation: A Study of…

The implicit assumption behind personal writing assignments given at the beginning of a writing course is that personal essays eliminate the writing apprehension of having nothing to say. However, college freshmen find it very difficult to write about themselves and their own opinions because this writing involves abstract mental processes and…

This study evaluates a 1-year, pre-vocational intervention--Project OASES (Occupational and Academic Skills for the Employment of Students)--for at-risk middle school students in the Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) Public School District. The study sample consisted of 502 former participants and 148 active participants (1988-1989 school year) plus…

This guide, developed in British Columbia, is intended to help tutors teach literacy skills to adults. In nine chapters, it covers the basics of teaching reading and writing to adults, through short case histories, anecdotes, and information about adult learning. The chapters cover the following topics: (1) the joys of tutoring; (2) getting to…

For this practicum, a program of multimedia peer dramatic presentations was developed to improve the vocabulary skills of middle school students. Each week for 10 weeks a target group of 18 randomly selected students viewed 5 short video skits (produced by broadcast arts students) which were designed to introduce and define new vocabulary terms;…

Sixty-three commercially-available instruments for measuring the outcomes of adult literacy programs are reviewed. Tests of basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills; oral English proficiency of English as a second language students; affective outcomes; and critical thinking are included. The instruments include paper-and-pencil tests,…

This report evaluates the effectiveness of the Urban Academy program, a dropout prevention demonstration program involving a collaborative effort between Community School District 10 in the Bronx (New York) and the Victim Services Agency (VSA), a social service agency, to provide increased instructional support and social services to 78 at-risk…

Designed to provide a mastery or core program in English required for all students from grades 7 through 12 in the Cincinnati Public Schools, this guide represents a compilation of the structured segments of three separate graded courses of study: writing, oral communication/media, and reading/literature. Following an introduction, the guide…

The document presents six articles that provide a glimpse of the uniqueness of American Indian cultural conflict, focusing on aspects of the culture which warrant special attention. Since there are over 100 tribes, an effort was made to enumerate commonalities amongst the tribal cultures in looking at issues raised in the urban areas throughout…

Conference papers outlining strategies for implementing change through inservice education are presented. Three opening papers deal with the general theme of the conference: "Effective Inservice Education" (Gordon Lawrence); "A Panel Discussion on Staff Development" (Margaret L. Trent, Robert W. Evans, and Frederick R.…

This booklet contains reference group summaries for the Pupil Evaluation Program tests, the preliminary competency tests, the Regents competency test, and the Regents examinations that were administered during the 1985-86 school year in New York State. Summaries are also included for high school graduation results. Results are presented in tabular…