During the 1985-1986 school year the Instructional Aide Program served 2,370 pupils in kindergarten and first grade in the Columbus Public Schools. The program provided educational support for underachieving pupils by training and placing 124 aides in the classrooms of 227 teachers. The aides provided direct instruction to pupils under the…

To determine whether a comprehensive, cooperative learning approach can be used effectively in elementary reading and writing instruction, a study evaluated the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program. Experimental subjects, 11 third- and fourth-grade CIRC classes, worked in heterogeneous learning teams for all reading,…

This booklet presents descriptions of 31 successful basic skills language arts/writing programs for prekindergarten through grade 12, collected from school districts nationwide by the National Diffusion Network. Information provided for each program includes: (1) program name and brief description; (2) audience focus (noting grade and ability…

The similarities and differences in the responses student writers received from peer groups communicating face-to-face and by electronic mail were examined in this study. Subjects were 20 English/language arts teacher education students at the University of Virginia, who were divided into four groups with each group randomized to a treatment order…

In conjunction with the New Mexico State Department of Education's Writing Appraisal Program for high school students, a project was designed whose central goal was to identify and clearly delineate writing competencies for students in the younger grades. A pilot project first collected student writing samples and descriptive data from third and…

As a supplement to the English Language Arts Syllabus K-12, this curriculum guide draft for reading and literature in the English Language Arts (K-12) focuses on instruction that reflects reading as an active meaning-centered process. The guide includes: (1) a description of an integrated program in the English language arts; (2) the…

This study examined the relationship between student performance in language arts and mathematics following state-funded remedial services addressing identified deficient skills and variables selected to represent potential additional instruction in these same skills: participation in Chapter 1, participation in special education, and retention in…

A review was conducted of 16 research studies evaluating the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction (CAI) in teaching reading and language arts in the elementary school. The studies were of what K. A. Hall has termed "interactive instruction," which includes drill and practice as well as tutoring. Of the studies reviewed, 13 used at least…

A case is presented for a major overhaul in the language arts curriculum, based on the idea that traditional teaching methods, especially in reading and writing, that do not take into account children's natural tendency to make sense of their world and to base new learning on what they already know, are ineffective or even inhibitive of literacy…

Intended for teachers of elementary and secondary school writing, this paper describes the Regular Writing Practice (RWP) program, which combines the philosophical and pedagogical bases of Lyman Hunt's Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading program with the instructional methodology of creative writing and composition. The first portion of the…

Research in the fields of education, linguistics, psychology, sociology, philosophy, politics, anthropology, rhetoric, and computer science has yielded a large body of knowledge about how language is produced and used in different types of communication, how language systems affect conceptual frameworks, and how language competence contributes to…

This handbook designed for teachers of sixth through ninth grades, has two objectives: (1) to make the concept of critical thinking and the principles that underlie it clear; and (2) to show how critical thinking can be taught in language arts, social studies, and science. The introduction presents the reader with the concepts of critical thinking…

This document describes changes in language arts instruction that are designed to recognize the unique strengths and abilities of Chapter 1 and migrant education students. The document also describes a particular vision of a new language arts program for these students, a program designed to teach to their strengths and provide them with…

A series of 11 propositions about the role of language in learning emerged from the data collected and analyzed in a semester-long collaborative seminar in language arts methods for inservice and preservice teachers. A discussion of each proposition reflects the data that support it. The focus was on teaching as inquiry or research for the…

This paper describes the Teacher Assessment Project at Stanford University, which is currently examining the use of performance-based methods for assessing teachers' competence. The research outlined in this work-in-progress explores the feasibility of documenting teaching through the use of portfolios. The paper identifies three…