The general emphasis of Project LONGSTEP was on the identification of changes in student achievement that occur as a result of exposure to intensive educational innovation. This volume explores the possibility that growth in student achievement test performance and positive changes in school-related attitudes were highly associated with highly…

Noting that knowledge of grammar rules does not ensure correct usage in one's own writing, describes an approach used in a summer workshop to promote awareness of appropriate idiom where 35 highly motivated black students produced 'Snow White' using their own script, half in standard dialect and half in black dialect. (JG)

Examines different approaches to reading acquisition used in four first grades of a suburban elementary school. Supports the use of a language experience approach as a viable alternative to the basal reader approach for teaching reading and writing. (JK)

Sketches some of the dilemmas in language assessment and presents exemplary practical approaches to assessment in the language arts areas of listening, oral language, reading, and writing. (SD)

Emphasizes that since adults seek basic reading instruction for a variety of reasons (e.g., to further job status, to improve skills for their children's sake), planning programs should provide theory-based instruction that focuses on learner needs. (NKA)

Describes a project that involved an eighth-grade advanced English class in learning about banned books and censorship with the hope that students would learn enough about a highly controversial subject to be able to form intelligent options. (EL)

In school year 2003-2004, state data showed that the percentage of students with limited English proficiency scoring proficient on a state's language arts and mathematics tests was lower than the state's annual progress goals in nearly two-thirds of the 48 states for which data was obtained. To help these students progress academically, state and…

This curriculum guide is but one of the resources that the Montana Office of Public Instruction is providing to help teachers implement Indian Education for All. The philosophy of this document promotes the use of Indian literature as an instructional tool. There are no textbooks presently for including aspects of Montana Indian cultures into the…

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) is a combination of two separate tests. One test is AIMS, which measures how well the student knows the reading, writing, and mathematics content that all Arizona students in the student's grade level are expected to know and be able to do. AIMS DPA includes…

This study investigated the relationship between the scales used for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) assessments and the RIT scales used to report performance on Northwest Evaluation Association tests. The RIT scale was developed using Rasch scaling methodologies. RIT-based tests are used to inform a variety of educational…

This document represents one section of the Delaware Teachers' Desk Reference to Standards and Performance Indicators for Curriculum Planning and Unit Development produced by the Delaware Department of Education. The Desk Reference is part of the Delaware Department of Education's ongoing efforts to provide assistance and support to local school…

Serving as a guide for developing and/or assessing teacher-preparation programs in English language arts, this newly expanded document opens with a set of general underlying principles and then examines closely the attitudes, knowledge, and pedagogical skills that effective teachers should demonstrate. New to the 1996 edition are chapters that:…

This professional development guide focuses on the Viewing and Representing strands of the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and includes the areas of interpretation analysis and production, which help students in grades four through twelve become critical consumers, and capable producers, of media. The guide includes mini-lessons,…

Students play the roles of delegates to the U.S. Constitutional convention in this grade 8 interdisciplinary history and language arts unit. After reviewing the activities of the men involved in the convention (Patrick Henry, George Mason, Luther Martin, Richard Henry Lee, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton), participants prepare…

Based on James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's novel "My Brother Sam Is Dead," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that one way to learn about the past is to read historical novels; and that some people take one side or another in a war or other conflict, and some find themselves caught in the…