This booklet, one of a set of four documents comprising the 1995 Goal Report, contains the executive summary for the fifth in a series of annual reports to measure progress toward the National Education Goals. The first part summarizes the nation's progress toward each of the goals. It provides baseline measures of progress, the most recent…

New electronic technologies provide powerful tools for managing and processing the rapidly increasing amounts of information available for learning; teachers, however, have often been slow in integrating computers into the curriculum. This study addresses the question of how prospective teachers construct affective and cognitive models about…

In order to provide data to help schools respond to the diversity in the backgrounds and educational needs of children entering school, a U.S. Department of Education study asked parents of 3- to 5-year-old children who had not yet started kindergarten about their children's accomplishments that indicated emerging literacy and numeracy skills and…

This serial issue examines the theme of picture books as resources for art production and art response; gives specific project descriptions; and looks at the relationship between words and pictures, and the creative connection between art and language. Articles are: (1) "Editor's View" (Sharon McCoubrey); (2) "The Creative…

The purpose of PACE is to bring together individuals who have been responsible for new, innovative, and exciting developmental physical education programs. The following summaries are included: "Literacy in the Gym" (Tami Benham); "Activity Ideas for Fundamental Movement Skill Development" (Thomas H. Green); "Creative…

This series of booklets, each one focusing on a different topic, is intended for parents and children to read together as they listen to the companion audiotape that accompanies each booklet. Each booklet answers practical questions from parents, describes activities that can be undertaken at home, notes some books for parents and children, and…

Lack of success of some adult learners of English as a Second Language may be due to learning disabilities (LD). Review of research reveals that LD can affect every aspect of learning, impairing single or multiple skills and sometimes appearing in the second language when not in the first. Identification of adult ESL learners as having LD can be…

This booklet provides an introduction for people working in organizations concerned with housing and homelessness about basic skills. It provides background on the link between poor basic skills and poor housing and information about ways in which people use basic skills in their daily lives. Two reasons for housing organizations to be involved…

This report describes the need for a state-level inservice education program for secondary mathematics public school teachers in North Carolina, in order to enable them to effectively implement computer use in classrooms. A decision model for policy analysis was used to determine optimal strategy for the program. Following a review of the…

Reflecting an integrated, constructivist approach to teaching, this book presents the content of the language arts curriculum and effective teaching strategies for teaching this content so that elementary and middle-school teachers can help students develop communicative competence. This third edition emphasizes the multicultural classroom,…

This paper examines the conceptualization and design of the Pennsylvania Audiographics Distance Education Project's (PADEP) Life Skills and Drug Education Course, and discusses the successes and difficulties of the project based on results from formative evaluation. Educators from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, developed new courses that could be…

This book shows elementary school teachers how to help students become confident readers and writers who can use skills they acquire throughout their lives, from a constructivist orientation. It is intended as a main text for an introductory course on elementary-school reading instruction, typically taken by undergraduates in their second or third…

When matched for achievement level and educational objectives, computer technology can be particularly effective with at-risk students. Computer-assisted instructional software is the most widely available type of software. An exciting development pertinent to literacy education is the development of the "electronic book" (also called…

This booklet presents a reading and writing intervention program for French Canadian preschool children with developmental delays, to be implemented by parents or collaboratively by parents and teachers. The program calls for children to have frequent contacts with written language, in order to facilitate the development of a positive attitude…

An insider/outsider approach to Appalachian culture examines cultural differences of Appalachian people that necessitate cross-cultural educational studies usually reserved for ethnic and racial minority groups. An overview focuses on current economic conditions affecting the region's culture and some stereotypes of Appalachians that remain…