This paper describes the use of email to extend dialogue in a secondary English methods course. The purpose of this email project was to provide opportunities for students to reflect on and respond individually to issues discussed in the methods classes and their own teaching during the clinical experiences and to provide individual guidance to…

This practicum was designed and implemented to increase the homework completion rate of sixth graders in English classes. Objectives were formulated to reflect a statistical increase in homework completion rate by means of calculation and analysis of a computerized gradebook. A review of the literature revealed several viable strategies to…

Three studies were conducted at Evergreen Valley College, in San Jose, California, to measure the persistence of new college students enrolled in entry-level English courses (i.e., English 321, English 322, and English 330) in fall 1988. Specifically, the studies examined students' persistence from their initial English course through Transfer…

A practicum project was developed and implemented to teach information retrieval literacy skills to Grade 12 regular English students in a public high school. The research skills that the students were learning by mastering the electronic information systems in the school media center were used to research a "real world" problem to be…

This review presents a 1991 evaluation of the English and Classics portions of the Letters Program in the state universities within Florida. Departmental self-evaluations and site visits by a consultant and a Board of Regents staff member discovered that in most of the nine universities the situation for English has worsened in the past five…

Studies of teacher satisfaction and workplace conditions generally have focused on the level of the profession or the school site, not on the smaller units within a school or the variations of the work environment within them. This study addresses three limitations of previous research. First, it introduces a theoretical perspective on the…

Much of the computer software currently available for English teachers fails to assess adequately computer strengths and weaknesses. Labeled "wimpy software," these products are often little more than animated textbooks whose lesson formats exercise little higher-order reasoning. The future for good quality software, therefore, rests with English…

Some previous research results imply that women tend to perform better, relative to men, on constructed-response (CR) tests than on multiple-choice (MC) tests in the same subjects. An analysis of data from several tests used in the licensing of beginning teachers supported this hypothesis, to varying degrees, in most of the tests investigated. The…

An English language arts methods course developed through a professional teacher network offers many advantages of a professional development school (PDS) but is easier for individual teachers and university instructors to initiate than a PDS. This report describes a writing methods course that an expert National Writing Project (NWP) teacher…

The role of the computer is examined in Lester Demonstration School, an optional school program offered by the Memphis City School System (an Apple Classroom of Tomorrow site). The student population is almost entirely black and generally considered to be socioeconomically disadvantaged and academically at-risk. Repeated observations were made of…

To improve students' self-concept and vocabulary scores, a practicum unit based in Graeco/Latin derivatives studies in varied learning styles strategies was developed for use in an eleventh grade English class (18 students). After the language analysis and preferred modalities of the target class were identified, students were assigned a target…

This teacher resource manual is intended to assist classroom teachers to implement Alberta, Canada's high school Integrated Occupational English Program. The manual, seen as a practical planning and instructional tool to support the "Program of Studies/Curriculum Guide," contains additional information about: the goals and objectives of…

This paper examines data collected from 1988-1989 and identifies a number of correlated factors. The data were drawn from the "1988-1989 District and School Profile," a survey conducted and published annually by the Mississippi State Department of Education. The ACT scores used represent the aggregate scores from within a district while…

Using a theater arts thematic approach to demonstrate ways listening, speaking, and writing activities can be built around the study of works of literature, this guide presents activities and sample lessons to help students develop an awareness of the interrelationships between performance and the language arts. Following an introduction, the…

A second grade teacher's use of storytelling to teach English language skills to both native speakers and learners of English as a second language (ESL) is described. The technique combines the concept of comprehensible input, the importance of stories and storytelling to children, and a commitment to teaching writing skills. Early in the day, all…