Through an in-depth interview, a study investigated teachers' beliefs and understandings about language learning. Subjects were nine elementary school teachers from a suburban midwest school district where a whole language philosophy was beginning to become infused in the curriculum. Subjects were selected for participation based on the teachers'…

This paper proposes a systematic method of measuring subjects' free recall from printed hard news stories, based on schema theories of cognition. Citing literature that demonstrates the role of text structures and text schemas in the recall of written text, the paper suggests incorporating these processes into the assessment of recall of news. In…

An instructor of an undergraduate literacy methods course included a portfolio as a component of assessment. Based on a review of the literature and the elements of the portfolio assessment program used in the General College Program at the State University of New York College at Fredonia, the instructor adapted the portfolio process for her…

Noting that a number of Australian states have adopted a functional model of language in their English syllabus documents, this PEN explains the term "functional model" and explores the implications of a functional approach to the teaching of English across all key learning areas in the Australian primary classroom. The paper notes that…

In 1993, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges initiated a comprehensive evaluation of the standards and procedures it uses to accredit colleges. The Commission asked the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges to carry out the survey. A total of 1,361 questionnaires were mailed to representative…

This paper is based on guidelines developed in 1989 for training workshops for state and local educators to demonstrate the processes by which performance assessments could be created, validated, and used in statewide assessment programs. These guidelines are based on work with the National Assessment of Educational Progress and several statewide…

As a guide to learning about other cultures, the first edition of this book used 100 critical incidents spread across 18 themes of human interaction. This edition has the same goal as the first edition, to improve formal efforts to prepare people for interaction with cultures other than their own, but it introduces a number of new incidents and…

Application review is the most important part of the Department of Education's funding process and is designed to ensure that projects are worthwhile and that awards are fair and impartial. The critical step in application review is competitive, objective evaluation by reviewers. This workbook was developed by the Department of Education to…

This conference paper provides examples of reading comprehension strategies that can be used with students with learning disabilities or reading comprehension difficulties. Before reading, during reading, and after reading strategies are presented. The before reading strategies, which activate the students' background knowledge and attention,…

This proceedings contains papers presented at the sixth annual conference of the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar. Papers in the proceedings are: "The Politics of Grammar" (Sabah A. Salih); "(Still) Trying to Find an Answer to the Problem of 'Error' in Writing" (William McCleary); "Grammar and Literacy:…

This proceedings contains half of the papers presented at the third annual conference of the Association of Teachers of English Grammar. Papers in the proceedings are: "Grammar as a Method, Not as a Subject" (Marilyn N. Silva); "Using Humor to Teach Grammar, or the Grammarian as Stand-up Comic" (Frank Peters); "Grammatical…

New to the current assessment-reform movement is an emphasis on the use of performance assessments to support systematic state-, district-, or school-wide objectives. This document presents findings of a study that sought to document and analyze the key characteristics of performance assessments, the facilitators and barriers in assessment reform,…

A national survey of college faculty provided data for an analysis of class size norms in postsecondary institutions, and the institutional and academic variables associated with class size differences. Institutional characteristics considered include public versus private control, Carnegie classification, and institution size. Course academic…

The goal of this report is to provide a summary of the evaluation of Project Symbiosis which focused on enhancing the teaching of science principles in high school agriculture courses. The project initially involved 15 teams of science and agriculture teachers and was characterized by an extensive evaluation component consisting of six formal…

This book is designed specifically for pre- and in-service teachers, school administrators, and college and university personnel. It can also be used as a source of program ideas by agency and private camp personnel. The intent of this book is to present a fairly brief, concise point of view representing the authors' philosophy, derived from their…