Describes a project in an elementary mathematics methods course in which preservice teachers developed performance assessment tasks then administered these tasks in a K-8 classroom. Presents the guiding framework for this project, the project design, and the teaching and learning experiences for project leaders and preservice teachers. Includes…

Explains how optimal control problems can be solved with a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel. Suggests the method can be used by students, teachers, and researchers as a tool to find numerical solutions for optimal control problems. Provides several examples that range from simple to advanced. (JEH)

Describes the work of Storytelling Arts Inc, a nonprofit group that sends storytellers into New Jersey schools to spin age-old yarns and encourage young children and their teachers to speak their mind. The nonprofit's main goal is to inspire low income children to master the language arts. Teachers note that storytelling helps students with their…

Lists some factors that can complicate the reading process for nonnative speakers of English. Offers suggestions and strategies that can support students as they strive to acquire skills, such as orthography, phonology, cultural background, and vocabulary. Concludes that a culturally relevant teaching approach means that students' second languages…

Describes an informal investigation of students' familiarity with and knowledge of active reading strategies by administering the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory. Contends that student responses solidified the importance of helping students become aware of reading strategies. Concludes that the best way to encourage content…

Explains that plot and structure, character, setting, point of view, style and language, symbol, and theme are the building blocks of fiction. Contends that these elements of literature provide readers with the tools they need for navigating difficult texts. Concludes that when teachers determine that a novel's setting is too foreign or the point…

The matching of students with language learning disabilities and dyslexia to appropriate reading materials is discussed, and formal and informal methods are presented for determining reading levels for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension instruction and practice. The Spache Readability Formula, the New Dale-Challe Readability Formula, and…

Findings from reports of 75 children (ages 3-5) with autism indicate 39% had no standardized assessments before education authorities determined their special education provision and only 9% had follow-up assessments for evaluating progress. The development of a protocol for prescribing specific educational intervention and evaluating progress is…

This study compared the effectiveness of spaced retrieval (SR) and a modified cueing hierarchy (CH), for teaching persons with dementia a strategy goal involving an external memory aid. Training of 25 persons with dementia found that the SR procedures resulted in significantly more goals being attained and maintained at both 1-week and 4-months…

Investigates English-as-a-Second-Language classes in Auckland, New Zealand to compare the frequency and characteristics of incidental focus on form episodes occurring in these classes. (Author/VWL)

Examined the effect of teaching direct learning strategies and their subcategories on the vocabulary retention of English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners. Participants of the study were 60 female EFL learners, aged 15-17. (Author/VWL)

Explains Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM), http://www.thegateway.org/ an online indexed database of lesson plans designed for teachers. Evaluates GEM and explores characteristics of teachers who use it to determine whether teachers possessed the technological skills needed to use GEM and if they were successful in their search for…

Explains the origin and goals of cognitive flexibility theory and discusses new directions being explored. Topics include hypermedia systems; multiple knowledge representations; interconnectedness; context-dependency; digital video cases; experience acceleration; and bridging knowledge and practice, cognitive, individualistic practices and…

Discusses the significance, challenges and process of infusing assessment practices into religious education programs. Reports key findings from an assessment survey distributed to parish catechetical staffs and then outlines how assessment contributes to the creation of a strategic plan for faith formation. (Contains seven references.) (RC)

Discusses Proverbs as an approach to teaching, learning, speaking, and listening. Argues that using Proverbs is a means to meet the conventions of the Generation X community and to learn about the ambiguity and paradoxes of God. Suggests that how and when a teacher speaks can be formative and potentially transformative. (CAJ)