This special report on the assessment of French immersion students in Alberta focuses on critical issues and methodological problems with testing methods. After an introduction, the second section gives an overview of these issues and problems. Issues discussed include the following: whether students instructed in French immersion programs should…

This manual contains materials for seven workshops on developing thinking skills in young children for teachers and teacher assistants in kindergarten through third grade. Contents of workshop (W) material focus, respectively, on (W1) convergent and divergent thinking; (W2) Bloom's levels of thinking; (W3) decision making, concept development, and…

The Fort Worth (Texas) Board of Education, Superintendent, and Texas State Legislature have implemented changes in the schools to increase student learning time. The purposes of this study were to determine (1) the percentage of allocated class time used for instruction; and (2) whether overall time utilization has changed since a similar 1979-80…

Reading aloud to children is an important facet of the literate home environment and the best preparation for the establishment of preschool literacy skills. David was read to at every opportunity, and a diary was kept to observe, record, and study his emergent literacy events in the home. Since David often asked to have the same books read to…

A practicum assignment designed for master's-level teacher trainees in the field of English as a second language is presented with a sampling of the results. The assignment was to design a communicative syllabus to cover three 50-minute periods and focus on three of these areas: language arts, language for a purpose, personal second language use,…

The 28 essays in this journal issue focus on methodology, interpretation, and classroom application of research in the language arts. Following a preface on the role of research in English instruction, the topics discussed include the following: (1) a research base for a large-scale evaluation of writing; (2) implications of teaching writing as…

In 1986, after a thorough review of educational goals for Saskatchewan (Canada) schools, the Saskatchewan Department of Education published its findings and recommendations. A key recommendation was to incorporate six "common essential learnings" categories into all courses of study offered in Saskatchewan schools. One of these six…

A catalog containing materials relevant to the education of refugees, immigrants, and other limited-English-proficient (LEP) students is presented. Included are textbooks for teaching. English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), general resettlement information; and materials for Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Chinese, and Spanish speakers, and other…

The Maryland Accountability Testing Program Annual Report is a reference document on basic skills test data for grade levels three, five, and eight. The average grade equivalent scores on the California Achievement Tests (CAT) for all three grade levels in reading comprehension, language, and mathematics for the school year 1983-1984 are included.…

A program was designed to reduce the academic gap between aptitude and achievement of 150 gifted underachievers in grades 5-8 who had been removed from a Georgia-funded gifted program due to poor achievement test scores and were subsequently enrolled in the Atlanta Public School System's locally funded gifted program. The program also sought to…

These consumer education activities will help secondary students become aware of the social and economic problems they will be encountering after they graduate. Interdisciplinary in nature, the activities can be used in a number of ways. They can be integrated into the curriculum through U.S. history, modern problems, sociology, psychology, home…

This is an ethnographic report on a poor, black-populated, inner city school that is considered effective in an environment where others are failing. The study sought to provide a qualitative account that would allow identifying what factors make for school success. Positive community perceptions of the school and data on student achievement…

The citations in this bibliography include textbooks, other instructional materials, and resource materials that can be used in teaching refugees in the United States. The title entries are grouped in series consisting of: (1) textbooks, workbooks, and other instuctional materials on teaching English to non-English speakers; (2) curricular and…

Six experienced teachers of fourth and fifth grades read and made judgments about the appropriateness, attractiveness, usefulness, and effectiveness of each of 32 short descriptions of language-arts activities. The activity descriptions had been edited to vary systematically on five features: amount of student involvement; difficulty for students;…

In this set of two booklets for primary grades, students learn how to make a home for their animals (amphibians, insects, fish, crayfish) and a home for their rodents (hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, mice). The major emphasis in all Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) units is on open-ended, long-range investigations of…