There is a growing consensus that teacher evaluation in the United States is fundamentally broken. Few would argue that a system that tells 98 percent of teachers they are "satisfactory" benefits anyone--including teachers. The nation's collective failure to invest in high-quality professional feedback to teachers is inconsistent with…

Research has long been clear that teachers matter more to student learning than any other in-school factor. Improving the quality of teaching is critical to student success. Yet only recently have many states and districts begun to take seriously the importance of evaluating teacher performance and providing teachers with the feedback they need to…

Real and fanciful trees can sprout facts and creative fantasy in your classroom. (Editor)

Argues that problems in teaching grammar stem from failure to help students develop, as opposed to memorize, grammatical concepts. Recommends discussion of style and vocabulary, student stylistic analysis of their own writing, and deciphering syntactic use, not just definition, of parts of speech. Suggests that such training should begin in…

This video is one of a four-part series which is designed to introduce teachers and parents to standards and teaching in a standards-based environment, and aims to help teachers and parents understand how teaching with standards can change classrooms, work assignments, and student performance. This video demonstrates what starting to meet the…

Compares the difficulties students face in the junior high years to the obstacles of Odysseus. Notes hierarchical skill levels needed to understand and interpret literature; suggests using different print and nonprint media to improve interest in stories; recommends doing more writing and talking about fewer works. (JG)

Presenting lesson plans for secondary teachers of language arts, this booklet is intended to help students develop healthy attitudes toward their own aging, realize the lifelong importance of decisions they make as adults, and understand the interdependence of all age groups. The activities suggested in the booklet are designed to address existing…

Designed for use in junior high school language arts classes, this learning activity packet combines the study of prejudice with language arts skills activities. An attitude inventory in which students assess their own prejudices is followed by a selection of short stories, skits, and a poem dealing with different kinds of prejudice. Each reading…

This video is one of a four-part series which is designed to introduce teachers and parents to standards and teaching in a standards-based environment, and aims to help teachers and parents understand how teaching with standards can change classrooms, work assignments, and student performance. This video shows how middle school teachers in many…

A teacher of high school gifted students discusses his experiences, noting the importance of teacher humility; teacher involvement; making "basics" interesting; focusing on relevance; understanding common tactics of these students; and sharing ideas for "trapping" students into enjoying the humanities, social studies, and language arts. (DB)

The problems of boys in schools, especially in reading and writing, have been the focus of statistical data, but research rarely points out how literacy educators can combat those problems. This book shares what the authors learned in working with a diverse group of young men to understand how they use literacy and what conditions promote it.…

Creative dramatics can be used effectively by the elementary teacher to help motivate students to become involved in various language arts activities. Dramatic play, pantomime, story dramatization, imagination exercises, creative movement, improvisation, and other structured activities encourage students to relate new experiences to old. As they…

Asserts that successful teaching and learning can be summarized in one word: collaboration. Discusses cooperative learning and three types of collaboration: (1) collaboration among teachers; (2) collaboration between student and teacher; and (3) collaboration among students. (CFR)

This descriptive study looked at the provision of differentiated language arts instruction for gifted students by means of whole language instruction approaches in regular classes. Two classrooms in each of two elementary schools were identified as exemplary whole language classrooms and each contained several students identified for school gifted…

Intended for teachers of grades 6 through 12 who wish to incorporate information on energy and energy conservation into drama, poetry, literature, or research instruction, this guide offers lesson plans to educate elementary or secondary students about energy through class activities. An introduction explains the need for such instruction, and…