We have never known more than we do now about teaching multilingual students -- nevertheless, we teeter on the edge of retreating to old-think practices. The next generation depends upon our getting this right, and this spare, salient guide helps ensure we do. "Kids Come in All Languages" provides teachers and leaders with all they need…

Although research indicates that feedback can be one of the most effective instructional strategies for improving student performance, getting students to listen and act on feedback can be complicated. If feedback is vague and personal, students may pay attention only to positive comments that are positive and boost their self-image ("That…

Students love to talk. So do teachers. When there's a balance in the classroom between student and teacher discourse, good things happen. When students assume increased responsibility for discussions, when they interact with a wide range of peers on diverse topics and supply evidence for their thinking, great things happen. Noted educators…

Chula Vista Elementary School District, the largest in California, dramatically raised its student achievement while taking on increasing proportions of English learners by focusing on what it calls teacher talk--the way lessons are developed, delivered, and executed.

This study examined teachers' actions during small-group guided instruction as they scaffolded students' understanding. The data suggest that expert teachers use a process that has four components: questions to check for understanding, prompts for cognitive and metacognitive work, cues to alter the learners' attention, and direct explanations. As…

Comprehension strategies, while helpful, are not sufficient to produce student achievement at high levels. The authors examine the role of background knowledge and vocabulary in developing understanding and facilitating achievement. Through purposeful instruction in vocabulary and by building and activating background knowledge, teachers can help…

In this book, the authors explain why telling students things over and over--and perhaps more slowly and more loudly--does not result in understanding. Instead, discover how to use a combination of questions, prompts, cues, direct explanations, and modeling to guide students' learning and build their understanding. Explore an approach to…

Motivation has long been viewed as a key element of learning. A study of over 300 high school juniors and seniors demonstrated that motivation was at least as predictive of achievement in a subject as was intelligence. Among younger students, motivation is a linchpin to learning, even at a time developmentally when overall motivation for…

Examines how advances in technology allow teachers to reconsider how students should and could be taught to become literate citizens. Believes that Language Arts educators play an important role in educating students in today's literacies. Addresses telecollaborative projects, interpersonal exchange, information collection and analysis, problem…

Every two hours and 15 minutes in the United States, a person who is under the age of 25 years old completes a suicide. As such, everyone must be on the watch for the signs of adolescent suicide, and everyone must know how to respond when they come face to face with it. All must confront this epidemic and provide space within schools for students…

Every two hours and 15 minutes, a person under the age of 25 completes a suicide. Since suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 19, it is hard to imagine a high school teacher who has not been touched by this epidemic. The issue is of such national significance that in September 2004, more than 350…

Struggling adolescent readers need interventions that provide them with opportunities to read more and to read better. The authors examine two case studies of interventions at work and propose criteria on which to evaluate intervention programs. Their review of the evidence on these programs for struggling adolescent readers suggests that at least…

Examined a teacher-created inclusive environment for elementary students and its endurance in the midst of administrative change, budget cuts, a teachers' strike, and class size reduction. Found that the inclusive environment sustained when teachers shared the vision, resources were available, training was provided, and a culture of inclusion was…

Reading specialists in several San Diego schools assist both in providing tutoring to students and coach peers, a dual role that has helped to create and sustain schoolwide improvements in literacy. In just a few years, these high-poverty schools have doubled the number of 2nd graders reading at grade level.

This article focuses on the role of the special educator in an inclusive school. It reviews the development of a special education knowledge base and specific schools' change to an inclusive service delivery model. The information indicates special educators' roles include instruction, assessment, curriculum, leadership, and record keeping.…