This study attempts to clarify and exploit Joseph Schwab's recent and current work on "practical" and "eclectic" curriculums in a simulated deliberation about a concrete curricular question, How might "Hamlet" be taught to one group of high school juniors? By exemplifying curricular deliberation, it aims to clarify…

Teachers' attitudes toward, and use of, children's literature were investigated in a questionnaire survey of 247 elementary school teachers in selected Michigan school districts. Demographic variables were compared with reports of actual classroom practices and with ideal practices in the teaching of children's literature. Results indicated few,…

The purpose of this study was to obtain data on the value of role playing as a method of writing instruction. Four classes of freshman composition comprised the sample: one early and one late class as experimental, and one early and one late class as control, with no significant differences between the two at the start. Each group was taught five…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of classroom instruction about questioning skills on students' question-asking behaviors, as well as to inquire about student reactions to being taught "process" in a "content" course. Two sophomore college literature classes were involved as experimental and control groups in the study. The…

The purpose of this investigation was to measure the effect of simulation-gaming on the expository prose competence of community college remedial English composition students. Thirteen teacher volunteers were used. The design was fully crossed so that each teacher taught an equal number of the 25 experimental and 25 control course sections. The…

This study discusses the literary excellence of the King James Version of the Bible, in order to encourage its use in college literature classes. Separate chapters present a brief history of the literary treatment of the Bible, a summary of the variety of literary genres contained in the Bible, a demonstration of structural features basic to…

This Action Research Project Report was conducted at one elementary school and two different high schools from August 20, 2007 to December 14, 2007. The purpose of this research was to decrease student off-task behavior in the classroom. There were four teacher researchers and 94 students at the beginning of the research, but during the action…

Four high school English teachers and their students participated in a study of the relationship between students' responses to literature and their teacher's preferred way of response, stated objectives, and style of teaching. Teachers responded to three short stories; students responded to three short stories as a pretest and to three more as a…

This dissertation presents a method for teaching secondary students many recognized critical approaches to the study of literature, so that they may choose the methods that function best for them with a given work. The novels of a contemporary American author, Jack Matthews, are used to show how the method operates. The investigator reports many…

A survey of 30 Kentucky high school English department heads known to have phase-elective programs indicated that 40% of the high schools had folklore as an offering; 60% believed that an anthology of Kentucky folklore would be valuable. No teacher reported more than nine hours of college or university folklore course work; most had had none. A…

Secondary school English teachers, drawn randomly from school systems throughout New York State, were polled with regard to their knowledge of current testing practices and their attitudes toward testing and accountability. A total of 497 usable responses (50.5% response) was obtained. Findings suggest that there is a wide variety of standardized…

The three teaching techniques used in three freshmen composition classes at a community college were lecture/discussion, semantic differential, and role playing. Teachers using the lecture/discussion approach presented information especially relevant to either the author, the work, or the milieu and followed the lecture with an open discussion.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students enrolled in a developmental English course at a public technical institute would show greater writing improvement and course satisfaction if they revised compositions before rather than after grading. The 21 member control and 22 member experimental groups were composed of students…

A survey of 225 parents of high school sophomores in a Minnesota community was undertaken in the fall of 1974 to determine parental attitudes about potentially controversial issues in high school English materials. In one sense, the intent of the survey was to determine "community standards." With the exception of objectionable language, parents…

This doctoral dissertation examines the concept of a general education over the past 30 years and presents a rationale for introducing the study of cultural heritage through a study of world literature in the English class. Chapter 1 argues that the study of world literature is an important part of the general education curriculum in a…