The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a group of states working together to develop a set of assessments that measure whether students are on track to be successful in college and careers. Administrations of the PARCC assessment included three Prose Constructed Responses (PCR), one per task for English…

Literacy learning clubs are highly motivating small-group collaborations that can improve tweens' and teens' academic achievement, support their social-emotional development, and increase their enjoyment of reading and writing. This book explains the research basis for the author's approach and offers practical instructions for implementation in…

This Framework is built upon the foundation of the 2010 "Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy," as well as earlier versions of the "Massachusetts English Language Arts Frameworks" published since 1997. The current Framework incorporates improvements suggested by Massachusetts educators after…

Nearly every reform effort espouses the importance of "parent involvement." This research-based guide is essential reading for teachers and administrators who want to make welcoming classrooms a reality. With a focus on literacy instruction, it showcases stories of "what works" when teachers in elementary school classrooms throughout the country…

Standards drive critical elements of the American educational system--the curricula that schools follow, the textbooks students read, and the tests they take. Similarly, standards establish the levels of performance that students, teachers and schools are expected to meet. To succeed in the 21st century, all students will need to perform to high…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades" addresses the challenge of providing effective literacy instruction for English learners in the elementary grades. The Guide offers five specific recommendations for district…

States that 30 million people currently access the Internet, the international electronic superhighway linking thousands of individual computer networks. Offers information about terms used on the Internet; accessing the World Wide Web; language arts, writing, and literacy resources available on the Web; and educational sites, specific databases,…

As parents adapt to meet today's changing definition of literacy, they are often left with many questions about what is happening in their child's classroom. To help address parents' concerns, this guide uses clear, everyday language and classroom examples to explain and illustrate some of the key concepts and terms in literacy acquisition and…

Addresses the questions of how literacy is defined, by whom, and for what purposes, using critical literacy as a lens of analysis. Considers the "normative assumptions" that are present within the language arts curriculum. Suggests that any methodological approach to what it means to be a "literate" person is based on an…

Why does one classroom hum with productivity and enthusiasm and the one next door sag under the weight of the work? To understand the invisible forces within a classroom of busy children, people must look beneath the surface to the relationships that shape behavior and determine daily patterns of teaching and learning. This book focuses on the web…

This book gathers 25 essays and 80 shorter excerpts from the past 25 years of the K-8 journal "Language Arts." Essays in the book begin with (1) "Introduction" (Sharon Murphy and Curt Dudley-Marling). Under Section I--Opening Contexts for Thinking about Teaching the Language Arts--are the following essays: (2) "How…

Most books about teacher education processes are generic in their descriptions. This book, however, is designed to enable staff developers and teacher educators to help teachers become effective in their teaching of the reading and writing processes. The book offers specific suggestions for planning and implementing a literacy professional…

The first volume in a series and the foundation on which future volumes will build, this book explains the goals of the "Kids InSight" series, then highlights the threads that will run throughout all the books in the series. The goals of the book are to: encourage teachers to reflect on and reconsider their instruction; change their…

Explores three different kinds of university-school collaboration. Describes how the traditional boundaries between universities and schools are being bridged. Advocates collaborative relationships that engage participants in cooperative efforts to design alternative practices and models of teaching. (HB)

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…