Addresses various Professional Development School (PDS) functions (teacher preparation, staff development, research, and student learning), describing the development of one urban PDS. Highlights issues raised by an exploratory study of a cohort of interns at the PDS and by a collaborative effort of the school and a field-based teacher-education…

Reviews historical events that molded the field of learning disabilities (LDs); addresses issues related to the prevalence of LDs and advances in identification, classification, and intervention practices directed at children with LDs. While focus is placed on deficits in basic reading and early intervention, other academic, social, and behavioral…

Even after acting on the best available information to make a grantmaking decision, a grantmaker should seek to learn from grantees, remain adaptable to new ideas and open to unexpected learning, and willing to admit when grants do not turn out as expected. To this end, Grantmakers for Education's Principles for Effective Education Grantmaking…

American attitudes toward the need for teaching twenty-first century skills appear as strong as the socioeconomic research being done that shows how critical these skills are for students' future access to the middle class and the country's economic competitiveness. In 2003, the AOL Time Warner Foundation (now the Time Warner Foundation) set out…

Designed for low-level adult learners, this book contains true stories of 20 men and women who have faced and overcome serious challenges in their lives. The book is intended to inspire and motivate developmental students in basic reading and writing classes. The book can be adapted to different instructional approaches--some teachers may wish to…

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association's (CBIA's) Statewide Workplace Literacy Program was designed to provide customized basic skills training to adult workers. A full-time workplace literacy coordinator met with company steering committees to identify the company's goals for the training, promote the program internally, select…

"Effective Reading" (ER) is a community college course designed to help developmental readers succeed in college reading through improved reading comprehension. The course is based on current research which indicates that successful comprehension can take place if students follow three steps: predicting (pre-reading strategies such as surveying…

A Pennsylvania project to improve the reading skills of commercial drivers and to help them pass the required federal Commercial Driver's License (CDL) written examination was evaluated at five pilot sites. The project used ROAD (Real Opportunities for Advancement and Development) to Success, a basic skills course of interactive computer…

Studies conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) suggested that developmental reading and writing students were much more likely than nondevelopmental students to fail or withdraw from nondevelopmental courses. Lower achievement levels were also noted for developmental students enrolled in college transfer courses. In 1988-89, the…

A junior high level individualized instruction program designed to assist students in developing their reading skills through materials which also build career awareness is presented. Program materials are adaptable to other formats such as mini-courses or supplemental units within existing courses. Because reading levels of materials used range…

Conference papers outlining strategies for implementing change through inservice education are presented. Three opening papers deal with the general theme of the conference: "Effective Inservice Education" (Gordon Lawrence); "A Panel Discussion on Staff Development" (Margaret L. Trent, Robert W. Evans, and Frederick R.…

The Brody Reading Method integrates four components to teach reading and written-language skills to elementary and secondary school students with reading difficulties. The program begins with syllabication for decoding, and then reinforces and expands those skills by providing structured application in content area reading, spelling, and…

This booklet describes the test development process used to upgrade New Jersey's basic skills competency test, the High School Proficiency Test (HSPT). Ninth-grade students in New Jersey public schools must pass this test of reading, writing, and mathematics skills in order to receive a state endorsed high school diploma. Test development…

A case study of the progress of Janice, a native Spanish speaking second grader learning English in a Florida public school, focuses on the classroom environment in which she was learning English, her writing development, her perceptions of writing in English and how they changed over time, and her struggles in the face of her teacher's and…

Grant projects sponsored by the California State University during 1980-1982 to improve writing and critical reading across the disciplines are discussed. Seven campus writing projects and two critical reading projects were supported by the Academic Program Improvement Fund. Four of the writing projects used faculty workshops and training…