Discusses three major physiological or neurological areas in which learning problems originate: language deficits, visual processing deficits, and information processing deficits. Discusses remediation efforts. (RS)

Describes (and offers an example of) a vocabulary spelling activity which uses a crossword puzzle format to help middle school through high school students study the spelling/meaning connection in English orthography. (SR)

Warns against tendencies in educational circles to make lists but not check them twice. Discusses Denny Taylor's "Learning Denied" and Bart Kosko's "Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic," as well as seven education articles. (SR)

Elucidates five guidelines to be considered by administrators and teachers as they cooperatively attempt to hire qualified reading professionals. Includes a checklist for the recruitment of qualified reading professionals. (SR)

Discusses bringing local writers into the classroom--how to locate such writers and how to prepare for and organize the visit. (SR)

Discusses a startlingly current 1953 article called "Recent Trends in the Teaching of Reading" by Virgil Herrick, and a 1992 book by James Moffett called "Harmonic Learning: Keynoting School Reform." (SR)

Introduces the Directed Questioning Activity (DRA), a teacher directed questioning strategy to be used in class with subject matter textbooks containing unfamiliar or difficult concepts. (RS)

Defines a type of literacy task, the search task (locating specific information). Explains why it is of concern, describes research on high school and college students' searching, and offers suggestions for search instruction. (SR)

Argues for an integrated response to the interrelated problems of substance abuse and literacy. Recommends assessment to identify substance abuse and literacy problems, integrated instructional interventions, and discourse among classroom teachers and mental health professionals. (SR)

Explains how using the term "Family English" to identify nonstandard English with adults in developmental classes at the junior college level keeps communications open without negatively labeling their language and without producing hostility. (SR)

Rethinks the concept of book reports, refuting most reasons for their use. Notes other, more enjoyable ways to teach the skills usually targeted with book reports. Offers guidelines to optimize learning and opportunities for success with book reports. (SR)

Maintains that teachers must encourage the lifetime reading habit at school in independent reading. Discusses several ways to do so, including cluttering up the classroom with reading materials, providing time for reading, and encouraging the reading habit throughout the year. (SR)

Discusses recent books and articles on social class in the United States. Notes how U.S. citizens are lulled, first, into accepting the notion of classlessness and, then, into an Us-versus-Them stance that pits teachers against an ostensibly stupid and surly, albeit ill-defined, group of "others." (SR)

Discusses ways to use the author awareness approach (a sense of who wrote the story, how, and why) to teach writing. Notes that this approach improves students' reading as well as writing. (SR)

Provides an overview of literacy and literacy education in Morocco. Sketches the historical context, and then discusses literacy in formal school settings, adult programs, and needed improvements. (SR)