Surveyed 1,090 high school students involved in a detracking effort in an urban school at which heterogeneous core classes in English and history were implemented. Data suggest that the core program promoted greater academic success for more students while maintaining rigorous academic standards and a culturally sensitive curriculum. (SLD)

The main goal of this report is to present evidence on the predictive validity of an English language arts (ELA) performance assessment (PA) administered in Grades 2-9 in a large urban school district. To account for the hierarchical structure of the data (students are nested within schools), we employed hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

This article employs the concept of intersubjectivity to analyze developments in and discrepancies between students' understandings of criteria for effective writing and the criteria of their teacher. It reports on a study that employed qualitative methods of interview and classroom observation in conjunction with analysis of students' writing and…

Most high school students fall into the "unspecial" category--they are not at either extreme of achievement, and they receive a small share of the fiscal and human resources of their schools. Anxieties about these average students' performance in high school and their tendency to clog college developmental English and math classes…

Part of a series about research-based programs that show promise for raising student achievement (especially in low-performing schools), this paper describes seven promising reading and language arts programs. Each program shows evidence of high standards, effectiveness, replicability, and support structures. The paper opens with a brief…

Research has shown that in the small group setting, students develop well articulated understandings and better recall of their readings. One study, however, showed negative results in terms of recall, understanding, and personal response for small group work in eighth-grade literature classes. Those findings led to follow-up research on the…

The Mastery Learning (ML) program in New York City high schools allows teachers to divide course curriculum for English, science and social studies into small learning units which pupils master at their own speed. After a number of units have been completed, summative tests are given. Program goals include better attendance, achievement, and…

In 1984-85, the Bilingual Program of New York City's Erasmus Hall High School was in its second year of a 3-year funding cycle, and served 220 students of limited English proficiency (LEP). The program population included 190 Haitian students, in addition to 21 Hispanic, eight Asian, and one Middle Eastern student. All program participants…

In 1984-85, Project CAPABLE was in its final year of a 3-year funding cycle at schools in New York City. The program provided instruction in English as a second language, native language arts, bilingual science, and bilingual social studies to 324 Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese-speaking students of limited English proficiency (LEP) in Grades 9…

The Vocational and High School Equivalency Bilingual Program is a basic bilingual secondary education program conducted at Park West High school in New York, New York. The program helps limited English proficiency (LEP) students develop their English language skills so that they can participate effectively in mainstream classes and prepare to take…

A total of 78 Mexican-American and 14 Anglo-American children participated in a study to determine the relationship of oral English proficiency, social acceptance, and academic achievement among fifth grade students. The students were administered measures of phonology and verbal expression. Scores from a standardized achievement test were used to…

This collection of abstracts in part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the effects of second language learning on achievement in English; (2) developmental aspects and effects of variables on prekindergarten, kindergarten, and…

A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO COMPARE THE ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS OF BRITISH AND UNITED STATES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GRADES 1-6, OF VARYING ABILITY LEVELS, FROM BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT THE APPROXIMATE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR. ACHIEVEMENT ANALYSES WERE BASED PRIMARILY UPON SCORES EARNED ON THE…

Each of three teachers at Isaac Young Junior High School, New Rochelle, New York, taught three groups of ninth-grade students--two experimental classes (one taught by expository methods and one by inductive methods) and one control class taught the usual curriculum. For both expository methodology and inductively-based instruction, current high…