Strong reading and literacy skills are essential for students' success in K-12 and beyond by providing the foundation for understanding the world and communicating effectively. This Spotlight will help readers learn how classroom conversations can boost reading proficiency; identify research on how to get students absorbed in reading; examine…

The rural elementary principal has the ultimate responsibility for bringing all stakeholders together to focus and improve student achievement. In doing so, they must be able to provide knowledge of national, state, and local policies that influence achievement. Response to Intervention is a tiered framework for school's to provide…

This article examines how formal school leaders are positioned in their school's instructional networks based on an analysis of data from all 30 elementary schools in one mid-sized urban school district. Premised on the assumption that advice and information are key building blocks for knowledge development, we analyzed the instructional advice…

As shown by MetLife's 2010 "Survey of the American Teacher," America's educators strongly believe that all students should graduate from high school ready for college and a career (85 percent). Additionally, according to MetLife's 2009 survey, 86 percent of teachers believe that setting high expectations for students will improve student…

Inquires into what the role of the educational administrator should be with regard to instructional leadership. Provides eight suggestions for the instructional leader in the area of language arts. (Author/RH)

This paper contends that, if pupils are to achieve as optimally as possible, the principal needs to provide quality leadership in having teachers stress vital principles of learning from educational psychology. The paper states that there are selected principles of learning that all schools of psychology emphasize. It first enumerates and…

Teachers, principals, and supervisors need to determine the kinds of learners being taught in the school/class setting. Are pupils good by nature, bad, or neutral? Concepts held pertaining to each pupil assist in determining objectives, learning activities, and evaluation techniques. The Puritans believed that individuals were born evil or sinful.…

The purposes of this study were to determine whether recommendations of university professors for individualized instructional strategies are more often judged acceptable by elementary teachers than are those of public school administrators, whether there is a relationship between the extent to which those recommendations are judged to be…

Offers suggestions from six contributors regarding a variety of classroom activities, including the use of high interest-low vocabulary books with gifted and average readers, an exercise in sequencing, a Halloween project to improve students' grammar, a technique to improve students' dictionary skills, and methods for helping students write books.…

Building principals who demonstrate positive language arts leadership can have a major impact on children's literacy learning. Even extremely busy administrators can find time to read educational newspapers and newsletters, which provide pertinent information about forthcoming workshops and conferences, professional and instructional resources,…

The Project PRIMES (Progress Research in Meeting Elementary Standards) system examines elementary schools in light of minimum standards set by the Ohio State Department of Education. This evaluation instrument includes sections on the use of test results, pupil evaluation, teacher profile, administrator strengths and weaknesses, instructional…

An evaluation of the Astor Program for Gifted Children, introduced in 1973, in the New York City public schools is presented. This study is a follow-up of the "pioneer" pupils (those accepted during 1974-76). Sources of data included: a student questionnaire; student attitude scales; a parent questionnaire; a principal questionnaire; a…

This study examines the underlying structure of the teacher language arts and science questionnaires from a project studying the impact of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP). The dimensions of the questionnaire concerning practices and attitudes related to the MSPAP were studied, as well as the extent to which the on-grade…