Literacy skills are an essential part of academic performance. When physical educators collaborate with classroom teachers to address these skills, student engagement in the learning process can greatly improve. This article begins by reviewing the growing issues surrounding student literacy and its impact on academic performance. The discussion…

Implementation of the English Language Arts (ELA) Common Core State Standards (CCSS) reduces the traditional separation between the study of different subjects. Increased focus on nonfiction reading and writing means more incorporation of other content, such as music, into language arts classes. CCSS's emphasis on speaking and writing across…

As educators, the authors know the importance of teaching reading and writing, but they often overlook speaking and listening skills. They believe that if they have class discussions on a regular basis, students are "naturally" learning to speak and to listen. However, that is not the case. On the contrary, speaking and listening skills are ones…

This document describes the Minnesota No Child Left Behind (NCLB) calculation as it relates to measuring Title III districts for Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAO). In 2012, a new assessment was used to measure language proficiency skills for English Learners. New AMAO targets were created, and new values for determining individual…

The performance data on long-term English language learners (ELLs) in AISD were mixed and suggest not all long-term ELLs were struggling in English proficiency or content area knowledge. A quarter of long-term ELLs received special education services.

We outline how research into predictors of literacy underpins the development of increasingly accurate and informative assessments. We report three studies that emphasize the crucial role of speech and auditory skills on literacy development throughout primary and secondary school. Our first study addresses the effects of early childhood middle…

This brief provides an overview of the knowledge and skills that administrators need in order to support and supervise teachers of adult English language learners. It begins with a review of resources and literature related to teacher supervision in general and to adult ESL education. It continues with information on the background and…

Children of all offspring groups could be discriminated from one another, with children of schizophrenics showing the most deviant speech performance across all dependent measures. Children of schizophrenics were less verbally productive and had poorer patterns of cohesion between ideas than children of normals. (Author/SW)

The authors review and evaluate studies on spontaneous recovery from stuttering in children and conclude that the frequently cited 80% spontaneous recovery figure is too high. They propose that speech-language pathologists abandon the concept of spontaneous recovery when devising clinical management procedures for the stuttering child. (Author/CL)

Presents 10 strategies to help parents and teachers prepare and deliver effective presentations, including: use good information; practice the presentation; control the materials; get acquainted with at least a few audience members; have a strong opening; practice anxiety management; be oneself; do not get too complicated or fancy at first; have a…

Four experiments on speech reception and speech production in deaf children are reported. In study 1, conversations of seven deaf children (6 to 12 years old) were recorded and analyzed, indicating that their speech was no less intelligible than their normally hearing peers. The deaf children had received 3 or more years of parent/infant training.…

Speech samples from 21 deaf subjects (9-16 years old) were rated for phrasal quality and reading comprehension under four reading conditions. Results suggested that--whereas staccato-speaking deaf students may lack a sense of the phrase altogether--phrasal-speaking deaf youngsters fail to independently apply their phrase sense in the normal…

Contrastive stress production patterns of 20 moderately to severely hearing-impaired children, aged four to 18, were compared with those of 20 normal-hearing children, aged three to six. Analyses of judges' responses to the speakers' audiotapes recorded during a conversation-based task yielded evidence of similar production patterns for the groups…

Listeners judged whether they heard a terminal fall, rise, or a flat final intonation contour in 9 sentences produced by 8 deaf children, aged 8-18. The more slowly the contour fell, the more likely listeners were to perceive the contour as flat, regardless of the amount by which it fell. (Author/JDD)

A model is presented which incorporates components of perception, production, and cognitive-linguistic processing in the assessment and daily treatment of speech in hearing impaired students. Assessment and treatment factors are detailed. (CL)