Offering the notion of writing pedagogy as a "bazaar with many booths," this collection of articles on teaching creative writing is focused on applicability to all levels of instruction. The 10 articles, after a Foreword by the editor, are, as follows: "Before Writing: Remember What Makes Writing Easy" (Donald M. Murray);…

What educators around the country are finding out as they work with portfolios is reviewed, focusing on the classroom. Portfolios are purposeful, collaborative, self-reflective collections of student work generated during the process of instruction. Although they can be used in any academic discipline, portfolios are widely used in English and…

Sharing concerns and interests of New York State educators in the improvement of literacy, this annual journal raises educational issues such as appropriate, effective instruction and assessment for all of New York's children. A central thread found in many of the articles is the importance of authentic or meaningful experiences that invite…

Portfolios can demonstrate student mastery of material and their work with concepts and content, as well as their ability to link material with other knowledge. Portfolios can closely relate what students learn to what teachers believe they teach. The decision to use portfolios requires planning, professional development, decision making, and a…

This document describes performance assessments (PAs) (alternative assessments or authentic assessments). PA requires students to perform a task rather than select an answer on a ready-made list. Some methods that have been used successfully to assess performance include open-ended or extended response exercises, extended tasks, and portfolios.…

"The ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue explores performance-based assessment via two principal articles: "Performance Assessment" (Lawrence M. Rudner and Carol Boston); and "Alternative Assessment:…

This document consists of three years' worth (8 issues) of "Council Connections," the newsletter of the Reading Recovery Council of North America. Each issue offers brief articles, updates of Reading Recovery programs in various countries, messages from the organization's president, past president, and/or the executive director, updates…

This document serves as a supportive tool for school counselors and their programs. It focuses on counseling issues and ideas, and has a particular emphasis on ideas for best practice. It also serves an important role in promoting the school counseling profession. This issue includes the following articles: (1) "Format for the Future:…

These six theme issues of the "English Leadership Quarterly" represent those published during 1997 and part of 1998--volume 19 consists of the traditional four issues, while volume 20 consists of only two issues because of a change in publication schedule. Articles in volume 19 number 1 deal with theories, issues, and personal accounts on the…

This updated annotated bibliography presents articles about portfolio assessment uses collected and reviewed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NREL) Test Center to date. Documents have been obtained from a number of sources, including consortium efforts by the Northwest Evaluation Association and the Alaska State Department of…

The papers in this yearbook focus on the strategies, practices, and research related to elementary reading, secondary reading, adult reading, literature, philosophy of reading, psychology of reading, affective issues, administration, supervision, research, teacher training, assessment that affect reading and reading instruction. Papers in the book…

This annual journal issue contains 22 papers on issues of faculty development, diversity, adult learners, and instructional improvement in higher education. Many of the papers were developed for the annual conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). The papers are: (1) "What Theories…

The Multicultural Reading and Thinking (McRAT) Program of the Arkansas public schools is described, and results of a study of its effectiveness are reported. The McRAT Program is a process that empowers teachers to refocus instruction and restructure standard curricula for higher order thinking. The multicultural emphasis provides a meaningful…

This quarterly publication serves as a medium for the exchange of ideas regarding the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of professional development practices at two- and four-year colleges. The four issues in volume 14 feature the following articles: (1) "A Home-Grown Faculty Development Program," (Jane T. Rauton); (2) "Creating…

One educational change that is beginning to take hold is the use of alternative ways of testing and assessment, often referred to as authentic assessment. Advocates of authentic assessment believe that conventional testing is distorting educational goals, while authentic assessment can foster good educational practices. In fact, many educators…