Performance data on the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) for entering college students were collected through a pilot study of 4,234 students in 16 colleges. This study was also designed to permit several checks on the validity of the DTLS by examining the relationship of DTLS scores to the following criteria: English course grades,…

Called a response draft, this curriculum guide provides practitioners with further opportunity to examine and discuss adult learning in English and communications before the guidelines are adopted throughout British Columbia. The guide's three specific purposes are to (1) define a common curriculum goal and an array of learning objectives for…

An overview of the literature of listening illustrates the lack of sufficient research in this area. A 1955 survey of curriculum guidebooks and bulletins for the inclusion of listening demonstrates the effect of limited research: most documents devoted anywhere from two to six pages to listening in elementary through secondary school levels. In…

To describe and evaluate current practices in college composition programs, a study was conducted of the 19 California State University campuses. English department chairs completed a short survey on courses, staffing, and special projects, and structured interviews were conducted with these chairs and various other program coordinators from a…

Children from rural backgrounds often struggle with the unfamiliar language and settings in basal reader selections, but the rich knowledge and experience that a rural child brings to the classroom is rarely reflected there. These papers describe a literature based program developed in the Washington Court House City Schools (Ohio) to teach…

A study was designed to provide an initial context for framing the most pressing questions in the teaching of literature. To do this, the teaching of English in the high school classrooms of teachers whose departments were considered excellent by other professionals in education was examined. The issues that emerged in the programs with…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop a program to increase high school juniors' and seniors' academic achievement by one grade level, their self-esteem by one level (as measured by the North York Secondary School Self-Concept Inventory), and to increase parent positive responses and interest in the program and its continuation. Examination…

Writing in English in New Zealand today is being invigorated by the strength of the Maori oral tradition: its use of metaphor, its expression of Maori values. It is the Maori tradition that is the source of a unique New Zealand identity, which emerges through the language and literature of Aotearoa (New Zealand), the use of strongly rooted Maori…

Reporting on a doctoral practicum that examined children's literary works and developed related expressive language activities, this document contains a description of the practicum--including its purpose, goals, procedures, and results--and a guide for primary teachers to use in language arts instruction. The expressive language activities…

Noting that although learning disabled (LD) students are attending college in increasing numbers there are few specific course strategies for helping these students (except for adaptations of existing programs and emphasis on elementary or secondary students), this paper reviews resources on a variety of topics as they relate to LD students. Among…

Designed for seventh and eighth grade English teachers, this curriculum guide contains (1) a course description; (2) educational goals; (3) teaching perspective; (4) a set of general principles; (5) a list of questions that teachers ask, along with answers; (6) an overview; and (7) directions for writing as a process, higher level thinking skills,…

Some of the dynamics involved in ability grouping classification at the secondary level are described via an examination of the decision-making process involved. Specifically, the practitioners' perspectives of the curriculum, their use of selected student characteristics, and their beliefs about the goals of the classification process were…

Intended to provide the schools of California with a standard for assessing their existing writing programs and a tool for designing new programs, this handbook addresses both the content and the teaching methodology of a writing program. Sections of the handbook provide (1) background information on the teaching of writing; (2) a discussion of…

Prepared to assist administrators and other developers of curriculum at district and building levels, this syllabus outlines general criteria for an effective integrated curriculum in English language arts, suggests the instructional objectives that need to be addressed, and provides direction for the evaluation of student progress and program…

Consistent with the Utah State Office of Education philosophy that listening, speaking, reading, and writing are integral aspects of the total curriculum, the strands included in this elementary language arts guide are study skills, affective language, literature, composition, speaking and listening, and grammar and usage. Each of the strands is…