This book presents practical information for those wanting to create elementary schools in which all children become readers and writers. It describes critical factors that can advance or impede the development of more effective educational settings, noting exemplary efforts in real schools and offering a variety of activities for taking stock of…

Although considerable research examines the impact of grade retention on student academic achievement, various shortcomings exhibited across these studies make it difficult to derive any concrete generalizations about the effectiveness of requiring students to repeat a grade. By utilizing data based on a cohort of all low-achieving elementary…

The authors conducted an experiment during the 2003-2004 school year to determine whether "On Our Way to English" ("OWE"), a product to help elementary students learn to read and speak English, was more effective in a California and a Texas school district than materials already in place. In the California study, 384 English…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the areas of electrical and instrumentation (E&I), pipefitter, and millwright contain a lesson that deals with reading charts and tables. The lesson consists of these components: objective, instruction, 10 exercises for E&I, 5 for…

These four learning guides comprise one of four packages in the Workplace Literacy Teacher Training series that provides information and skills necessary for the user to become a successful instructor in an effective workplace literacy program. The guides in this package focus on the skills at the heart of such programs--communication, reading,…

This document contains 25 units to consider for use in a tech prep competency profile for the occupation of electromechanical technician. All the units listed will not necessarily apply to every situation or tech prep consortium, nor will all the competencies within each unit be appropriate. Several units appear within each specific occupation and…

This document contains 12 units of study for a competency-based workplace literacy program, developed by Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky, for a local plastics and engineering company. Each unit covers between two and nine competencies. Of the 12 units, 5 are devoted to language skills and 7 are devoted to mathematics. Each…

Papers from the conference on language testing include: "Foundations and Directions for a New Decade of Language Testing" (Carol Chapelle, Dan Douglas); "A Comparison of the Abilities Measured by the Cambridge and Educational Testing Service EFL Test Batteries" (Lyle F. Bachman, Fred Davidson, John Foulkes); "Judgments in…

The result of case study interviews with teachers, administrators, and reading specialists, this book argues that the relationships of power and influence between people in schools affect dramatically the kinds of opportunities available to low-income children learning to read. In addition, this book offers suggestions for reforms based on an…

This learning module, one of a series of 127 performance-based teacher education learning packages focusing on specific professional competencies of vocational teachers, deals with the task of assisting students in achieving basic reading skills. Addressed in the individual learning experiences included in the module are the following topics: the…

A first semester course in French, originally developed for executives of a major international company, is presented here. As its objective is to provide the "survival skills" useful in everyday situations in France, primary attention is given to the intelligibility and comprehensibility of communication. The context of the dialogues, vocabulary,…

This document is the syllabus of a Latin course developed by the Indianapolis Public Schools for elementary school children, based on the Latin FLES materials of the Philadelphia Public Schools. The program is based on the theory that the study of a second language will increase the student's understanding and control of his native tongue. The…

The National Literacy Secretariat (NLS) is a grants and contributions initiative established in 1987. The NLS has two objectives: (1) To increase opportunities and take-up, so that people improve their reading and writing skills; and (2) To work towards making Canada's social, economic and political life more accessible to those with weak literacy…

Part of the new Knowledge Essentials series, "Fourth Grade Success" shows parents how to enrich their children's classroom learning and take an active role in their fourth graders' education by exploring: (1) What fourth graders are learning at school and the educational standards to expect in math, language arts, science, and social studies; (2)…

This report compares Alabama's reading and mathematics performance on the most recent administrations of the state assessment with performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To indicate how Alabama is doing in narrowing the academic achievement gap between African American, Latino, or low-income students and their…