Interviews Jennifer Herbold, a deaf teacher of deaf students at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. Discusses important factors in determining Deaf students' success at learning to read. Notes that technology has enormous potential with deaf students because it provides increased exposure to English, it is often fun to use for deaf students, and…

Discusses the benefits of audiobooks for students. Notes that audiobooks have traditionally been used in schools by teachers of second-language learners, learning-disabled or -impaired students, and struggling readers or nonreaders, yet can help all students. Provides an annotated list of 11 websites about audiobooks. (PM)

Collects primary pupils' views of themselves as writers and their preferences, attitudes and awareness of the source of their ideas in the context of England's National Literacy Strategy. Underlines the importance of listening to pupils' views about literacy, in order to create a more open dialogue about language and learning, and to negotiate the…

Outlines a process drama in which fourth graders play scientists grappling with moral decisions. Describes the students' enthusiasm at acting and following through on their parts. Explains that after the drama, the teacher and students reflect on how it followed or failed to follow dramatic story elements. (PM)

Summarizes key findings from a previous review of reading research in which the author charted a paradigm shift in content area reading research from strategy validation studies in the 1980s to qualitative studies aimed at understanding sociocultural dimensions in teaching and learning. Comments on issues presenting themselves now, at the outset…

Presents a study focused on the period following student admission to universities. Examines the effects of student motives for studying and socialization tactics on their academic achievement and academic satisfaction. Predicts that socialization tactics would mediate the relationship of motives to study to academic achievement and satisfaction.…

A study of access students in the Open College Network (178 of 776) examined institutional and personal factors that inhibit or enhance program completion. Variations in program organization and delivery among different providers had a significant impact. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)

Suggests students who go to school under the shadow of high-stakes tests (such as the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills) may feel that their educational lives have been stolen, reduced to the fear of passing or not passing one single exam. Presents transcriptions of four interviews with four outstanding middle school teachers. Suggests ways to…

Presents strategies for teaching literacy in the context of inquiry-based science and technology instruction. Highlights the use of desktop digital video editing with the recently released iMovie software. Contends that the strategies described increase student motivation, build on children's prior knowledge and natural curiosity, and provide a…

Hope theory integrates the conceptualization of goals, along with the strategies to achieve those goals, and the motivation to pursue those goals. In a 6-year longitudinal study, individual differences in hope, as measured by the Hope Scale scores of entering college freshmen, predicted better overall grade point averages. Hopeful thinking in…

Describes Readers Theatre and presents procedures for implementing it. Recommends 24 books for Readers Theatre. Concludes that Readers Theatre can play a constructive role in language arts programs. Notes how it actively engages children in literature and drama, stimulates intrinsic motivation for reading and writing, and facilitates development…

Proposes that literacy learning is social, recursive, personal, and idiosyncratic. Suggests that learning contracts orchestrate child centeredness and increase independence. Concludes that contracts connect previously isolated content area with the personal interests and needs of students, and establishes a classroom climate in which students are…

Describes Preuss School, University of California San Diego, a grade-6-to-12 charter school for low-income students, the major goal of which is to prepare students to attend the university. Concentrates on four areas to address student motivation and engagement: teaching for understanding, professional development, personalization, and school…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM), a system intended to nurture behavioral giftedness without reliance on gifted identification procedures. The study found SEM positively influenced the attitudes of elementary school students (n=1,935) in six middle class schools. SEM may provide schoolwide benefits…

Notes that when students write and exchange poetry and letters, they feel drawn by the responsiveness to their words of "real" audiences. Argues that students sharing letters and poetry give voice to ranges of experience, to name features of their worlds that might otherwise have remained unnamed. (RS)