Language Arts

This paper describes challenges associated with preparing preservice teachers in the 21st century to accept responsibility for devising and presenting lessons that link reading and writing with multiple sign and symbol systems, such as drama, musical composing, film, visual art, and computer technology. It proposes the portal school concept as a viable approach for providing appropriate experiences for preservice teacher education programs that are consistent with new, expanded visions of literacy. Rather than holding classes on campus and visiting schools occasionally, preservice teachers enrolled in portal school projects meet in public schools for lectures, seminars, and demonstration lessons and for practice teaching. Researchers investigated issues viable in preservice teachers' cases, journals, and lessons; possible issue variations in their cases related to school context; and whether contents of their cases illuminate instructional shortcomings. They examined and categorized 204 teaching cases, 189 journal entries, and 85 observation field notes for eight groups of preservice teachers. Analysis revealed that across three teaching contexts, there were nine difficult issues that teacher education programs and school systems should address. The portal school model offers one viable approach for addressing the challenges of collaboration in school-university partnerships. (Contains 39 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Dreamers follows the journey of a woman and child as they bravely cross the border from Mexico to the United States. The story provides beautiful visuals as well as written imagery. This allows the reader to do something I believe is so necessary in our current world, yet not regularly done-imagine yourself walking in someone else's footsteps. Although the focus of the text is on the mother and her dreams for her child, we can imagine the impact of her decision and her determination on her child's future. We can feel her hopes, dreams, bravery and brilliance being passed on to her child through her sheer will. I shared this book with my comadre, Lorena Ocampo, someone who I believe is a scholar in the field of life, specifically in working tirelessly and endlessly to ensure that all of her dreams for her children could become a reality. These are her words to describe Dreamers, "El libro trata de

When we acknowledge and celebrate physical differences like skin color, hair texture, eye shape, etc., we teach our children that everyone is uniquely beautiful. We teach our children selfacceptance and, moreover, self-love. There are many children's books written in this vein, specifically for children of color. Books such as Hair Like Mine, Eyes That Kiss in the Corners, and I Am Enough. These books are all beautiful and important contributions to the world of children's literature. Teachers and parents alike should share these stories with their kids, but not

The program focuses on conceptual understanding, higher oraer thinking, and problem solving in elementary school teaching of mathematics, science, social studies, literature, and the arts. Center researchers %re identifying exemplary curriculum, instruction, and evaluation practices in the teaching of time school subjects; studying these practices to build new hypotheses about how the effectiveness of elementary schools can be improved; testing these hypotheses through school-based research; and making specific recommendations for the improvement of school policies, instructional materials, assessment procedures, and teaching practices. Research questions include, What content should be taught when teaching these subjects for understanding and use of knowledge? How do teachers concentrate their teaching to use their limited resources best? and In what ways is good teaching subject matter-specific? The work is designed to unfold in three phases, beginning with literature review and interview studies designed to elicit and synthesize the points of view of various stakeholders (representatives of the underlying academic disciplines, intellectual leaders and organizations concerned with curriculum and instruction in school subjects, classroom teachers, state-and district-level policymakers) concerning ideal curriculum, instruction, and evaluation practices in these five content areas at the elementary level. Phase II involves interview and observation methods designed to describe current practice, and in particular, best practice as observed in the classrooms of teachers believed to be outstanding. Phase II also involves analysis of curricula (both widely used curriculum series and distinctive curricula developed with special emphasis on conceptual understanding and higher order applications), as another approach to gathering information about current practices. In Phase III, models of ideal practice will be developed, based on what has been learned and synthesized from the first two phases, and will be tested through classroom intervention studies.

More and more students and teachers are excited about their school literacy programs. Two activities in particular can be found in classrooms that generate enthusiasm for literacyan abundance of high-quality literature and opportunities to talk with one another about this literature. The project described this month by Raphael and colleagues illustrates how social interaction with high-quality literature can foster an often-forgotten literacy processresponding to literature with one's own voice. The push to get the author's meaning has often usurped the meanings that students give to the text based on their experiences. There is a place for both the author's, or 4 'shared," interpretations of text and those that are unique to students' lives. Raphael, et al. have developed 4 4 Book Clubs" in intermediate-level classrooms, where expertise at both types of interpretations can be fostered. The Book Club format is similar to that used by avid readers of all ages: talking with their friends and colleagues about literature. When students have spent prior grades in more prescribed classroom literacy events, their teachers can support meaningful conversations in a variety of ways, including guidance in literature selection and guidelines for group interaction. This month's column demonstrates ways that particular instructional processes can foster critical literacy processes as students share their interpretations of outstanding literature. (EHH) When reading was considered to be primarily a process of decoding, as it was for centuries

Integrated instruction may be everyone's ideal, but it is the reality in few classrooms. This review of existing literature examines research to determine why this ideal may be infrequently realized. The review concluded that the mismatch between ideal and practice may be at least partially explained by the ambiguity in definitions in the professional literature. Finding no theoretical framework on which to base the review, the first task of the reviewers was to develop one. Next, the reviewers applied this framework to existing research on integrated instruction in elementary grades. They found few data-driven studies on integrated instruction of any sort, although essays advocating integrated language arts were many. Most projects interpreted integration as loose, thematic links. When studies considered interdisciplinary instruction, the boundaries between the subject areas were often rigid. Rarely would a literary stance or writing as a means for reflection be fostered across subject areas. While integrated approaches can serve to restructure school curriculum within and beyond the language arts, the paper concludes that a stronger theoretical and a research base is needed in establishing when and how to integrate the curriculum as well as for what purposes and for whom. Contains 108 references and a figure presenting a conceptual map of integration. (RS)

Teachers conducting a thematically organized literature-based reading program centered around student-led discussion groups wanted to explore ways in which the values they wanted to promote could be reflected in the ways they assessed their students. This study considers how valuing a broader scope of language and literacy abilities and making these values part of an assessment system played out in the case of one male student, a representative of a population of students for whom assessment has been a high stakes venture and traditional assessments usually led to their removal from regular education classes to special education, isolated from regular education peers. The student was in his first year of mainstreamed education, in a class of 23 students, having previously been in special education. The Michigan English Language Arts Framework provided a model for describing students' progress. All 23 students participated in three assessment activities: (1) a criterion-referenced test consisting of traditional comprehension and vocabulary tests; (2) a performance-based assessment test designed to parallel daily language and literacy events; and (3) a self-assessment activity in which students evaluated their book club participation and their reading log entries. The student's performance on the criterion-referenced test by itself probably would have prevented him from participating in regular fifth-grade reading activities, but the other assessments gave him better opportunities to demonstrate his understanding, as well as more experience in reading activities. Taking a broader perspective means he is more likely to avoid long-term tracking and to preserve his self-esteem. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables, and 11 references.) (SLD)

The second phase of a 3-year project examining the effect of a process approach to writing instruction on students' expository reading and writing skills, a study determined the impact of three writing programs that emphasized different aspects of a process-oriented writing environment. Data were gathered from 159 fifth and sixth grade students and their teachers. Results indicated that a writing environment emphasizing peer editing and publication and/or instruction in text structure significantly increased students' ability to compose expository text. Findings also showed that writing environment and text structure instruction significantly increased students' ability to summarize information across two expository passages. Data indicated that students in the text structure instruction groups made significant gains in free writing, surpassing the control students on all measures of writing ability. Similar results were obtained both when teachers directed instruction in text structure and when students directed the learning through peer editing and conferences. (Statistical tables are included, and a think sheet for prewriting, student problem/solution text and accompanying worksheet, and compare/contrast pattern guide are appended.) (JD)

This study examined fifth and sixth grade students' metacognitive knowledge about the processes of writing narrative and expository texts. Students' declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge was examined using group questionnaires and individual ...

Designed to help middle and secondary level teachers create spaces for students to explore multiple perspectives and interpretations of their texts, this brochure offers teachers who have experienced classroom talk that leads to gender divisiveness among students an opportunity to consider new ways of thinIcing about such talk. The brochure discusses the language of the classroom, language of the text, creating spaces, multiple perspectives and interpretatidhs, and interrupting the status quo. The brochure presents two examples from an eighth-grade language arts classroom of the several filters (gender, social class, race, ethnicity, culture) through which readers experience text. (RS)

Dramatizations as a response activity during literature study provide a vehicle for students to use language, both verbal and nonverbal, in an educational context. A study focused on a group of five students who chose to use story dramatizations as one way to create their interpretations of the book, "The Slave Dancer" (Fox, 1973) . The study, which explored possibilities of how these fifth-grade students, the classroom teacher, and the researcher could co-construct meaning for the novel, combined two research paradigms: action and interpretive research. Data collection was a recursive process; key sources of data were audio-and video-tapes of a small group responding to literature; field notes of classroom observations; a teacher journal and interview; photocopies, videotapes, or student work samples; and interviews of each student who participated in the literature group. The recursive research process was one of revisiting the data, narrowing it down, making interpretations, and describing it. During their reading, journaling, and discussion of the book, the students created two drama projects for "The Slave Dancer." Detailed transcripts of their interaction in the dramatizations show that the students had comprehended the novel and shared that understanding with their classmates. (Contains a list of children's literature and 19 references.) (NKA)

The Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson analysis of linguistic human rights is used as a basis for understanding language replacement phenomena in the United States. Use of Spanish in Chicano communities is shifting rapidly to English despite the huge numbers of recent immigrants who are dominant in Spanish. Accompanying this shift is a precipitous loss of proficiency by Spanish speakers. Such replacement of a language does not depend on personal choices made by speakers, but on the socio-political conditions within the country. Political goals of profits, exploitation, and hegemony drive classist, racist and ethnicist policies whose purpose is to neutralize resistance to the status quo. These are couched in liberal-sounding myths that justify linguicism, which strives to suppress minority cultures and to acculturate their members in order to pacify perceived ethnic group conflict. The Skutnabb-Kangas and Phillipson Linguicism Continuumn is used to demonstrate the degree of linguistic re...

This report summarizes and compares findings of researchers' and teachers' opinions in six subject areas (literature, social studies, science, mathematics, music, and art) about ideal and actual elementary school curricula. Three researchers and three teachers participated in each subject area. Participants were asked to write detailed responses to a questionnaire eliciting views about actual and ideal curricula. Five-to 6-hour interviews were conducted regarding ideal curricula and opinions concerning the most widely used textbook series in participants' subject area. Analyses revealed that all participants agreed that existing curricula material should be revised to focus on a limited number of key understandings that might be taught in greater depth. Despite agreement about the faults of existing curricula, however, there was considerable difference of opinion about how to improve current practice. Teachers tended to approach curriculum planning with the child in mind; researchers approached planning with the discipline in mind. Another key distinction related to differences in how respondents viewed the nature of knowledge. (MM)

There exist at least two approaches to the teaching of every subject, including mathematics. The first one is as old as the world (or, at least, as the education). According to this approach, to teach something means to outline what you teach. This approach is appreciated by the great majority of teachers. Because the realization of this approach in most cases reduces to the telling of stories about what is taught, I call this approach by «storytelling». There exists also another approach, which goes from the famous statement by Aristotle: «We learn something only when we do what we learn». From this statement, I think, was born the following idea by Herbert Spencer: «What does it mean to teach?-It means to encourage systematically the students to their own discoveries» (as it was formulated by George Pólya and Gabor Segö in the epigraph to the preface of their book "Problems and Theorems in Analysis" and repeated in Polya, G., (1981)). This approach to teaching is natural to call «discovering».

We examine the impact of a STEM enhancement program (SEP) sponsored by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) entitled Bridge-to-Employment (BTE). Since 1992, J&J has funded and supervised 80 BTE programs in 19 countries aiming to increase the academic performance of disadvantaged students, enabling these individuals to successfully pursue higher education and careers in the health industry. We study the science, math and language arts grades of 236 BTE and 308 comparison students from ten BTE program sites in the U.S, and find that BTE participation slows the deterioration in math and language arts grades, but has no impact on science grades. We discuss the implications this research has for future evaluations of SEPs and for the formulation of future SEP initiatives. Employment projections made by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that skilled occupations with the most job growth potential through 2026 are in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Almost all these STEM jobs require either a bachelor's degree (statistical analysts, biomedical engineers, software developers, applied mathematicians, etc.) or an associate degree (web-designers, environment engineering technicians, computer support specialists, technical writers, etc.) and all require a solid grounding in basic mathematics and scientific inquiry . Against this backdrop of expanding opportunity in the U.S., is a public-school system that consistently has failed to produce sufficient levels of high quality STEM education at either the elementary or at the high school levels (DeSilver, 2017; Committee on Highly Successful Schools or Programs for K-12 STEM Education, 2011). Since at least the early 1980′s, the math and science scores of American students have consistently lagged behind their European and Asian counterparts (DeSilver

ABSTRACT  This community resource book presents a culturally informed approach for teaching Spanish literacy to Spanish-speaking Latino adults ages 50 and older who have no to low formal levels of education.  It utilizes a Community Cultural Wealth framework and includes best practices for working with older adults.  Older Latinos have very high rates of non-literacy in both Spanish and English. Most doubt they can read. They have lived long enough to know that they can live without reading. These literacy Lessons provide the least complicated path to learn to read and write in their own language. A person’s knowledge of their native language and their culture motivates and empowers this literacy. This book is designed to validate the elders' rich life experiences. Class materials rely on familiar symbolic images designed with middle aged to older adults in mind and uses nonthreatening, culturally embedded, non-academic approaches.

Visual art, music and literature, are part of the culture. Thus art shows the interactions between different cultures. The aim of the article is to present some activities to include intercultural issues in art and mother language classes. Art classes also give the opportunity to do Media Education.

Visual art, music and literature, are part of the culture. Thus Art shows the interactions between different cultures. The aim of the article is to present some activities to include intercultural issues in Art and Mother Language classes. Art classes also give the ...

To say exactly what one means, even to one's own private satisfaction, is difficult. To say exactly what one means and to involve another person is harder still. Meaning is at the heart of the language arts. That meaning can be the meaning one creates for oneself or the meaning one constructs in dialogue or interaction with texts. As Winterson (1995) suggests, there are arts involved in using language to mean. These arts are more than the components of reading, writing, speaking, and lis- tening. The arts of language include such things as delicateness, deft- ness, and tact in the of use of language. They also include signifying to others emotional specificity, depth, and breadth, as well as appreciating how we need to modify what we want to say to take into account the background knowledge and sensibilities of our audience. In short, the study of the language arts, whether for children in elementary school Literacy through Language Arts more an indication of the trajectory of the development of the field of literacy education than a fully fleshed out version of events. According to , throughout much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States, literacy teaching and learning focused on reading. For instance, the McGuffey Readers, introduced in the 1830s, were one of the hallmarks of schooling. Spelling books were added, and, eventually, by the 1930s, writing books were introduced (with an emphasis on penmanship, manuscript form, and grammar and usage). Not until the 1950s, as a result of Dora Smith's work, did the idea of integrated language arts (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) become popular. In the 1960s there was some focus on composition, and this was developed even further as ideas about the writing process were introduced into elementary classrooms in the 1980s. Despite all of these developments, Squire (1991) asserts that the hold of reading over the language arts curriculum remained strong even in the 1990s, with about half of all language arts instructional time and 40 percent of all textbook expenditures devoted to it. Nevertheless, further reconceptualization of language arts occurred in the 1990s, when the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association copublished Standards for the English Language Arts, which included statements addressing visual literacy (National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association, 1996). While there was steady evolution in what constitutes language arts across the past century, instructional methods followed varied patterns: Sometimes the same debates about methods arose cyclically so that once every few years the same topic received attention. At other times, new methods were misperceived as being the same as those of the past, even though the new methods were in fact substantively different. At still other times, little change occurred. We will use some ex- amples from the teaching and learning of reading to illustrate. An example of a cyclical topic can be found in the question of how much emphasis should be placed on sound-symbol relationships in learning to read. In the late 1800s, calls were made for an increased emphasis on phonics (see . The 1960s also witnessed a call for an emphasis on phonics (see, e.g., Chan, 1967), and a similar call occurred in the 1990s. The research base driving each of these moves was quite different. In addition, recent calls have become entangled with other issues, as politicians and fundamentalist groups include reading instructional methods in their platforms. Despite the differences of time and context, however, the net effectan emphasis on phonics in the elementary school curriculumwas similar. 1. This book is presented in the style of the American Psychological Association. However, because the publishing style of the journal changed across the period represented, some references are not fully compliant with APA style, since the original style did not include all of the information required by APA. Judith Wells Lindfors Editors' Text: Language arts instruction needs to be theorized within the broader context of teaching and learning. In this article, Judith Lindfors helps us think about the not-so-simple relationship between what teachers do (i.e., "teach") and what students do (i.e., "learn"). At the risk of being pedantic, I start with definitions of teaching and learning. By "teaching" I mean an individual's intentional efforts (e.g., planning, conducting activities, talking) to increase another's knowledge or skill. And by "learning" I mean an individual's own sense-making activity, what Frank Smith (1975) has called "build- ing a theory of the world in the head"constructing out of one's experience expectations of how the world works. There are many people who teach and learn as these are characterized here, and many places where teaching and learning occur. Right now, however, I want to focus on teachers as the ones who teach and students as the ones who learn, and to focus on the classroom as a place where teaching and learning occur. In classrooms, instances of teaching and learning sometimes connect: teachers do sometimes provide experiences that particular children act on and shape in their own sense-making activity. Sometimes the connection is, in a general way, at least, the one the teacher intends. Often it is not. Consider the following example. T: (Pointing to a triangle cut-out) See, it has three sides so it's a triangle, isn't it? C: (Nods.

The will to learn is an intrinsic motive, one that finds both its source and its reward in its own exercise. The will to learn becomes a "problem" only under specialized circumstances like those of a school, where a curriculum is set, students confined, and a path fixed. The problem exists not so much in learning itself, but in the fact that what the school imposes often fails to enlist the natural energies that sustain spontaneous learningcuriosity, a desire for competence, aspiration to emulate a model, and a deep-sensed commitment to the web of social reciprocity. -Jerome Bru ner. Toward a Theory of Instruction Ill

In this article we report on an innovation project developed with a group of eleventh graders at a public school in Bogota. Its aim was to encourage students to improve reading comprehension of texts in English. It was conducted taking into account students’ needs, interests and level of English. To do it, we implemented two reading strategies: text coding and double entry organizer. We observed the students’ attitudes during two lesson plans, compared their level of comprehension before and after using the reading strategies and asked them to self-evaluate their performance. At the end, we could see their improvement, how they enjoyed doing the activities and became more confident.

ENGAGEMENT It’s in the Environment To develop interest, attention, and motivation to participate in learning, students must first engage. Appleton, Christenson, and Furlong (2008) report: “Engagement is a predictor of academic performance.” Furthermore, Schlechty (2002) suggests “authentic engagement” is key to helping students make meaning, solve problems, and find value in daily learning tasks. Schlechty (2002) notes that authentic engagement must include a student’s desire to make meaning, figure out problems, and have an interest in the topic. What contributing factors within the classroom will foster this type of authentic engagement? Like most educators, I strive to create an engaging academic environment in which my students flourish. Several strategies I use are as follows:

The role of play in the learning and development of young children has long been recognized by researchers and early childhood educators. Although research indicates that play does provide a context that supports and facilitates literacy learning, most research has focused on preschool or kindergarten children. The purpose of this study was to investigate opportunities for literacy learning during play, in the researcher's first grade classroom. Data was collected by gathering childproduced text, through participant observation, and video-recordings of children during dramatic play sessions. Observations showed that children used reading and writing in meaningful ways during play. They applied various functions of print, practiced skills, and explored concepts that had been introduced in the formal curriculum. It appears that play is a context that encompasses many of the conditions necessary for literacy development and is a useful means of extending and supporting the formal literacy curriculum. (Contains 25 references and 3 tables of data.

In our journal we routinely review various children's and young adult books with the goal of introducing teachers, parents, librarians, and young people to the many exciting texts published each year. However, with the continued discourse of school failure and reform, I am increasingly worried about the future of literature teaching in our schools. Literature teaching is more often being replaced with teaching reading strategies and basic comprehension, often through the use of excerpts from larger texts. The risk is that the narrative experience is being reduced to an exercise as "making connections" or "forming generalizations. " What follows are some key standards concerning the teaching of literature found in the Common Core State Standards document, available at www.corestandards.org. While these are not meant to be "national" standards in the sense that they must be adopted as is by all states, many states are adopting them as the basis for their state's standards in order to be eligible to compete for national funding through President Barack Obama's "Race to the Top" program:

This book illustrates the benefits of using real-life vignettes to highlight situations that allow undergraduate teacher candidates to learn to engage with English language arts issues within specific and authentic concepts. Pedagogical narratives written by secondary teachers, followed by thoughtful responses to these narratives by experienced teachers and teacher educators, form the heart of the book. It also includes concise summaries of related theory and research and controversies in the field. Beginning with teaching narratives that address literature and reading, writing, language and grammar, second language learners in the English classroom, management and discipline, technology, and standardized testing, the book contextualizes these stories within the larger discipline of secondary English language arts teaching and provides a framework for teacher professional identity development by prompting continued thinking about curricular choices, teaching philosophies, and person...

The purpose of this paper was to analyze and critique the proposals made in "The Engaged Classroom" by Sam Intrator to increase student engagement in the classroom. The methodology used was to analyze, compare, and critique the proposals based on educational research ...

Slow Time: Class time is monotonous and classroom activities are predictable, mechanically routine, and dull. Students listen to CD players with headphones, read magazines, play cards, and daydream. Lost time: A more intense form of disengagement Students cannot describe or Lost time: A more intense form of disengagement. Students cannot describe or articulate any form of experience. They merely wait for class to end. Fake Time: Students position themselves to appear attentive. Students engage in "doing school" . Students engage in the charade of paying attention but instead pass notes do homework study for quizzes and create to do lists instead pass notes, do homework, study for quizzes, and create to-do lists. Worry Time: Students spend their class time worrying and fretting and strategizing about nonacademic issues. These distractions drain their energy to connect emotionally and intellectually to the classroom. Play Time: Students are generally attentive but are passive. They appear to be engaged in collaborative work but are actually engaged in off-subject conversations.

The ability to speak in public is a vital skill that should be cultivated from an early age, particularly during the elementary school years. One effective method for fostering this skill is through drama arts. This study investigates the role of drama arts in enhancing public speaking abilities among elementary school children by employing a literature review approach based on 10 selected journals. The findings reveal that drama arts contribute to improved self-confidence, verbal communication, and emotional expression in children. Consequently, drama arts present significant potential as a teaching medium in elementary schools to nurture public speaking skills.

This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Claude P. Wightman, and mother, Kaye R. Wightman. Thank you for all your unconditional love, support, and guidance. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I vividly remember the day when I had my Ed.D. interview with the College of Education at Wayne State University. I was young, ambitious, and very anxious to do well. Because of this, I failed to realize that I was chewing a piece of gum. Needless to say, I entered the interview and endeavored to do my best. Now, I don't really recall what was specifically asked, what I said, or how well I did (due to the fact that this occurred many years ago), but I do recall that the interview panel noticed that I was chewing a piece of gum. When this occurred, one of the panel members asked me, -What would you think if a person showed up to an interview chewing gum?‖ With great embarrassment, I immediately stopped chewing the piece of gum, swallowed it whole, and responded by saying, -I would probably think that the person was very nervous and didn't realize he or she was chewing gum.‖ Everyone in the room paused for a moment and then suddenly began to laugh hysterically. Just then, Dr. Roney said, -We all know how you feel...‖ To Dr. Roney, my advisor, thank you for having a sense of humor and not giving up on me. Likewise, thank you for your encouragement, patience, and constant supervision throughout the time it has taken me to complete this study. To Dr. Addonizio, my cognate advisor, thank you for your knowledge, integrity, and level of professionalism. You have not only influenced me as an administrator, but also as a person. Much appreciation is also extended to Dr. Fahoome and Dr. Arya, committee members who provided me with valuable recommendations and advice for the completion of this study.

This study reports practices implemented in over 2,000 minutes by 16 middle school special education and general education co-teaching pairs in English language arts classes. We report the extent to which teachers integrated literacy activities that support reading comprehension, the co-teaching models used, and the frequency with which each teacher led instruction. We also report the types of grouping structures teachers used and the extent to which teachers interacted with students with disabilities. Finally, we report the types of text used. Observations revealed that more than half of time spent on literacy activities involved reading aloud or silently with no co-occurring literacy instruction that supports reading comprehension. Students with disabilities spent a majority of their time in whole-class instruction or working independently with little teacher interaction. Special education teachers spent most of their time supporting whole-class instruction led by the content-area teacher. Implications and directions for future research are provided.

To counter fl awed representations found throughout popular culture and the media, the author draws on her identity as a woman from the Nambe Pueblo to help teachers select children's books that are realistic in their presentation of Native peoples, as well as factually, historically, and culturally accurate. T raditional stories include myths, legends, and folktales rooted in the oral storytelling traditions of a given people. Through story, people pass their religious beliefs, customs, history, lifestyle, language, values, and the places they hold sacred from one generation to the next. As such, stories and their telling are more than simple entertainment. They matter-in significant ways-to the well-being of the communities from which they originate. Acclaimed Acoma Pueblo writer Leslie Marmon Silko writes that the oral narrative, or story, was the medium by which the Pueblo people transmitted "an entire culture, a worldview complete with proven strategies for survival" (Silko, 1996, p. 30). In her discussion of hunting stories, she says:

The need for a framework to distinguish the conditions under which different types of educational computing environments are productive is addressed, and a cognitively based Contextual Analysis Framework is proposed that consists of two primary elements: (a) conceptual characteristics of the knowledge domain being learned, including the complexity of the concepts and tasks and the degree of orderly and regular conceptual structure of the knowledge domain; and (b) stage of learning (novice, advanced) of the learner within the knowledge domain. The characteristics of different types of computer-based learning environments (e.g., computer-based drill, intelligent tutoring systems, hypertext) are analyzed in terms of the Contextual Analysis Framework. It is argued that the failure to consider important contextual elements of learning related to conceptual characteristics of the domain and the stage of the learner could result in otherwise well-designed instructional computing technologies being used in inappropriate learning situations.

This article reviews the literature and practice (especially in New Mexico) concerning reading instruction of gifted children. It considers early or "precocious" reading, instruction in the early grades, and identification of the gifted in New Mexico. Reading teachers in New Mexico are urged to be aware of specific conflicts in the area of gifted identification and gifted instruction. The seven intelligences identified by H. Gardner are listed. The appropriateness of traditional basal reading programs for this population is questioned. A variety of literacy activities are encouraged, including guest speakers in the classroom, tieins of books with television or movies, student creative writing, investigatory activities, and activities which develop higher order thinking skills. (Contains 14 references.) (DB)

This guide describes a five-step process that educators can use to analyze survey data and report the results in a way that is accessible and useful to interested stakeholders. When conducted appropriately, these analysis and reporting procedures can provide accurate and timely information about a large population that may be otherwise unavailable, which can help stakeholders make decisions about policy or practice in schools and local or state edu cation agencies. Examples from a Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands survey project illustrate each step.