Describes a reading program, Reading Recovery, that provides intensive instruction for young children who are at risk of failure during frist grade. Provides responses solicited from four Reading Recovery teacher leaders. (MG)

Explains portfolio assessment and how it can be used by educators. Provides responses from three educators who offer their perspectives and suggestions for using portfolio assessment to evaluate reading and writing. (MG)

Discusses several new educational assessment procedures implemented in Illinois and Michigan school districts. (MM)

Encourages educators to read abstracts and reviews as a way to bridge the gap between the knowledge base gleaned from reading the original studies and operating solely on common sense and practical experience. (MG)

Discusses two recent stories in the newspaper "Education Week" and the need for educators to be aware of recent research to make informed decisions about teaching methods. (PRA)

Discusses nine texts that describe the persistence and dedication that are so often the attributes of a good teacher and texts that discuss studies of classroom practices. (PRA)

Discusses reasons for the high interest in educational standards. Notes that most of the standard-setting efforts fall into one of three groups. Concludes that educators need to sort through the rhetoric to determine whether standards are indeed powerful tools for guiding educational decisions or whether they are unnecessary provocations. (RS)

Notes continuing concern over the lack of professional reading among many classroom teachers. Reviews recent articles suggesting problem areas for literature-based movements. (SR)

Discusses some of the problems of current grading practices and offers suggestions for change, including a few suggestions for dealing with the grading dilemma in literature-based reading programs. (MG)

Discusses the problem of censorship and offers 10 suggestions for educators who advocate the use of authentic texts in their classrooms. (MG)

Offers a response to a beginning teacher's question concerning grouping children for instructional purposes. Offers five factors to consider when planning to use groups in the classroom. (MG)

Offers three responses to a question about discourse synthesis and how it can be applied in the elementary classroom. (MG)

Offers a solicited response to a question about learning styles, and discusses how this information should affect planning and implementing instruction. Finds that the instructional implications of the body of research on learning styles and learning modalities are limited. (MG)

Answers questions from two teachers who are apprehensive about practices concerning basal reading instruction which they are asked to implement in their schools. (MG)

Presents detailed descriptions of two intergenerational literacy programs currently functioning to meet family literacy needs. (MG)