Literacy
Never Too Late To Read: Language Skills for the Adolescent With Dyslexia, by Ann Cashwell Tuley (York Press Inc., PO Box 504, Timonium, MD 21094; 184 pp., $27.50 original paperback). Describes typical students with dyslexia and leads readers through a step-by-step process of evaluating and teaching them. The book is based on the work of the late Alice Ansara and provides techniques and strategies for teachers developing exercises in phonics, spelling, and phrasing.
Reflective Activities: Helping Students Connect With Texts, edited by Louann Reid & Jeffrey N. Golub (National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801-1096; 209 pp., $22.95 original paperback, list price; ncte member price $16.95). Offers classroom practices that encourage students to make connections between what they read--whether visual or verbal texts--and the lives they lead. The various approaches are outlined by 34 contributors (students, teachers, and writers), address all the language arts, and apply to middle, secondary, and college classrooms.
The Spelling Book: Teaching Children How To Spell, Not What To Spell, by Gladys Rosencrans (International Reading Association, 800 Barksdale Rd., PO Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139; 141 pp., $23.95 original paperback). A spelling manual for teachers of intermediate-level children (grades 3-6), elementary and middle school teachers working with students who have learning disabilities, and teachers working with students for whom English is not their first language. The book outlines a methodology--developed and implemented by the author--that combines whole-language and phonetic strategies to teach children to spell as part of an entire language arts program.
Policy Issues
Building Leadership Capacity in Schools, by Linda Lambert (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714; 136 pp., $13.95 original paperback, list price; ascd member price $10.95). Defines leadership as “the learning processes among participants in a community” and leadership capacity as “the breadth of participation in leadership and the depth of skill that teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community members bring to work.” Through an analysis of three schools--an elementary school with low leadership capacity, a middle school with moderate leadership capacity, and a high school with high leadership capacity--the author suggests what schools and districts should do to foster effective leadership and improve student learning.
American Education and Corporations: The Free Market Goes to School, by Deron Boyles (Garland Publishing, 47 Runway Rd., Levittown, PA 19057-4700; 240pp., $50 hardcover). Argues that private businesses use public schools as worker-training sites, resulting in a devalued teaching force, students as uncritical consumers, and schools as economic markets. The author analyzes various school-business partnerships (“fast-food reading campaigns” and “supermarket ‘sales for schools’ promotions,” for example) and critiques the practice of privatization, challenging its claim as an extension of free-market business influence into the public sector.
A Peaceable School: Cultivating a Culture of Nonviolence, by Vicky Schreiber Dill (Phi Delta Kappa International, PO Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789; 107 pp., $12 original paperback). Provides a chapter-by-chapter framework for thinking about school violence issues: the culture of violence; denial of the problem; the actions and responsibilities of administrators; and teachers’ behaviors and attitudes. A “Selected Resources” section includes federal and state safety initiatives and professional and private organizations.
Funding Special Education, edited by Thomas B. Parrish, Jay G. Chambers, & Cassandra M. Guarino (Corwin Press Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320-2218; 273 pp., $49.95 hardcover). The 19th annual yearbook of the American Education Finance Association, Funding Special Education explores the ways in which funding has changed over the years and weighs in on different funding methods--from per-student bases to payments for specified resources. Topics covered include: increasing pressure for local control over funds; including special education students in standards-based reform; and case studies of special education funding reform in Pennsylvania and New York.
