Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

This final report discusses the outcomes of a 3-year project that studied the effectiveness of word processing tools in improving the literacy skills of students with learning disabilities in grades 4-12. In Year 1 (1994-95), four text entry strategies were compared in 132 students with learning disabilities: keyboarding instruction, alternative keyboards, word prediction, and word prediction with speech synthesizers. The Year 2 study (1995-96), investigated the effects of two types of text editing tools, such as spelling and grammar aids with and without speech synthesis, in 106 students with learning disabilities. The Year 3 study (1996-97), investigated speech synthesis under three conditions in 103 students with learning disabilities: when available at all times versus when available only during the text entry or the editing/revising stages of writing. Results of the studies found: (1) that word processing had the most impact upon the accuracy of students' writing; (2) word prediction was the most promising strategy for improving the text entry speed; (3) spell checks were effective editing tools, although grammar checkers were not, and spell checks had a more positive effect on students' writing quality and accuracy than synthesized speech. (Contains 35 references.) (CR)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert