Reviews commonly held perceptions about distance education, beginning with historical biases and including current thinking regarding technology integration. A self-administered test is included that is designed to encourage discussion about opinions that people have regarding the impact of distance education on teachers, students, instruction,…

Considerations in conducting attitude surveys concerning bilingual education are discussed. An introductory section examines briefly the history of the controversy over bilingual education, legislative initiatives, and some previous opinion research. Specific kinds of information needs relating to public opinion are then noted and problems arising…

Although Japanese society has long valued and practiced lifelong learning, it has not yet been successful in building an ethic that prizes learning, teaches creativity, and includes everyone. Bureaucratic and legal mechanisms undertaken in Japan to promote lifelong learning have included the establishment of Lifelong Learning Councils, a system…

Now that basic skills have been linked to the economic prosperity of the country, businesses have become concerned about improving the basic skills of young people. A promising approach is the Summer Reporter Project conducted in Wisconsin as part of the summer programs of the Job Training Partnership Act. The program has three main elements: (1)…

As a result of a series of miniconferences held throughout the United States on implementing career education in grades K-12, four implementation issues were identified and summarized in this monograph. (Other issues are treated in separate publications.) The issues which the K-12 educators identified as very important were the following: (1) the…

Basic education for girls and women has been part of UNESCO's and UNICEF's concerns since the early days of the two organizations. Both organizations not only consider access to basic education a fundamental human right, but also see girls' and women's education as vital in enhancing their roles as contributors to and beneficiaries of development.…

Conversations with seven Boston-area adult basic education (ABE) program coordinators revealed the severe adverse effects of Massachusetts' new restrictive welfare reform law on literacy education programs for the poor. The new law limits cash assistance to 2 years for most welfare recipients and requires most recipients whose youngest child is…

This paper traces the development of graded and non-graded classrooms in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries and describes the implementation of multiage classrooms at an elementary school in Hopedale, Massachusetts. After defining what is meant by multiage classrooms, the paper discusses the role of Horace Mann, who was then a…

Overcoming parents' negative stereotypes of career and technical education (CTE) is the goal of the Business and Education Symposium (BES) at Stratford High School, Goose Creek, South Carolina. The BES program has these four main goals: (1) educate parents about the changing demands of the workforce, so as to affect student course selection; (2)…

This book is concerned with educational change affecting elementary and secondary schools in the United States and Canada. A wide range of innovative programs are discussed as examples of the practical meaning of change, including projects involving various curriculum areas, microcomputers, career education, open-concept schools, desegregation,…

Industrial arts is a program of instructional and laboratory experiences that provides basic general education for all students. Industrial arts curricula consist of experiences based upon nationally relevant economic and industrial clusters, and industrial arts courses provide "hands-on" manipulative experiences that serve students' occupational…

This report summarizes the views expressed by 25 speakers and in 13 written reports at the public meeting of the Pennsylvania Council on Vocational Education. Comments are summarized on the following 13 topics: school code regulations; technical institutes; consumer and homemaking education; business education; agriculture education; students with…