This digest describes a research model that has shown how classroom practice can be developed, transformed, and enriched by drawing on existing "funds of knowledge" in minority students households. Funds of knowledge refers to those historically developed and accumulated strategies (e.g., skills, abilities, ideas, practices) or bodies of…

Change efforts should be guided with a systemic understanding of the context in which they are undertaken. Depending on the circumstance, or as the implementation effort progresses, it may be most effective to focus interventions on a particular component of the framework at a time. This ERIC digest presents a sequence for approaching the major…

As teachers, researchers, and policy makers strive to ensure that all children enter school "ready to learn," no question is more pressing than: "What is the best approach for teaching young children?" This digest discusses the existing knowledge base on the differential effects of various approaches to early education. The…

As teachers, researchers, and policymakers strive to ensure that all children enter school "ready to learn," no question is more pressing than: "What is the best approach for teaching young children?" This digest discusses the existing knowledge base on the differential effects of various approaches to early education. The…

Various researchers, including Carl Jung, Charlotte Buhler, Erik Erikson, and Robert Havighurst, have formulated sequential models of adult development. More recent investigators, such as Daniel Levinson, Roger Gould, and Gail Sheehy have formulated age-related sequential models of adult development that view the various stages of adulthood in…

This Digest lists a sample of no-cost Internet resources of special interest to K-12 educators. Highlights include: Guides to Internet Resources; Lesson Plans and Teaching Materials; Keypals and Penpals; Acceptable Use Policies; Technology Plans for K-12 Schools; Internet Projects for the Classroom; Grant Information; E-Rate Information; Federal…

Student development has become a buzz word within the student affairs profession and the concept of student development has become the guiding paradigm of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately, this embracing of student development lacked the necessary critique or debate essential to academics. This digest provides an abstract of a major…

Accountability has been a developing issue for community colleges for the past several years. Demands that two-year colleges provide evidence of the achievement of their goals has placed a heavy burden on institutional research offices. A number of organizational models have been used by community colleges in carrying out the research function,…

This digest summarizes the research on effects of the full-service school model on students with disabilities. In the full-service model, schools house a variety of health care, mental health, and related services for children and their families. Examples are listed of preventive services, early intervention services, and intensive treatments for…

Thoughtful, well-planned and systematic reviews of both instructional and noninstructional programs provide community colleges with a way of determining whether programs are meeting stated objectives and what standards of performance should be maintained. Programs that need improvement or should be eliminated can be identified, and fiscal…

This digest summarizes issues raised in a research report on fund raising in higher education. The following questions are addressed: What are the changes and trends since the early days of educational fund raising? What are the implications? What is known about spending? What is known about donor behavior? What are the major ethical issues? What…

With the growing demand for accountability by legislators, outcomes assessment has become a much higher institutional priority for community colleges. According to a recent survey, two-thirds of the states have implemented formal assessment initiatives, compared to a very few states only 1 year earlier. Institutions, however, must be careful that…

Changing socioeconomic, cultural, and demographic forces have caused educational nonparticipation among adults to be treated as a social issue. Recent research has attempted to combine dispositional, situational, and environmental factors into composite models of participation. These models have suggested the following categories of deterrence…

This Digest summarizes what is known about the successful transition of children with disabilities from infant/toddler services to preschool education. The ideal transition process is defined and characteristics of an ideal process such as meeting individual needs and providing uninterrupted services are listed. Also noted are issues in the…

Current educational research efforts are examining rural/urban differences in achievement, appropriateness of rural/urban achievement measures, effects of parents and community on the attainment of rural students, and how well rural students succeed in higher education. To accurately assess the small, rural school's impact on students, rural-urban…