Like adult education, the field of volunteer management shows increasing movement toward professionalization. The establishment of standards--both for the profession of volunteer management and for volunteer service itself--is generating debates similar to adult educators' debates over purposes and objectives. The types of learning that occur in…

The role of literacy volunteers has taken on new dimensions due to national policy changes and changing views of literacy providers. The fifth National Education Goal, which stated that by the year 2000 every adult American will be literate, has resulted in increased interest in adult literacy programs. The role of the adult new reader is changing…

The primary purpose of this handbook is to provide the parent coordinator of the parent-powered family resource center with a specific guide for the development of a center. The handbook considers that a family resource center should exist to encourage family-school partnerships and to help strengthen parent-child interaction--it provides a…

Certain practices in volunteer development have proved successful to help organizations make the best use of their volunteers. Development should be a comprehensive, continuous process through which individuals can extend, update, and adapt their knowledge, skills, and abilities to enhance their performance and potential. A model for volunteer…

Social, economic, political, and technological changes in the last quarter century have changed the volunteer sector. This publication identifies some of the trends and the issues they raise for the emerging profession of volunteer management. Volunteers are more diverse than ever in age and background. Volunteers' motivations and expectations are…

Frequently, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs for adults use volunteers as primary or auxiliary providers of instruction. Two primary national volunteer organizations and a number of other national organizations support volunteer ESL and basic literacy instruction, and many states have literacy councils that coordinate and provide…

Preparation of instructors is considered to be one of the greatest needs in adult basic education (ABE) and English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) programs. Many ABE and ESL teachers and volunteer instructors receive little or no training, either in subject matter content or in the process of teaching English to adults. The challenge for the adult…

The monograph focuses on tutoring as a means of improving achievement in handicapped and disadvantaged students. Chapter 1 looks at some of the factors which detract from instructional time, and points out some of the benefits of tutoring which are supported by research. Peer or cross age tutoring is discussed in Chapter 2 in terms of academic…

This fact sheet presents an overview of the situation facing older adults with respect to employment and education. Demographic statistics presented on persons over 65 include male-female ratio, proportion living in institutions, years of schooling, percentage with incomes below poverty level, and labor force participation. Implications of these…

This document is comprised of the two issues in volume 5 of "Parent News Offline," a publication of the National Parent Information Network (NPIN) designed to introduced those without Internet Access to the activities and information available through NPIN. The Spring 2003 issue contains the following articles: (1) "Summer Academic…

This special issue of the journal Exceptional Children has the theme "Rural Special Education." Nine articles deal with this theme as follows: (1) "The State of the Art of Rural Special Education" (by D. Helge), looks at recent improvements, remaining challenges, and current functioning; policy recommendations are offered for national and state…

Although volunteer tutors traditionally have formed the basis of the programs of Laubach Literacy Action and Literacy Volunteers of America, volunteers have begun to play a greater role in adult literacy instruction provided through community-based organizations, correctional institutions, churches, and federally funded adult basic education.…

School volunteers come from many sources and provide a wide range of services at both the elementary and secondary levels. Senior citizens have discovered that volunteering offers an avenue for exercising skills and talents gained through a lifetime of experience. In schools across the country, older adults are being brought into classrooms, to…

Multiage education involves placing children of different ages, abilities, and emotional maturity in the same classroom. Research indicates that heterogeneous grouping promotes cognitive and social growth, reduces antisocial behavior, and facilitates the use of research-based, developmentally appropriate instructional practices. Because multiage…

To successfully reach out to a diversity of learners requires substantial support. The Digest addresses some sources of support intended as a complement to and a scaffold for teachers and administrators who experiment with different ways of meeting a diversity of learning needs. It highlights ways in which classroom teachers and learning center…