This report provides a statistical portrait of Kentucky children's well-being, by county and in the state overall. Part 1 of the report, "Young Families in Peril," profiles poverty in the state, noting that the vast majority of poor families are working, married-couple households; however, families with household heads younger than 30…

This training manual was designed to provide information and support to Head Start teachers, staff, and parents in the area of emergent literacy. The first section, "What is Emergent Literacy and Why Should We Do It?" addresses the concept of emergent literacy, identifying six key elements: (1) learning to read and write begins very…

This data book for 1995 describes the condition of children in each of Mississippi's 82 counties. The conditions of neighborhoods in Mississippi's counties are examined as indicators of poverty. It is suggested that one of every six Mississippi children are growing in severely distressed neighborhoods. Additionally this data book provides county…

This report documents some of the findings from a consultative interview process which marked the final stage of a New Zealand research program on families, work, and education. The consultations followed from, and were based in part on, the report "Striking a Balance: Families, Work, and Early Childhood Education." The focus of this…

This guide is designed to assist teachers of multi-age K-2 classrooms in organizing and implementing their classrooms effectively. Section 1, "Understanding the Multi-Age Classroom," describes characteristics of such classrooms, including relevant classroom models, incorporating kindergarten students, grouping students, and developing…

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language teaching techniques and approaches for young children focuses on principles found to contribute to successful program development. First, characteristics of successful language immersion programs are outlined: parental involvement and support; students who are members of a majority group; positive…

Britain's National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are work qualifications that measure what an employee or potential employee can do as well as how much he or she knows and understands about a particular job. Used as written proof of usable workplace skills that can be put to profitable use by an employer, NVQs range from basic Level 1, for…

This report profiles conditions in the lives of children and women in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), and attempts to identify and analyze trends and issues which are emerging in ESA and which have particular significance for UNICEF activities. During the 1980s, ESA experienced unprecedented economic decline due to falling commodity prices and…

The approach taken by one school district to English-as-a-Second-Language instruction, using the whole language approach and simple children's literature, is described. It was determined that the whole language approach would challenge teachers to rethink how children come to know language and literacy and cause teachers to construct new beliefs…

Project Success is a teacher, administrator, and university faculty designed program, aimed to improve teacher motivation and pedagogical skills, student attitudes and achievement, and parent attitudes in science and mathematics education for kindergarten through grade 3. The project used an education program that was self-pacing and…

This study investigated the impact of parents with different language backgrounds on the language acquisition and language competency of their children in the mother tongue, Chinese, and a second language, English, in Singapore. Parents were surveyed on language usage and language materials provided to their children. Exams on vocabulary,…

This study examined the educational development of 22 children (ages 2 to 10), under the supervision of the Cochlear Implant Team of the Medical College of Virginia, who had received implants as a result of deafness (in most cases prelingual and congenital) from 6 months to 3 years prior to the study. Data included a review of the children's case…

This collection of papers examines instructional environments for students with severe disabilities. It points out that two principles should guide the selection of all instructional environments for all types of learners at all stages of instruction: the environment should be the least restrictive environment possible and it should be the most…

The Threshold Project examined the nature of the language and learning difficulties that black Standard Three (Std 3, or grade 5) children in South Africa experience when they change from their mother tongue to English as a medium of instruction and learning, a policy known as "delayed immersion." This report focuses on the first major…

"Scripts" are ways of describing the knowledge a person must have in order to understand the appropriate response in a given situation. In this document, literature on the ways in which children acquire scripts for social behavior through interaction with others is reviewed, and some departures from script theory are discussed. It is…