Parent involvement in their children's schooling results in improved student performance, attitudes, and self-concepts, along with decreased dropout, suspension, and absenteeism rates. Increased involvement also provides necessary community feedback to the school, encourages positive parent-teacher-student relations, and creates a more informed…

This report reviews recent initiatives to improve family-school collaboration and communication. The six articles are: (1) "Schools, Families, and Students Get Stronger When Parents and Teachers Take Collaboration into Their Own Hands," which highlights parent-teacher action research projects at eight schools through eight case studies; (2)…

This document consists of a facilitator's guide and related materials for implementing a program that teaches social, communication, and study skills to middle school and junior high school students. The goal of the program, which incorporates peer tutoring, is the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. This program was developed in Iowa to address…

This publication contains 19 subjects appropriate for use in a competency list for the occupation of financial management assistant, 1 of 12 occupations within the business/computer technologies cluster. Each unit consists of a number of competencies; a list of competency builders is provided for each competency. Titles of the 19 units are as…

This publication contains 16 subjects appropriate for use in a competency list for the occupation of microcomputer applications specialist, 1 of 12 occupations within the business/computer technologies cluster. Each unit consists of a number of competencies; a list of competency builders is provided for each competency. Titles of the 16 units are…

A program at Edith Cowan University (Australia) to develop a teacher training curriculum supporting bidialectalism in the schools is described. Underlying principles of this approach to bidialectal education are the acceptance of Aboriginal English, creation of a bridge to standard English, and cultivation of Aboriginal ways of approaching…

A project to improve a program in English for academic purposes in Malaysia is described. The program is a university preparatory curriculum for Malaysian students wishing to attend colleges in the United States. In the program, students are placed in one of three tracks based on English language proficiency. The project was intended to integrate…

This paper provides background on the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) program, describes the context for making decisions about future priorities, and presents proposals for changes in the Utah State Library Division policies, services, and funding. A discussion on federal funding for library services includes a brief history of LSCA,…

The "Walk the Talk" classroom model was developed at Temple Junior College, in Texas, to help teachers include the principles of total quality management (TQM) in the classroom. This report presents results from a pilot project in which 29 teachers implemented the model. Following a brief summary, key elements of the model and the pilot…

This study covers the 15 members of the European Union and the 2 EFTA/EEA countries that participate in EURYDICE (the Education Information Network in the European Union and the EFTA countries in the European Economic Area). An executive summary covers the main points of the study: (1) organization of inservice teacher training; (2) qualifying…

"WATESOL" is an acronym for "Washington Area Teachers of English To Speakers of Other Languages." This document consists of the only three issues of the "WATESOL Journal" published from 1989 through 1994. Fall 1989 includes: (1) "The Visual Voices of Nonverbal Films" (Salvatore J. Parlato); (2)…

This study investigated construct validity and factorial invariance of a performance assessment of reading comprehension and writing proficiency through a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) structure using confirmatory factor analysis. The performance assessment was administered to 1,023 fifth and sixth graders. Interrater reliability was examined for…

This paper describes the professional development team (PDT) concept, reports results of a study of the development and year-long implementation of a PDT, and describes the effects of the PDT on school personnel and on subsequent implementation of a professional development school (PDS). The PDT is presented as a viable option for improving K-12…

As recent trends in education reform and research stress the importance of school-home partnerships, teachers will need preparation for working successfully with parents and other family members. This paper examines teacher preparation in parent involvement for early childhood and K-12 teachers. Surveys of state certification requirements and…

Existing research on supply and demand (S&D) in adult literacy education in the United States was reviewed to determine the types of data needed to model S&D more accurately. Recent state/national studies of literacy service providers/technology, data on the demand for literacy instruction, the recent National Adult Literacy Survey, and…