This document contains 23 papers on European trends in vocational education and training (VET) and the development of occupations and qualifications. The following papers are included: "Vocational Socialisation and Competence Development: The Historical Dimension" (Walter R. Heinz); "European Trends in the Development of Vocational…

Student behavior analysis is an active research topic in distance education in recent years. In this article, we propose a new method called Boosting to investigate students' behaviors. The Boosting Algorithm can be treated as a data mining method, trying to infer from a large amount of training data the essential factors and their relations that…

This study investigated the lived experiences of a group of students and their teacher as they negotiated learning and teaching during a sixth-grade exploratory music technology course taught in a music technology lab. Taking a qualitative and naturalistic approach, I sought to understand the challenges, issues, and successes experienced by the…

This study is a snapshot of some school districts in California that are slightly ahead of their peers, though still in the early stages of this change process. What is important about the study is, first, the optimistic finding that capacity to support schools and school improvement can be built within school districts, at least in those large…

Now that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) has been reauthorized, states have the option of discontinuing the use of IQ-achievement discrepancy formulas and using Response to Intervention (RTI) criteria as part of the special education identification process. This change has dramatic implications for…

In Hawaii, state agencies and foundations are poised to support readiness efforts to improve educational outcomes for children. Developing a shared understanding of the construct of readiness is key to these efforts. The purposes of this research were to (a) discover the perceptions and beliefs held by Hawaii parents, teachers and administrators…

This study uses mixed methods to identify the factors linked to varying levels of academic performance among Latina/o students enrolled in an alternative high school. Results from the quantitative analyses suggest students who had highly educated fathers and who reported high levels of English literacy are very likely to be classified as academic…

Even Start is a national program of early childhood and adult education to improve family literacy. This document is a series of four appendices which accompany the National Evaluation of the Even Start Family Literacy Program, a 4-year effort to assess projects, participants, and effects of Even Start. Appendix A provides in-depth description of…

In response to a situation in which limited-English-proficient Haitian students were found to have behavior problems, anxiety, depression, low motivation, low energy, and underachievement, attributed to low self-esteem, a project was undertaken to improve student self-concept and achievement. Ninth- and tenth-grade Haitian English-as-a-Second…

Results are presented of a federally funded project that identified new communication aids, software, and assistive technologies that can be used in special education with students who are limited English proficient. The research was conducted in learning centers that use the comprehensive Competencies Program (CCP) English-as-a-Second-Language…

Helpful Opportunities for Pupil Enrichment (Project HOPE) was designed to provide services to Chinese-speaking and Spanish-speaking students of limited English proficiency in grades 6, 7, and 8, as well as their parents and siblings and the instructional staff. In 1991-92, the project enrolled 160 male and 159 female students. The project was to…

This article, in Section 1, describes language learning as learner growth or development in three interrelated areas: personal awareness, awareness of learning processes and task awareness. These are the three angles of a triangle that constitute the notion of school learning as learner education. The second section discusses how to promote the…

This collection of articles describes an interdisciplinary cooperative effort in the context of PREP (Prekindergarten Education Program) intervention. The PREP began with the intention of developing a culturally competent education system for Hawaiian children and their families. An introductory chapter "Applied Research and Program…

The partial immersion program at Key Elementary School (Arlington, Virginia), where half the day is taught in English and half in Spanish, continued to be successful in its ninth year. Reasons for success include: dedication and in-depth understanding of immersion philosophy among principal, coordinator, teachers, and staff; innovations in both…

This chapter examines connections between segregation and Chicano school failure. The isolation of Chicano students in "Mexican schools" or in high-density ethnic minority schools is a long-standing fact of the Chicano schooling experience. Current data reveal that Chicanos and other Latino students continue to be segregated and are…