The newly constituted further education sector in Ireland was developed by the National Council for Vocational Awards. The mathematics for this sector was introduced as Mathematical Methods Level 2 on a pilot basis. The standard module's level proved to be too high, based on high failure rates. A review of the mathematics provision initiated these…

This article describes development of the Inventory for Assessing the Job-Readiness Skills of Students Placed in Alternative Classes. Introductory material notes the importance of on-the-job vocational experiences for secondary students with mild academic or behavioral disabilities. The inventory covers three domains, life skills, affective…

This report outlines problems in California's public school teaching force, from training to recruitment to retention. It describes who currently teaches, notes the lack of minority teachers in an increasingly diverse student population, and examines pathways to teaching and barriers to certification. It details the teaching crisis in the state's…

When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in August and September 2005, it was arguably the worst calamity to strike the region in history. Less well known than the loss in life or property from these storms are the effects on early care and education. Those who work with or on behalf of young children found in…

The "Quarterly" offers a comprehensive overview of work done across all of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Each issue includes short publications and summaries covering all NCES publications and data products released in a given time period as well as notices about training and funding opportunities. In addition,…

This report summarizes the proceedings of a 1996 workshop on modern language teaching, sponsored by the Council of Europe. It first outlines the workshop's aims to examine relevant recent research in Europe, suggest policy concerning language teaching and language teacher training, and encourage cooperation among researchers and their…

These teacher and student editions provide instructional materials for an introduction to surgical technology course. Introductory materials in the teacher edition include information on use, instructional/task analysis, academic and workplace skill classifications and definitions, related academic and workplace skill list, and crosswalk to…

A new authentic performance-based approach to assessing problem solving was developed for use in vocational education and other programs in Australia. The process of developing the problem-solving assessment instrument and process included the following phases: (1) exploration of the theoretical conceptions of problem solving; (2) identification…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of Partners Plus: Families and Caregivers in Partnerships, a model demonstration project designed to expand respite care options for families of children (birth to 8 years old) with disabilities. The program uses a natural and family-centered model that involves families in the design,…

This packet contains both teacher and student materials for a course on agricultural structures. The curriculum contains seven units, each containing several lessons, on the following topics: (1) working with plans; (2) home and farmstead planning; (3) building construction; (4) concrete; (5) electricity; (6) plumbing; and (7) fencing. The…

This packet contains both teacher and student materials for a unit on poultry production in vocational agriculture courses and covers the following lessons: (1) overview of the poultry industry; (2) selection and evaluation; (3) production; (4) reproduction; (5) health issues; and (6) processing and marketing. The lessons include the following…

This publication contains both a teacher edition and a student edition of materials for a foundation course in an electrical wiring program. The course introduces basic concepts and skills that are prerequisites to residential wiring and commercial and industrial wiring courses. The contents of the materials are tied to measurable and observable…

This bulletin, a Report of the National Committee on Research in Secondary Education is the first of a cooperative research series sponsored by the National Committee on Research in Secondary Education. This committee represents the important national and regional organizations concerned wholly or in part with secondary education. It includes in…

The purpose of this bulletin is to help teachers, supervisors, administrators, and other educators improve the quality of reading done by junior high school pupils. Interest in ways to teach developmental and remedial reading in the junior high school is nationwide. Junior high school principals and teachers of various subjects are particularly…

This paper reports on a study of the impact of extensive reading (ER) on the language proficiency of a group of Vietnamese government officials studying English. Two questions were of interest. First, we wanted to examine if ER could be successfully implemented with adult second language learners beyond traditional student age. Secondly, we were…