As part of a national Middle Start initiative led by the Academy for Educational Development (AED), Mid South Middle Start is committed to working with high-poverty schools in the Mid South Delta region to build their capacity to foster students' academic excellence, support the development of young adolescents, and achieve social equity in…

Properly conceived and implemented new initiatives are essential to improving schools and communities. Such new initiatives usually are pursued as projects, pilots, or demonstrations, with temporary funding and staffing. When the funding ends, more often than not much of what has been developed disappears. Sometimes this is appropriate (e.g., when…

Along with a companion documentary video, "Learn & Live," this resource manual focuses on innovative schools around the country that are integrating technology and involving parents, business, and the community. Ten chapters are divided into four sections. In Section 1, "Students," two chapters look at learning and assessment. The two chapters in…

This publication puts together the written contributions of 20 women at an international seminar-workshop on "Promoting the Empowerment of Women through Adult Learning" who shared, reflected, and analyzed the different types of educational opportunities for women provided to women. The presentations are as follows: "Designing the Model: A Process…

Vocational and technical training in Singapore has a relatively short history. Only after Singapore became independent did the need to formalize a national system of training to support the labor force needs of industrialization become evident. Singapore's first vocational institute was established in 1964. The system has experienced several…

The Council for Industry and Higher Education commissioned a working group called the Widening Participation Group to consider how to make postcompulsory education more accessible to those individuals in the United Kingdom who currently have limited or no exposure to such learning. The group issued a progress report recommending specific actions…

The following papers are included: "Foreword" (Bridget McConnell); "Introduction" (David J. Jones); opening addresses by George Robertson MP, Shadow Scottish Secretary, and by Charlie McConnell, Executive Director, Scottish Community Education Council; and speech by Christine Hamilton, Deputy Director, Scottish Arts Council;…

This report describes efforts by Alverno College (Wisconsin) to reform the traditional liberal arts curriculum and redefine the relevance of women's colleges. Beginning in the early 1970s, the college began to refocus student learning by integrating ability development and performance-based knowledge. Faculty and staff redefined the curriculum,…

A study assessed the use of tuition differentials for upper-division courses in the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University, and also the impact on enrollment and revenue. This 3-year demonstration project involved the following stages: guiding the tuition differential concept through the university's formal bureaucratic approval…

Parents today are tagged as a generation preoccupied with work and themselves but at the same time overly focused on their children. This book attempts to explain this paradox. It explores the ways in which social, cultural, and psychological changes have come together with a new definition of the child to create a situation in which parenthood…

Battelle Memorial Institute conducted outcome, net impact, and cost-benefit evaluations of six workforce training programs in Washington State for occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree: postsecondary workforce training at community and technical colleges; adult basic skills education at community and technical colleges; Job Training…

This study analyzes the gaps between supply and demand for workforce training in Washington State and recommends strategies for reducing the gaps. Using data from state and national surveys, supply and demand is analyzed in three categories: youth, adults, and adults with barriers to employment, from the perspectives of both employers and…

Presentations at this conference focused on how organizations and individuals are improving their efforts to serve learners at a distance through innovative approaches to competition and collaboration. Rapid developments in technology promise expanded access to education and training resources, but the developments challenge traditional policies…

As year 4 of a 7-year initiative to implement the School-to-Work (STW) Opportunities Act begins, 37 states have received implementation grants and 105 direct federally-funded and over 900 state-funded local partnerships exist. In 1997, technical assistance is available to any of the remaining 13 states ready for full-scale implementation. Notable…

This guide provides conceptual as well as practical information for meeting the needs of all learners in heterogeneous classrooms. The first six sections discuss the growing heterogeneity in today's classrooms, the rationale for differentiated teaching and learning, the changing roles of teachers and students, the importance of creating classroom…