In this volume of "Adventures in Assessment," an annual literacy education journal, teachers and practitioners write about their experiences with standards-based reform initiatives at the state and national levels. The following seven articles are included: "What Makes a Good Teacher?" (Marie F. Hassett); "Successful…

This bulletin reports on educational reform efforts in specific Latin American countries and calls for policy makers to utilize research findings on education in their decision. Five articles are included: (1) "Education Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Agenda for Action" (Ernesto Schiefelbein); (2) "Uruguayan High…

Developing literacy skills at the preschool level is a crucial foundation for continued success in school environments; nevertheless, questions about when and how to teach beginning reading and writing are among the most controversial topics in early childhood education. As part of a series of works examining strategies for school improvement and…

Through narration and with the aid of 27 tables and 11 figures, this book reports on the school supervision system in four African countries. (The research is part of a larger series of studies sponsored by UNESCO and the International Institute for Educational Planning.) The countries studied were Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The…

This publication forms the second volume of a report on a study of the school supervision system in four African countries. (The research is part of a larger series of studies sponsored by UNESCO and the International Institute for Educational Planning.) The countries studied were Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The study examined the…

This report chronicles the work and recommendations of a coalition of educational, public, and private organizations known as the Grand Rapids Education Reform Initiative. Based on research showing that education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was in a state of crisis, the initiative set out to improve education throughout the…

This report provides an overview of the state of vocational education and training systems in the Czech Republic, in the context of the history and the present economic development of the country. The report is organized in nine sections that cover the following topics: (1) political and socioeconomic background information, including economic…

This monograph, part of a series on student assessment, reports on the results of a national survey that examined institutional support for undergraduate student assessment. The study provides a national profile of student assessment initiatives at associate of arts institutions and compares it to assessment practices and support patterns found in…

This monograph addresses the role of gifted education in total school improvement by describing three service delivery components (the Total Talent Portfolio, Curriculum Modification Techniques, and Enrichment Learning and Teaching) and several organizational components of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM). The report describes how the SEM can…

Research in Australia on evaluating the application of action research as an action learning tool and its impact on the learning of students, educators, industry, and training providers, explored how that learning, in turn, has impacts on research, learners, educators, and the community. In the field of social and community services, in…

This report describes the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Title III: Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students. Part A describes the English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act. Its four subparts include the following: (1) grants and subgrants for English language acquisition…

This paper analyzes the United States community college as a model for adaptation in Latin America. The author argues that there is a growing frustration with the lack of responsiveness of universities to the development needs of societies in Latin America. Higher education continues to be accessible only to the privileged segments of society…

These guidelines are derived from the five basic National Commission on Teaching and America's Future recommendations presented in "What Matters Most: Teaching and America's Future," a research-based proclamation that improving the quality of classroom instruction is the most important, direct, and cost-effective route to improving…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a comprehensive plan to reform schools, change school culture, empower parents, and improve education for all children. The law promises to raise standards for all children and to help all children meet these standards. No Child Left Behind is based on four principles: (1) Accountability for results; (2)…

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…