Forums of public discussion on Internet Web sites have been promoted by some as having the potential to improve democracy through large increases in civic engagement. Such claims are scoffed at by others. To date, such forums tend to be found more on community networks and commercial Web sites than on sites owned by governments. We thus turn to an…

This paper reports on a longitudinal ethnographic study of the language socialisation of a group of Moroccan adolescents who migrated to Italy in the late 1990s. The approach is based on the notion of language socialisation, which sees the process of acquiring a language as linked to that of becoming a member of a culture. The participants live in…

This article examines how local experiments and negotiation processes contribute to social and field-level learning. The analysis is framed within the niche development literature, which offers a framework for analyzing the relation between projects in local contexts and the transfer of local experiences into generally applicable rules. The…

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social), the Humanities, and the private and public sectors of…

Sweden reformed public education in 1991-1993. A system with private school competition was introduced and the production of public education was decentralized from central to local government. One of the aims with this reform was to increase efficiency in the production of education. In this paper, efficiency in Swedish public education is…

This study employs a longitudinal design to examine rural-urban differences in home care service use over time, drawing on data from the Manitoba Study of Health and Aging (MSHA). Characteristics of community-dwelling, cognitively intact adults aged 65 years or older not receiving home care services in the province of Manitoba (n = 855) were…

A compilation of over 50 elementary school activities focuses on developing students' familiarity with the 50 states. Exercises such as word searches, scrambled word puzzles, shape puzzles, spelling bees, match games, and atlas games introduce students to the capitals, major cities, main characteristics, and location of each state. The document is…

This document reports the development and operation of a country-wide wastewater treatment program. The program was designed to treat liquid wastewater by biological treatment in aerated lagoons, store it, and then spray irrigate on crop farmland during the growing season. The text discusses the physical design of the system, agricultural aspects,…

This annual directory of Canadian public school adult education administrators cites the name, address, and position or affiliation for one Board of Education official in St. John's, Newfoundland, followed by school board officials in 71 Nova Scotia municipalities, three New Brunswick municipalities, 73 in Quebec, 40 in Ontario (including five in…

A study was made to identify and provide information and factors which should be taken into consideration by a municipality in its development of policy regarding the ownership, franchising, and ordinance issues involved in cable television. Since the report discusses Southern California activities, specifically those of the San Gabriel Valley, it…

Guidelines and suggested ordinances for cable television regulation by local governments are comprehensively discussed in this report. The emphasis is placed on franchising the cable operator. Seventeen legal aspects of franchising are reviewed, and an exemplary ordinance is presented. In addition, current statistics about cable franchising in…

This article discusses the programs used by the Fairfax County Water Authority to establish an effective rate structure. Options investigated include the ascending block scale, winter-summer differential, and year-round billing charges based on peak-season, quarterly use. (AS)

Forest City, Iowa is a town that has 700 computers for 2,400 people who use them for everything from kindergarten lessons to cutting fabrics and tracking pork belly futures. These and other educational and home uses of the computers are discussed. (JN)

By studying the painting "Pittsburgh Memories" by the Black artist Romare Bearden, student in grades K-3 learn that artists use their visual memories of real places and people when they make art. The students also learn how various types of space are depicted in a semi-abstract style. (RM)

Although mean blood lead (BPb) levels in the United States continue to decrease, there is evidence that certain populations, particularly young children living in communities with a high proportion of older, poorly maintained housing, remain at high risk for lead exposure. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the prevalence…