A difficult task facing college English departments is the creation of a freshman English program that is coherent and theoretically sound and which allows instructors a certain flexibility. Recently, the English department at Francis Marion College undertook a major revision of its freshman program with these goals in mind. The result was a…

Grassroots Educare Trust is a training and service organization for community-controlled educare centers. Sharon Hostetler, a volunteer community health worker/trainer, helped launch a 6-day health program for educare workers in South Africa. In post-aparthied South Africa, the preschool field has been identified as an important target group for…

This booklet presents the ideas that came out of the Regional Meeting for Adult Literacy and Rural Development. The meeting took place in September 1981 at the Regional Center for Adult Education and Functional Literacy for Latin America (CREFAL) in Mexico. Basically, a discussion of adult literacy in the rural areas of Latin America is presented.…

The diverse literature on policy design and policy instruments is reviewed in this paper, which also addresses such issues as the definition of a policy design perspective, the categorization and variables of policy instruments, and improvement of the design process. The first part presents a general discussion of the perspective of policy…

This booklet provides information on industrial technology education (ITE) in Missouri. It describes the challenges to society of changing technology and Missouri's response. It addresses ITE's mission to develop the following in each student: (1) ability to understand, evaluate, and apply industrial and technological systems; (2) values and…

A national strategy to provide literacy education for all older Canadians who need it is described in this document. Developed in response to a 1989 survey finding that 64 percent of Canadians aged 55-69 experience some degree of trouble with everyday reading material, the strategy includes a rationale, objectives, and a 3-year start-up plan to…

This checklist is designed as a tool for individuals involved in developing, evaluating, and enhancing workplace education programs. Program planners may use the checklist to determine the nature of recommended program components and evaluation tools, and persons involved in active workplace education programs may use it to make benchmark…

A study was done to investigate and document the nature and quality of actual mentoring relationships and the processes used to establish and support such relationships in Minneapolis (Minnesota). Interviews were conducted with mentoring program staff about pairs of proteges and mentors, with mentors, with proteges, and with another significant…

With over half of mothers of school-age children in the labor force, there is a growing need for after-school child care. This paper describes an after-school program in a small Kansas elementary school. Of a total school enrollment of 270 students, 120 are enrolled in the after-school program. Activities include story telling, crafts, computers,…

Teach for America is a national teacher corps of outstanding individuals who commit 2 years to teach in urban and rural areas experiencing persistent teacher shortages. Teach for America selects corps members through an intensive application process, prepares them to enter the classroom in a preservice institute, clusters them in placement sites,…

This report describes the use of the natural approach to second language instruction to improve the teacher training program at Purdue University (Indiana). First, the report discusses the establishment of a permanent, non-tenure-track position of Assistant Director for Beginning Levels of Spanish. Second, focus is on the improvement of the…

This report describes three common options for designing a vocational curriculum for special-needs students and then cites operating vocational programs that use each of the options. Mainstream vocational programs, which are modified to suit special needs, as well as self-contained classes and cooperative work-experience classes, are covered. Also…

Elements of effective planning in special education are considered, and a Hawaii project, Model T, is described. The project focuses on the process of making and evaluating resource decisions, such as decisions about the kind and frequency of related services staff time versus instructors' time. Microeconomic concepts such as diminishing returns…

The results of surveys on adult basic education (ABE) student characteristics and program goals are presented in this digest along with recommendations on career development in ABE. Topics include: (1) results of a survey of directors of ABE projects which ranked the importance of 10 goals of ABE (Young and others 1980); (2) statistics from a…

A consensus has emerged on many issues in communicative language teaching, but one question that needs attention is the question of what ought to constitute the appropriate starting point in the design and implementation of a second language program. Two positions to consider are the following: first, the development of communicative methodology,…