Federal Student Aid's core mission is to ensure that all eligible Americans benefit from federal financial assistance--grants, loans and work-study programs--for education beyond high school. The programs administered comprise the nation's largest source of student aid: during the 2004-05 school year alone, approximately $74 billion in new aid was…

Making effective financial decisions and knowing how to manage money are skills critical to enjoying a secure financial future. Yet many individuals and families lack the knowledge necessary to make sound financial choices, as evidenced by falling savings rates, mounting consumer debt, and a growing dependence on alternative banking institutions.…

Imani includes an AOD- (alcohol and other drug) prevention curriculum that has been infused into each of the 16 Albina Head Start sites in Portland Oregon. Imani, which means "faith" in Swahili, was developed to assist Head Start teachers in providing an AOD-prevention curriculum for preschool children. However, it has become much more.…

The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (the State Board) is responsible for the assurance of a free appropriate public education to all students with disabilities - ages three through twenty-one years, including students with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school - and, at the discretion of the local…

Because of a lack of program coordination and community accountability, services to children and youth are failing to address the problems of young people at risk. Collaboration among agencies can help social services to bypass program mentality. Communitywide interagency cooperation will include local scorecards, program linkages, and strategic…

Presents a discussion with James J. Davis, interim chairman of Howard University's Department of Romance Languages. Offers Davis' view that African-American students often are ambivalent about foreign language study and frequently prefer African to European languages. Describes how Davis became involved in the field. (SG)

Since 1999, pre-service teachers undertaking the Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) Program at the University of Western Sydney have participated in an alternate practicum called Professional Experience 3 (PE3). This practicum encourages students to engage in broader educational settings within local communities. Increasingly, a number of…

The goal of the U.S. Department of Education's America Reads Challenge is that all children read well and independently by the end of third grade. This guide details the knowledge and skills needed to support the America Reads Challenge or to implement a literacy development program for children from preschool through grade 3. The guide was…

This guide is intended to help people with intellectual disabilities, their friends, family members, and support workers evaluate and choose a literacy program that includes people who have differences. A brief introduction points out that, in Canada, all citizens have the right to an education and cites Article 15 of the Canadian Charter of…

This guide presents strategies for the prevention of emotional/behavioral disabilities, beginning before birth and continuing into young adulthood. It focuses on strategies that promote competent social behavior, identification of risk factors in development of antisocial behavior, and interventions to prevent the development of antisocial…

Guidelines and ideas for creating successful school/community projects are provided in this handbook. Organized like a cookbook, the book contains 43 chapters by individual contributors who take a community-based approach to education, in which the schools are the pivotal institutions of a community. The first section outlines the roles, or…

This policy report on compensation for child care providers is designed for use by directors, child care providers, clergy, board members, and other leaders in church-housed child care programs. Section I underscores the importance of securing fair compensation and reasonable benefits for child care providers in church-housed and non-church-housed…

Developed as part of a project to integrate youth with disabilities into regular recreational and leisure activities, this report focuses on the role of the community leisure facilitator (CLF), defined as a professional, friend, family member, or volunteer who assists individuals with disabilities to enjoy the same leisure pursuits as other…

This manual aims to help communities develop a plan to improve services to children from birth to 3 years of age who are chronically ill or disabled, and their families. Section I provides background information needed to begin a Community Approach to an Integrated Service System (CAISS) committee in a community. It addresses the issue that…

This manual provides information on the practicum program offered by Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) for students in its therapeutic recreation program. Sections I and II outline the rationale and goals for providing practical, on-the-job work experiences for therapeutic recreation students. Section III specifies MVCC's responsibilities…