This paper marks the second in a series of five reports detailing the work of the Optimizing Assessment for All (OAA) project at Brookings to strengthen education systems capacity to integrate 21st century skills into teaching and learning, using assessment as a lever for changing classroom practices. Twenty-first century skills (21CS) are now…

A basic level of literacy and numeracy is essential for full participation in modern societies. While very few people in most of the advanced countries could be regarded as illiterate or innumerate, recent studies have shown that there are, in fact, significant numbers of people with poor skills, and that low levels of skills are associated with…

As battery producers and vendors, legislators, and the consumer population become aware of the consequences of inappropriate disposal of batteries to landfill sites instead of responsible chemical neutralization and reuse, the topic of battery recycling has begun to appear on the environmental agenda. In the United Kingdom, estimates of annual…

Discusses the Workers' Education Branch of the ILO (International Labour Organisation), which has been developing workers' education activities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America for the purpose of assisting rural workers' organizations in identifying and developing plans to overcome their own major organizational and financial problems. (CT)

Describes the "Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project" which has now sent more than 70 volunteer teacher educators into 20 countries across Central Europe and Central Asia to help teachers to try out methods that foster active learning and critical thinking. Discusses support for the project, teaching strategies introduced,…

This document is the final report of the Regional Training Workshop for the Development of Materials for Mathematics Education in Asia and the Pacific, using a problem-solving approach. The workshop was committed to identifying materials which are readily available at low cost, in sufficient quantities to be used by children in classrooms in any…

Explores the process of workplace learning and problem solving by examining Western and local enterprises in South China. Discusses whether the managerial concepts embedded in Chinese culture help or impede collective learning and concludes that new ways of working and learning are emerging through the interaction of Western and Chinese culture.…

Recent developments and problems in the eradication of illiteracy in Asia and Oceania are reviewed in this conference report. Literacy is a critical issue because more than half of the region's population is illiterate, and social and economic development cannot progress when the literacy rate is so low. In an effort to improve the situation, most…

Two models and techniques for teaching learning strategies to second language learners, particularly in the Asian cultural and educational context, are presented. The models are the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) and the Problem-Solving Process Model. An introductory section gives background information on learning…