This report offers a brief account of Iraq's recent mass literacy initiative, considered within the broader context of illiteracy problems throughout the Arab world. The Iraqi experience is noteworthy for both the size and the unique character of the campaign launched by that nation's Arab Ba'ath Socialist regime. (Author/SJL)

This article describes the scope and content of the Nicaraguan National Literacy Crusade of 1980, its organization, workings, and outcomes. Special attention is given to those aspects of the crusade that relate to the goals of integrating previously excluded groups and transforming the political culture of the country. (Author)

Noting that, as a developing socialist society, China requires an educational system which develops in the individual both political loyalty and technical skill, the author surveys China's efforts, from 1949 to the present, to implement these two potentially conflicting educational objectives. (SJL)

Reviewing international school attendance statistics, the author notes that, while the United States is the pioneer of mass schooling, it too has school attendance problems, particularly relating to the exclusion of handicapped and delinquent youth. He looks at the techniques other nations are using to deal with these problems. (SJL)