In 12 brief chapters, a view is provided of elementary school improvement efforts made by participants in the Contact School Plan of the Council of Europe's Council for Cultural Co-operation. The Contact School Plan created a network of 12 schools implementing innovative educational practices in as many nations. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the…

Highlights one elementary school's experiences with foreign languages. The school joined a student exchange program with Italy, introducing Italian lessons into some classes. Spanish classes were soon added. Italian and American students communicated as pen pals and visited each other's countries. This successful foreign-language program has…

Describes the Italian educational system from preschool to high school, along with the events leading up to the implementation of government-mandated total integration of handicapped children into the compulsory school system. Also describes details of this integration in three Verona area schools and discusses problems remaining to be solved.…

This report is presented in three parts. Part 1 consists of synopses of the child care situation in 13 countries. For each country, the child care environment, including the philosophy and historical background of child care, appropriate legislation, and types of child care services provided, are discussed. School-age child care programs for…

Research shows that there are many possible positive effects of early bilingual reading upon intellectual growth and general education. An Italian research project dealing with early bilingual literacy is described; the teaching methods used in the project are examined. (RM)