An oral testing method used in an intensive high school Spanish program is based on a model of communicative competence positing four forms of competence: strategic; sociolinguistic; discourse; and linguistic. All oral domains but linguistic are tested in the first and second years. In the first year, benchmark testing occurs. The rubric used has…

Describes the World Links for Development (WorLD) program, a World Bank effort to bring the Internet to 40 developing countries to connect 1500 secondary schools for collaborative project-based learning. Discusses the World Bank's role in development; program objectives, focus of training, financing, and goals; and lessons learned. (PEN)

Chronicles efforts of faculty members at the institutions of the Associated Colleges of the South to create "Sunoikisis," a virtual department of Greek and Roman Studies. The long-term goal of the project is to expand the academic opportunities available to undergraduates at small liberal arts colleges for studying the languages, literatures, and…

Includes a collection of eight short articles describing model community college programs. Discusses a literacy program, a mobile computer classroom, a support program for at-risk students, a timber-harvesting program, a multimedia presentation on successful women graduates, a career center, a collaboration with NASA, and an Israeli engineering…

Describes Storytelling and Rural Areas (SARA) program for children and families at Longreach School of Distance Education (Central Queensland). SARA promotes children's oral language skills, self-confidence, and social construction. Explores ways storytelling assists this development. Notes how SARA provides links between home and school and…

The evolution and design of an interdisciplinary honors course at the University of Maryland at College Park are described. The course, on knowledge and its human consequences, brings together faculty experts, "teacher-learner" faculty, and first-year honors students to explore different kinds of knowledge and their philosophical,…

In a cooperative research program, classroom teachers and university researchers developed and implemented a contextualized performance-based assessment in mathematics. The assessments were intended to model what students may do in the course of daily activity and designed to assess problem solving, and conceptual and procedural understanding.…

Examines a family literacy program based in a disadvantaged area of Scotland, to show how deficit views of children and their parents (feeling that one's own ways of speaking and writing are "wrong") might be challenged and overcome so that real learning can take place, learning that focuses on people's strengths and different types of…

A study of a bilingual program in a Deaf school in Minnesota examines the following: the principles primary grade teachers articulate and demonstrate as important for the use of American Sign Language (ASL) to teach English literacy; the strategies primary grade teachers use to teach English literacy through ASL; and how primary grade teachers use…

Indiana University Purdue University Columbus reorganized its teacher education program to socialize students to the teaching profession and increase collegiality. Communication between faculty, students, and cooperating elementary schools has increased; America Reads program has facilitated partnerships with local schools and increased exposure…

Describes a visit by an early childhood educator to the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Head Start Program in Ottawa. Explains how this program, funded by Health Canada under the Aboriginal Head Start Initiative, emphasizes retention of the Inuit culture and language in its curriculum activities and materials, special events, daily routines, parent education…

Describes communication difficulties of students with unspecified learning difficulties affecting their ability to access education through spoken and written language. Describes a collaborative project between the school, the special needs teaching service, and the University of Leicester which aims to clarify such pupil problems and evaluate…

Using interviews and videotaped observations, this study examined family contributions to their 5-year-olds' literacy development in a 5-month family literacy program developed by their children's teachers. Results suggested that children's literacy can be developed through everyday family experiences and that the richest resource for literacy…

Describes a music major program that was created at a high school to help students prepare for a future career in music, provide documentation of their four years of study in music for the college application process, and continue to study music after high school. (CMK)

Reviews current directions and developments in cognitive theory and instructional design, highlighting cognitive science, constructivism, component-based instruction, customization, and creativity. In a practical implementation, a computerized interactive learning environment which has been developed for university freshmen in theoretical computer…