Describes the child care system in Sweden, focusing on policy measures and legislation for children and families. Describes types of day care programs, including centers, open preschools, family day care, school age services, children requiring special support, and children from other cultures. Outlines recently proposed guidelines for preschool…

Sources of University of Kuopio (Finland) funding in the context of institutional budgeting are analyzed. The decline in basic public funding is seen to require generation of new income, but new income sources may have unwanted effects on university orientation. The contract procedure between the Ministry of Education and the university is forcing…

A New England College of Optometry (Massachusetts) faculty development program for clinical preceptors provides a forum for administration and clinical faculty to address problems in clinical education and to increase communication between affiliated faculty, program coordinators, and students. The on-site conferences have demonstrated significant…

Provides an overview of the Cities in Schools (CIS) organization and its school-based service delivery model that focuses on reducing problem outcomes for at-risk youth. Findings from a multiyear evaluation that documented the characteristics of youth who participate in CIS programs are presented, and CIS components to support school safety are…

Educators in the United States generally agree that cultural education is increasingly important because of the expanding ethnic diversity in America. According to the Cable News Network (CNN), with the predicted doubling of the population in the U.S. over the next century, there will be a demographic shift as well. Whites will comprise 53 percent…

Research findings demonstrate that PDSs effectively prepare general education teachers and lead to increased student academic outcomes. Previous studies within the extant literature have investigated the application of the PDS model with traditional credential candidates. Acute teacher shortages and the implementation of alternative credential…

This document gives an overview of current needs expressed so far in the project for multimedia management and real-time communication services between groups of learners/workers and examine the kind of support that a standard-based technical solution "off-the-shelf" can help in solving main technical issues and in focusing on…

Created by teachers for teachers, the Math Academy tools and activities included in this booklet were designed to create hands-on activities and a fun learning environment for the teaching of mathematics to students. This booklet contains the "Math Academy--Can You See It in Nature? Explorations in Patterns & Functions," which a teacher can use to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how, from 2004-2006, a New Zealand research team experimented with the "change laboratory" learning process to create a new method of government policy development and implementation, referred to as "practice-making". The apple industry in Hawke's Bay was chosen because of the…

A growing number of American students are nonnative English speakers. These students are vulnerable to early school exit and schools are facing more and more such students each year. Presently, about 56% of all public school teachers in the United States have at least one English language learner (ELL) student in their class, but less than 20% of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose and demonstrate an evidence-based scenario design framework for assessment-based computer games. Design/methodology/approach: The evidence-based scenario design framework is presented and demonstrated by using BELLA, a new assessment-based gaming environment aimed at supporting student learning of…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach that has been used successfully for over 30 years and continues to gain acceptance in multiple disciplines. It is an instructional (and curricular) learner-centered approach that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop…

This document describes the content and format of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) measurements for reading comprehension of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. According to the framework, NAEP assesses three contexts for reading: reading for literary experience, reading for information, and reading to perform a task). In addition…

"Talent Search" aims to help low-income and first-generation college students (those whose parents do not have four-year college degrees) complete high school and gain access to college through a combination of services designed to improve academic achievement and increase access to financial aid. Services include test taking and study…

The graduate of the Ironworker apprenticeship program is a certified journeyperson who will be able to: (1) responsibly do all work tasks expected of a journeyperson; (2) supervise, train and coach apprentices; (3) demonstrate the principles of drafting, how drawings originate and how to correctly interpret the information given--the use of each…