This large-scale study describes what children know and can do when they start school in Scotland. The description became possible because a third of Scottish Authorities are involved in a single, broadly based, on-entry baseline assessment of children. The study also looked at variations by home background, sex, age and pre-school experience…

The production of complex sequences like music or speech requires the rapid and temporally precise production of events (e.g., notes and chords), often at fast rates. Memory retrieval in these circumstances may rely on the simultaneous activation of both the current event and the surrounding context (Lashley, 1951). We describe an extension to a…

This article presents and discusses a 3-D online environment known as Teen Second Life. TSL is a virtual environment geared just for youth, ages 13-17. Its social appeal is huge, especially for teens who are developmentally inclined to seek out the company of their peers. In TSL one can meet friends or make new ones, hang out, listen to music and…

This resource guide was prepared by the Tox 90's Educational Issues Task Force of the Society of Toxicology. The introduction provides information on the Society of Toxicology and financial support for graduate students in toxicology. Other sections include career opportunities in toxicology, academic and postdoctoral programs in toxicology, and…

This brief describes national technical assistance organizations. Thirteen organizations are included: Essential Skills Resource Center; Center for Applied Linguistics; Center on Education and Training for Employment; Language Training Designs; Center for Remediation Design; Matrices Consultants, Inc.; Performance Plus Literacy Consultants; HRD…

This report describes the Pledge of Nonviolence, a peace-educated program designed for all levels of schooling. The seven components of the Pledge expand the value of respect for others to focus on the understanding of, tolerance for, and cooperation with those who are different. The Pledge also acknowledges the need to respect the whole of…

This paper focuses on training people to carry out the communication component of development programs. The paper begins with a description of some of the issues on the communication frontier that affect development programs, and then notes three kinds of communication training that stand out: designing and managing communication interventions;…

This report presents a composite picture of the experiences and patterns of change exhibited by six Colorado high schools after implementing the nine itemized principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, as espoused by Theodore Sizer in "Horace's Compromise." The nine principles are: intellectual focus, simple goals, universal…

The Child Care Action Campaign (CCAC) hosted an audioconference on December 8, 1997 to examine strategies to expand and improve family child care to meet the increased need for infant/toddler care and care during non-traditional hours. This issue brief summarizes the audioconference's presentations. Presenters were Julie Rogers, special projects…

This guide is designed to help state leaders identify which comprehensive school-reform models have been adopted throughout the United States. It provides information on states being targeted by developers and the capacity of each design team. The guide is divided into 4 sections: Developers in States; Developers' Capacity; List of Developers; and…

The pullout model is the model most widely used for Chapter 1 programs. This model involves taking students out of their regular classroom for one or more class periods to receive instruction from a Chapter 1 teacher. Problems associated with the pullout model include lack of coordination between the pullout class and the regular classroom. This…

LeaderLab, a leadership development program, encourages and enables leaders to take more effective actions. In developing content and structure, several instructional principles are important: realism, simplicity, relevance, operationalism, holism, and intervention over time. The program content falls into four categories: (1) challenges faced by…

A study examined upward-communication practices (from lower levels to higher levels in an organization) in American industry. Seventy-five large top-ranked companies responded to a survey concerning their upward-communication programs, for a response rate of 39%. Forty of the completed surveys included materials describing their…

Despite recognition of the importance of good nutrition for children's cognitive development, many children in America are poorly nourished. This digest reviews programs designed to address this problem and suggests ways to improve child nutrition and school meal programs. Federal programs administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the…

Development of numerous materials projects and programs is a continuing characteristics of environmental education. Most have been modest, local in scope, and short-lived. But in recent years many have become more ambitious, substantive, and sophisticated, more effectively designed and better positioned to make significant educational impacts on…