This document consists of the 11 issues of the newsletter "Community Update" which were published between April 1995 and March 1996. The newsletter provides information to help schools and communities reach the National Education Goals. Each issue contains announcements of monthly satellite town meetings, topics to be discussed in…

This document contains the text of President Clinton's State of the Union Address, delivered on February 4, 1997. The President issues a call to action to work together to prepare America for the twenty-first century. The United States must attend to the unfinished business of balancing the budget, enacting bipartisan campaign-finance reform, and…

The first part of this directory of National Library Service (NLS) resources for the blind and physically handicapped lists NLS network libraries and machine-lending agencies, arranged alphabetically by state. The information for each library includes its address, telephone and fax numbers, librarian, hours of operation, book and special…

This policy update discusses provisions of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act which directly influence the experiences of high school-age students with disabilities as they prepare for the transition from school to work and adult life. The paper discusses: (1) purposes of the Act; (2) the eight National Education Goals of Title I; (3)…

This report represents elements of 105 replies received from UNESCO Member States to the International Bureau of Education (IBE) questionnaire. The report does not always reproduce the complete answers given, and the extracts presented are usually presented in the language used in the relevant answer. The report begins with a list of member…

This paper analyzes the 105 replies received from UNESCO Member States to the International Bureau of Education (IBE) questionnaire. All the data appearing in the paper, including the statistics, were drawn exclusively from the replies of the member countries. The one- or two-paragraph responses in the paper to the 71-item questionnaire are…

This digest examines issues concerning performance assessment of students receiving special education services. Issues addressed are: (1) need to infuse performance assessment into national programs including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS); (2) current lack of inclusion of…

Healthy Start is a 5-year program that encourages community-based strategies for reducing infant mortality. This report addresses Congressional concerns of preliminary evaluation results reported by the press concerning the program's efficacy. The report strives to answer three Congressional concerns: (1) the plan for the national program…

A study was conducted to determine if the centralization of playback machine operations for the national free library program would be feasible, economical, and desirable. An alternative model of playback machine services was constructed and compared with existing network operations considering both cost and service. The alternative model was…

Noting that one of the three major themes for the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services is the role of the library in literacy education, this digest begins by describing how national awareness of the problem has led to legislation, both at the state and federal level, to fund new literacy programs and expand existing…

A draft of proposed federal legislation entitled "America 2000 Excellence in Education Act" is presented in this document. Contents include a message from President Bush and a copy of the act, which offers proposals in the following areas: New American Schools; Merit Schools; training and certification of teachers and school leaders;…

This report reports activities of the Regional Information Exchange (RIE) program under the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research's Knowledge Dissemination and Utilization Program. An overview compares the RIE program with a National Diffusion Network unit--the Joint Dissemination Review Panel, which also focuses on…

The purpose of this meeting was to solicit input for action on the topic of training information users in higher education with special reference to the needs of developing countries. Two documents which had been prepared to form the basis for discussion were introduced: a report of a survey that had investigated what was being done in selected…

The condition of literacy programming for Metis and Non-Status Indian Peoples in Canada is reported. Metis peoples are defined as Aboriginal People distinct from Indian and Inuit, descendants of the historic Metis, and descendants of Aboriginal Peoples who have been absorbed by the historic Metis, all of whom share a common cultural identity and…

The early education policy of the National Party government in New Zealand is based on the Parents As First Teachers (PAFT) approach and the New Parents as Teachers project, which originated in the United States in Missouri. It is difficult to assess this project, which is not well-documented. The PAFT policy that parents should be home with…