Describes the founding and role of the nonprofit organization Udbhas, which promotes literacy among children in the slums of Calcutta while providing a level of food, clothing, and social and educational experiences generally absent from their homes. Discusses the children's background and identifies problems in bringing learning to these…

Clarifies the concept of universal basic education. Highlights the need for performance criteria and ways to measure literacy attainment. Identifies issues related to improving primary education, seeing adult literacy as its necessary complement. Underscores the substantial resources required to achieve universal basic education. (CH)

Advocates a recognition of students' individual cultures. Describes the efforts of Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota), Daytona Beach Community College (Florida), Northwestern Connecticut Community College, and South Central Community College (Connecticut) to meet the needs of Native Americans, illiterate adults, deaf students, and White students…

Presents results of a citation analysis of works involving computer applications to education and discusses changing characteristics of the literature over time. Fifty-six frequently cited works are grouped into a taxonomy of 14 topics under four majors themes: implementation; research, development, and evaluation; learning and human cognition;…

Provided are projections for the scientific job market in the 1990s. Predicted are increases in the numbers of engineering positions above the rate of growth for all other occupations. The status and outlook for minority groups are highlighted. (CW)

Presents results of the annual survey of state education departments, which is conducted to provide an assessment of interest in and commitment to educational computing in elementary and secondary schools. Highlights include state funding; requirements for computer courses; hardware and software policies; additional technology usage; and teacher…

Describes activities of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the United Kingdom related to ways that information technology may contribute to learning. Topics discussed include cognitive science; evaluation of changes in learning; language skills; learner-machine interface; policy and management issues; teacher education; computer…

Postulates that students' untutored and unrehearsed verbatim responses to viewing artworks parallel specific schools of thought in aesthetic theory. Middle school students tape recorded their responses to a previous museum visit. Their responses reflected some of the key concepts in expressivism, institutionalism, and formalism. (MJP)

Discusses the 13 papers in this special issue on American Indian and Alaska Native language education and literacy, the object of which is to critically examine the relationship of pedagogical change to larger sociopolitical and cultural processes affecting native language, bilingual, and bicultural programs. (three references) (MDM)

Rapid changes in technology and the skills needed to compete successfully in the workforce will necessitate higher standards in education, especially in the ability to acquire, organize, and use information. Library media specialists must play a significant role in providing information access, storage, dissemination, and instruction for students.…

Researchers observed relationships between exposure to home electronic technologies and classroom disposition and performance in secondary school students. Interviews to determine computer literacy and use suggested that successful performance and richness of technological environment correlated with declared home computer use. Home use did not…

Bilingual students' language and literacy skills were compared across three classroom events (varying in degree of formality) in a special classroom for students with language learning disabilities. Results showed that certain contextual features (usually holistic-constructivist in nature) were associated with enhanced student performance, whereas…

Provides a case study of a computer-assisted language learning (CALL) program for beginning learners of Spanish at the University of Bradford, England. The pros and cons of various software used in the program, as well student attitudes toward CALL, are discussed. (six references) (MDM)

Describes creation and development of Drinking Is Not Our Solution (DINOS) software. Designed to provide both counselors and students with a way to explore attitudes toward drinking, it permits a young person to independently assess his or her own choices by identifying with characters. (JBJ)

Three computerized adaptive tests (CATs) in mathematics, reading, and writing were administered to 628 community college students to determine whether examinees of different ethnic, gender, ability, and age groups, and computer experience were differentially affected. Some differences exist; however, they do not preclude use of CATs. (SLD)