A comprehensive study of the current state of library services and library cooperative activities in Massachusetts found that the state's 2,796 public, academic, school, institutional and special libraries make a significant contribution to lifelong learning, to the economy, and to the quality of life. The libraries have a combined collection of…

This paper provides an overview of the demographic characteristics of students in special education, outcomes associated with their schooling, and the nature of special education programs and services. Three issues relevant to the impact of standards and assessment on special education are then discussed: (1) regular education should assume…

A practicum developed and implemented a nutrition and fitness program for 90 kindergarten and first-grade students in an urban elementary school. The program was designed to make parents, teachers, and students more aware of nutrition and physical fitness requirements for proper growth and development. The 33-week program included: (1) pretest…

In October 1993, more than 70 educational decision makers and practitioners from across the country met to discuss ways to support and promote school networking and to formulate recommendations for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to use in establishing funding priorities, goals, and evaluation strategies. This report presents the…

Race and ethnicity can be forces for change. Increased attention to ethnicity issues in continuing and higher education in Great Britain would lead to changes in the structure and content of continuing education. Continuing education itself would then serve as a change agent across the university system by providing an antiracist model for other…

After reviewing the San Diego (California) City Schools Board of Education policy on parent involvement and outlining responsibilities of principals, teachers, and school support staff regarding parent involvement, this document summarizes the benefits of parent involvement for students, parents, and teachers as indicated by related research and…

Emphasizing outcome-oriented planning and management, innovation, and flexibility, this document discusses the renewal needed in Missouri public education in the 1990s and offers suggestions for educational change. Four major recommendations are presented that include creating a performance-oriented system; increasing prevention efforts; providing…

Designed to assist state and district policymakers in developing a policy framework to encourage educational restructuring at all levels, this document begins by describing the need for restructuring and by discussing elements of the policymaker's role such as establishing a vision, reviewing existing policies, debating options, making policy…

The Next Steps Conference was one of a series of meetings held for the purpose of increasing the capacity of family members, professionals, and other interested citizens to work together on behalf of children who have serious emotional disorders and to shape an agenda for improved services. The conference was organized around four major issues:…

Public investment in technical assistance to limited-resource farmers may be completely consistent with hard-headed taxpayer self-interest, because such investment provides a way for the impoverished to raise their incomes so they will no longer draw public-assistance benefits and will contribute more to financing public services by paying…

The paper explores whether the taxpaying public and limited-resource farm families who receive public welfare assistance to supplement meager farm incomes would be better off if some of these welfare funds were used to help the farmers help themselves by more efficient and profitable use of their farm resources. Data from an eastern Kentucky…

In these papers the authors consider the changing societal context for education, examine concepts and research on existing recurrent education practice, and document constraints on and future prospects of inservice education for teachers. The introduction provides an overview of the teaching role in the paper, "Recurrent Education for…

Florida's 1983 Legislature directed the Postsecondary Education Planning Commission to conduct a study of colleges of education in Florida. The Commission examined principally those areas relatively untouched by recent or impending changes. Legislation, board of education rules, department of education initiatives and independent actions by…

Issues of social discrimination of all kinds and in all forms in teaching are discussed. Sexism, racism, ageism, bias by commission versus omission, other objectionable stereotypes, and the difference between accurate portrayal and the ideal are defined. Sixteen suggestions are given for choosing or developing language arts instructional materials…

The Teachers Infusing Technology in Urban Schools project (TITUS) at the University of Illinois at Chicago is developing an approach for addressing the shortage of opportunities for teacher candidates to experience technology being used effectively in high-need urban schools in the course of their field experiences. Beyond recruiting mentor…