It is now widely accepted that investments in comprehensive and coordinated early intervention services will generate long-term benefits for children and families. Additional research is needed to continue to improve all aspects of service delivery in early intervention and early childhood special education, with a particular focus on conditions…

This issue celebrates Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL's) history and touches upon new work. This issue includes an article on the need for educators to have access to relevant, high-quality research findings and to be able to apply those findings to their local settings. It also discusses briefly the three randomized…

When Shanahan, Meehan, and Mogge (1994) reviewed the issue of professionalization, they characterized previous discussions and debates as controversial, negative, and heated, marked more by discord than unity. A key point of disagreement was whether or under what conditions certification could be considered necessary or desirable. They found only…

Family literacy has developed over the past decade into an increasingly significant--and often contested--area of research, practice, and policymaking in the fields of literacy and family studies as well as in the broader arenas of education and schooling. The purpose of this chapter is to give the reader a better understanding of the general…

English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities, especially Hmong, Latinos, and Somalis, exhibit the lowest academic performance and participation rates on statewide tests of academic achievement required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). These challenges are even more acute for learners with disabilities among these groups and likely reflect the…

This paper synthesizes the issues, problems, research, and current best practice in secondary education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Overall, Latin America and the Caribbean enroll much lower percentages of school age children in secondary education than the region's chief competitors, and the region's secondary education is inadequate by…

In 2001-02, the Queensland Indigenous Education Consultative Body conducted seven research projects examining Indigenous educational policies and strategies. Qualitative and quantitative methods included literature reviews; academic data collection; and interviews and focus groups with Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, parents, community…

A case study approach was used to identify organizational models developed to meet language, literacy, and numeracy (LL&N) requirements underpinning competencies in Australian training packages. Face-to-face and telephone interviews at two metropolitan and two regional technical and further education colleges and three work sites were at the…

A study researched the impact of the portfolio development process as an instructional strategy that promotes increased critical thinking, organization, communication, and self-reflection abilities. The inquiry began with a case study of eight adult learners representative of the student population of a nontraditional undergraduate program with a…

The year 2005 saw a number of reports calling for actions to ensure the future economic vitality of the United States, frequently through the improvement of science and mathematics education. This trend will likely continue into 2006 as policymakers at the state and federal levels look for ways to ensure the United States remains economically…

A qualitative case study approach with individual and focus group interviews identified senior enlisted Army soldiers' primary motivations and perceived barriers to postsecondary education participation. The 92 interviewees shared these common characteristics: they were enlisted soldiers, were older, attended college part time, worked full time,…

The patterns of word recognition errors among native and nonnative speakers of English in adult basic education classes were compared in a study that focused on the 212 of the 676 learners in the Adult Reading Components Study who scored between grade equivalent (GE) 4 and 6 in word recognition. Key findings were as follows: (1) highly similar…

The School District Data Book (SDDB) of the National Center for Education Statistics contains data on local education agencies that make it possible to compare data aggregated at district, county, state, and national levels on hundreds of variables. The development of the SDDB has provided an efficient and powerful tool for use in planning and…

Response to Intervention (RtI) is the practice of providing high-quality instruction and interventions to meet student needs and monitor progress in order to ensure effectiveness of instruction and/or interventions. RtI is an integrated service delivery approach for all students and should be applied to decisions in general, remedial, and special…

This booklet outlines the 1997 work program of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). The first section details CEDEFOP's mission, objectives, main tasks, and future as an organization working at the European Community (EC) level to encourage the promotion and development of vocational education and training…