Madagascar is a poor, primarily rural country in which three-quarters of the population has subsisted below the poverty line for at least two decades. In view of the important role of education in the government's poverty reduction agenda, this report documents the current status of educational development in Madagascar and the key constraints on…

There has been a recent academic controversy over whether parental child-rearing has any real effect on how offspring turn out. This book is a comprehensive collection of the experimental evidence establishing that parental treatment does affect child outcomes. Also included are natural experiments, as in the case of children raised in…

This 14th annual ED-MEDIA conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education. ED-MEDIA, the premiere international conference in the field, spans all disciplines and…

This project manual from the Partnerships for Rural Resource Teams Project, a project designed to build upon the foundation of services for children and youth with deaf-blindness in Montana, opens with guiding principles of the project and a description of the types of available services. Grounded in a framework that draws upon the principles of…

This report addresses expanding welfare-to-work (WTW) programs to increase work among welfare recipients facing personal and family challenges. Section 1 examines what is known about the impact of traditional WTW program models and policy innovations on employment and earning profiles of these recipients. Evidence is presented showing WTW programs…

Designed for parents of students, this booklet provides information and strategies for helping students with disabilities make a smooth transition to postsecondary education and training. The first part of the booklet addresses: building blocks for transition, transition services mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,…

Designed to provide a better understanding of how Industry Training Advisory Bodies (ITABs) operate, a study showed whether current arrangements, incentives, and structures are conducive to ITABs always working in the best interests of their constituents: employers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with chief executive officers (CEOs) of…

This study, conducted for the Mayor's Advisory Task Force on the City University of New York (CUNY) in 1998 and 1999, was charged with reviewing and making recommendations regarding: (1) the uses of city funding by CUNY; (2) the effects of open admissions and remedial education on CUNY's capacity to provide high-level college courses; (3)…

This document is comprised of the six issues in volume 16 of the Harvard Education Letter, a bimonthly newsletter addressing current issues in elementary and secondary education. Articles in this volume include the following: (1) January-February--"Grade Inflation: What's Really behind All Those A's?" (Birk) and "Every Friday was Fight Day"…

In this lesson, students work in teams, role-playing a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in rural Africa. Teams focus on four goals: (1) grow more food; (2) develop water resources; (3) improve health services; and (4) protect the environment. Each student team is assigned to one of five regions in Africa. Teams…

This document highlights the school-to-careers (STC) partnerships connecting workplace experiences to classroom learning to prepare students for successful employment in the home building industry. First, the current state of the home building industry is reviewed. Next, the following organizations and employers are profiled: (1) the National…

This paper analyzes efficiency and equity issues in public expenditures on education and health in Ghana during the 1990s. Data were drawn from reports of the ministries of education and health and from household surveys conducted 1988-98. In the late 1990s, Ghana's public expenditures on education decreased. Basic education enrollment was…

The William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Washington) is a collaborative user facility with many unique scientific capabilities. The EMSL expects to support many of its remote users and collaborators by electronic means and is creating a collaborative environment for this…

Sciencing with Watersheds, Environmental Education, and Partnerships (SWEEP) is a professional development program designed to help elementary teachers improve the way they teach science using partnerships among teachers and resource professionals. SWEEP follows a thematic approach using watersheds as the core concept of an integrated elementary…

This report by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) ad hoc Committee on Federal Support for Agricultural Research, Extension and Education suggests solutions to major challenges in agricultural research. Three new realities provide a powerful rationale for major new investment in agriculture: dramatic…