This document presents the personal narrative of an adult literacy practitioner who has worked with Literacy Volunteers of America and a reading center in Connecticut and who signed up for the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL) Teacher Research Project on Learner Motivation, Retention, and Persistence in 1998.…

Traditional education in Micronesia has been informal and experiential, with a communal orientation. Certain knowledge is secret, and much folklore and mythology is sacred. For over 100 years, Western-style education has been imposed on Micronesia by the Spanish, Germans, Japanese, and Americans. Western education has focused on instruction in the…

This book examines how culturally specific aspects of Japanese preschool children's narrative discourse skills develop and eventually lead to literacy. It discusses how language shapes and is shaped by culture-specific experiences, analyzing how young Japanese children develop narrative structure and how Japanese parents guide their children in…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This brief reports on the study "Contemporaneous and Longitudinal Associations between Social Behavior and Literacy Achievement in a Sample of Low Income Elementary School Children" (S. B. Miles and D. Stipek). In two groups of…

This study was commissioned by SchoolNet Africa (SNA) in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA). It is the most extensive examination to date of teacher training in information and communication technology…

The purpose of this review is to present an overview of the research literature relating to the acquisition of literacy. Its focus is on empirical studies that identify the processes underlying the acquisition of literacy, and the instructional strategies that are most effective in developing effective literacy. Its specific focus is on the…

The AACC/SBC Excelerator project enabled community colleges and their partners in six states to expand special outreach and technology workforce training programs to people who are often ignored in the new economy: low-income adults, members of racial and ethnic minorities, welfare-to-work clients, at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and…

This resource provides information to assist parents, family members, early childhood teachers, caregivers, and other adults in promoting the learning and development of young children ages birth to three. It is a companion to the Nebraska Early Learning Guidelines for Ages 3 to 5, and uses the same format and domains of development. This…

Special writing problems faced by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) adult literacy students are examined, and an approach to the individual teacher-student writing conference is proposed. Four conference components are distinguished, and suggestions are made for handling each: oral interaction; engaging the student in dialogue before reading the…

This quarterly publication serves as a medium for the exchange of ideas regarding the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of professional development practices at two- and four-year colleges. The four issues in volume 14 feature the following articles: (1) "A Home-Grown Faculty Development Program," (Jane T. Rauton); (2) "Creating…

In each of 3 years, 20 City College of New York undergraduates from New York City public inner city school backgrounds read to and mentored individual second graders in a Harlem public school in a program supported by the Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Supporting academic experience aimed to…

Four 3-year projects within the Rural Telecomputing Initiative enabled rural teachers in Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, and Tennessee to connect with math and science reform communities and use resources available through the Internet. This study of the projects' first 2 years examined: (1) whether the projects made a difference in teachers'…

Education is generally regarded as the institution most responsible for providing "survival skills" needed to empower individuals to function effectively within the socio-economic system of a nation. The schooling process is expected to provide common patterns of experiences and knowledge considered essential for promoting economic growth. With…

In child-centered programs children construct their own knowledge from their experiences and interactions with the world around them, and teachers foster children's growth and development by building on children's interests, needs, and strengths within a safe and caring environment. The Step by Step educational program developed a series of…

This practicum paper describes a program implemented at an international school in Spain. The program's objectives were to create positive attitudes concerning technology, increase the participants' computer knowledge and usage, and decrease the amount of time the school's computer coordinator spent solving computer related problems. The target…