The Family Math Program is an outgrowth of the Equals Program at the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. Piloted in 1982 in Richmond, California, this widespread program boasts a simple philosophy: Families "doing math" will get the same result as families who read--improved skills and enjoyment. The program also confronts parental…

Milwaukee's school choice pilot program allows 1,000 of the city's poorest students to attend nonsectarian private schools with taxpayer-financed vouchers. Only 600 of Milwaukee's 98,000 public school students applied for vouchers, although 55,000 met income requirements. Only 400 slots were available for voucher students in the 7 participating…

A year ago, a small Maine high school used cutting-edge instructional methodology, aggressive public-relations strategies, and community input to place its art department at the center of school improvement. Implementation of an interdisciplinary art, business-education, and computer-science course has elevated the art department's status and…

A pilot study investigated and developed the potential contribution of self-assessment procedures in the regulation of British day nurseries. Inspection staff in four local authorities used day-care self-assessment materials adapted for inspection purposes. Results suggested that self-assessment incorporated with inspection and development work…

Examines the structures of two teachers' beliefs about what makes mathematics intrinsically motivating and provides representations of their beliefs. Results indicate that the teachers became more attuned to the conceptual complexity and challenge of mathematics activities and placed less emphasis on task ease over their year of involvement in the…

Offers an overview of the initial 8 weeks of a creative-writing pilot project which was an adjunct to the already established vocational therapy for adults with mental illness. Discusses how the program attempted to address the psychosocial needs of outpatients living independently in the community, the majority of whom had not been exposed to a…

Elements of California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program, which provides new teachers with one-on-one mentoring and professional support in their first two years of practice, are being applied to UC Santa Cruz's pilot project for beginning principals. Principals need intensive coaching and support when assuming their duties. (MLH)

Conducts a content analysis of web pages to examine 26 United States Masters degree programs in public relations for their degree requirements, core courses, public relations courses, and optional courses. Finds a lack of adherence to the recommendations of the Foundation for Public Relations Research and Education. (NH)

Presents findings from the Professional Assessment and Comprehensive Evaluation System (PACES) Spring 2000 Fields Study in a large southeastern school district. PACES is a comprehensive, learner-centered classroom-based system that provides educators with information useful for teaching and learning. During this pilot study of PACES, interviews…

Discusses the United Kingdom's "Classrooms of the Future," an initiative in school building design to develop pilot projects that explore different design options for delivering education in the 21st century. Twelve proposals for participation in the initiative are detailed. (GR)

Investigated Elliott Jaques's theories of organizational depth structure and timespan of discretion in two Ontario school systems. Both superintendents and principals were working at two-year timespans; system directors worked at a maximum three-year timespan. Findings imply that principals' responsibilities resemble those of assistant…

Categorizes different theoretical justifications of data fusion into two approaches, examines their implications, analyzes some unsuccessful data fusion experiments, and proposes two conditions for effective data fusion. Results indicate that the efficacy and inter-scheme dissimilarity are good predictors for effectiveness of data fusion.…

Describes the survey project commissioned by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions and the concurrent pilot project that investigated the potential of digitizing technologies. Presents a qualitative summary of the concerns raised by the Canadian research community during the survey project, focusing on the digitization of…

Purpose: The psychosocial needs of patients suffering from severe visual loss associated with advanced age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) are generally ignored in the clinical routine. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a psychosocial intervention program for ARMD patients. This intervention program was based on six modules…

Universities and colleges are increasingly recognizing the need for programs in oral communication across the curriculum. Many small colleges that do not have faculty in communications do have faculty in theatre who are skilled in oral communication. This article describes a pilot program in oral communication coaching for undergraduate students…