The purpose of BEST Plus is to assess the ability to understand and use unprepared, conversational, everyday language within topic areas generally covered in adult education courses. It is one of several standardized assessments approved by the National Reporting System (NRS, 2008), which is the accountability system for federally funded ESL and…

This research reports findings from an intergenerational science program, Project Serve, which placed senior volunteers in elementary and junior high science classrooms to assist teachers and augment instruction. Items from the Children's View of Aging survey (Newman, 1997; Newman & Faux, 1997) were administered before and after the project with…

Although distance learning often is cited as a potentially useful strategy to provide appropriately challenging academic coursework to gifted students, little research has been conducted on its use or effectiveness with this population, particularly with younger students in elementary school. In this study, distance learning outcomes for gifted…

During the author's first decade of college teaching spent at Harvard and Wesleyan he often wrote letters recommending students from those relatively prestigious institutions for graduate English programs. Upon moving to the University of Pittsburgh, however, he did so less frequently for two decades, partly because much of his teaching focused…

The fairplayer.manual is a manualized, school-based intervention program to prevention program to prevent bullying and relational aggression. We present first results from an evaluation study conducted in Berlin (Germany) with 119 students (age 14-17) from a comprehensive school using a controlled pre-/post-/follow-up design. Utilizing…

This paper features the winners of this year's National Medals for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for libraries and museums. The award celebrates libraries and museums that make a difference for individuals, families, and communities. Medal winners are selected from nationwide nominations for institutions that demonstrate…

This synopsis highlights the main findings from "Investments in Building Citywide Out-of-School-Time Systems," which documents approaches six cities across the country have taken to build, finance and sustain effective citywide out-of-school-time (OST) systems. Developed by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) and The Finance Project, the…

There is a great deal of discussion about the need to revitalize the nation's infrastructure. New roads, bridges, schools, and public buildings need to be built using the latest in green technology. Current infrastructure needs to be repaired and retrofitted. This brief makes the case that the human services infrastructure for effective…

Presented at the Annual Meeting of National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in San Diego, CA in April 2009. This presentation provides an overview of ECD. In addition, the presentation describes the benefits of, as well as the challenges that were faced, in implementing ECD in the Advanced Placement Program.

The exploratory study conducted by Yang, Burrola, and Bryan (2009) provides an excellent platform for calling attention to the issue of suicide risk among elementary and middle school youth. Using their study as a catalyst, with this commentary I consider the finding that 12% of the young people surveyed acknowledged that they had "seriously…

This article reports on the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), a new model of basic writing that has produced dramatic successes for the basic writing program at the Community College of Baltimore County. Borrowing from mainstreaming programs, studio courses, fast track programs, and learning communities, ALP, for four consecutive semesters, has…

Teach For America's (TFA) shift over the past decade toward measuring and promoting its teachers' ability to boost student performance has caused the organization to reconfigure not just program directors' roles, but nearly all its other support components. It has overhauled its five-week summer training, known as "Institute," to incorporate the…

There is no doubt that the "Going Green" movement is in full swing. With global warming and other ecological concerns, people are paying closer attention to environmental issues and striving to live in a more sustainable world. For libraries, this is a perfect opportunity to be active in a campus-wide program and simultaneously promote library…

Arguments for National Qualification Frameworks (NQF) are compelling. Indeed, such frameworks are now an international phenomenon. Yet, few studies take a critical perspective and challenge the broad assumptions underpinning NQF. Arguments presented in this paper attempt to open a debate within the higher education community that draws attention…

Child and youth care is a process of human interaction in which knowing, doing, and being in are interconnected. People learn as much as they can about development, program planning, structure, and techniques, but nothing works very well without the capacity to be present and involved in the lives of youth, with curiosity and sensitivity to the…