Reading and understanding texts of all kinds form a basic competence for participating in social and cultural life and for being successful on a job. Although most European adolescents have adequate reading competences at their disposal by the end of school, about a quarter of them cannot meet the minimal standards. The urgency of this societal…

Initial teacher preparation does not involve training for change. Therefore, inservice teacher education is important for diffusing, supporting, and sustaining the passage from reform to innovation. Implications of three models of inservice activity are analyzed and conclusions are discussed. (Author/MT)

Comparisons of data for Italy and other European countries show that Italy has lower educational attainment for the 25-64 age group, shorter length of compulsory schooling, and less inservice training for employed adults. The Centre for the Study of Social Investment in Italy identified needs for functional literacy, supplementary and vocational…

The formal structures which have been established to support the process of educational change in Italy are explained. A series of laws passed since 1973 created a new model of school and gave teachers a right and duty to inservice training. The Regional Institutes for Educational Research, Experimentation and In-Service Training are described in…

Problems and strategies of inservice teacher education in Italy are discussed in the context of fostering educational change. Educational legislation calls for training teachers in active service at national, regional, district, and individual institute and teacher levels. Strategies for transition to this new approach to training are proposed.…

Although language specialists do not always agree about the best age at which to introduce English language instruction, policy changes are increasingly mandating earlier introduction of English in foreign language (EFL) settings worldwide. In this volume, language educators and program implementers from various countries describe programs and…

These 15 papers include: (1) "Current Models and New Developments in Teacher Education in Austria" (Michael Schratz and Paul Josef Resinger); (2) "Teacher Education in Canada: Renewing Scholarly, Pedagogical, and Organizational Practices" (Therese LaFerriere, Nancy Sheehan, and Tom Russell); (3) "Current Models and New…

This document contains the second volume of the proceedings of the 30th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Conference presentations are centered around the theme "Mathematics at the Centre." This volume features 60 research reports by presenters with last names beginning between Abr…