Noting that thousands of young children with the capacity to experience school success do not because they are unprepared for school learning activities, have experienced physical or emotional setbacks that cause them to be at risk for early learning failure, have never experienced limits on their behavior, or have mild sensory or motor deficits,…

This booklet discusses the importance of all students being guaranteed a carefully crafted and appropriately balanced approach to reading instruction. Section 1, "Beginning Reading Instruction," discusses variation and inequity in reading instruction and reading skills nationwide. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has made it a priority to…

This bulletin provides background information on Iran--the country, including economic factors; the people, and the government. The report further describes educational developments, including: (1) Early European influence; (2) Cooperative U.S. programs; (3) Administration and organization of education, including the Ministry of Education; (4) The…

Surveys of directors of Schools of the 21st Century, an educational model that provides integrated services to children and families, examined the availability of school health services. Results found that the services varied greatly in availability and comprehensiveness. Most schools provided basic preventive screenings, health education, and…

Focuses on factors that thwart true school-parent partnerships in the development and education of children. Factors include a family's socioeconomic status, democratic issues, the creation of school systems, gender bias against women, teacher priorities, racism, and classism. (Author/BB)

Presents an annotated bibliography of books about the voyages of Christopher Columbus for children, preschool to grade seven. Notes that the five hundredth anniversary of the Columbus voyages will occur in 1992 and encourages teachers to anticipate the national commentoration and develop appropriate learning activities. (NL)

In this study, mother-child storybook reading was explored as a context within which to support early symbolic communication of four girls (ages 3-7) with Rett syndrome. Access to communication symbols, assistive technologies, and parent training consistently enhanced children's frequency of labeling/commenting and appropriate symbolic…

Milwaukee's Highland Community school was opened in 1968 as an independent school (and is still funded mostly by donations) to provide a quality Montessori education and nurturing environment for economically and culturally diverse groups of families on the city's economically depressed Near West Side. Governed by a 9-member parent board of…

This literature review examines selected variables that may influence teachers' ability to read books to preschool and elementary deaf children in total communication programs. The paper explores the role of signs in reading stories and factors influencing the signability of stories, including reading rate, length of sentences, length of text used…

This review describes the progress of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in addressing children's needs worldwide in the 10 years since the International Year of the Child in 1979. Specific aims of the study were: (1) to review major NGO initiatives for children, especially initiatives involving interaction with the United Nations, during the…

A French language program used in a Montessori school with children in preschool through junior high grades is described. The program provides language instruction in the classroom by a French specialist as well as separate French classes, a compromise between immersion and the Montessori methodology. The children are able to work independently…

A new bill has been introduced in Congress by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative Dale Kildee (D-MI) that would make full-day early childhood education widely available to preschool students. The bill, labeled "Smart Start" (S. 2270) is intended to help economically disadvantaged preschool students, whose numbers have…

The sixth of 10 reports from a longitudinal, national evaluation study in which Project Head Start children and their parents were followed from preschool through the fourth grade, this document describes the process data which were collected in the spring of 1979 during one-week site visits to each of the 65 participating programs. Chapter I…

This publication, first in a series of two intended for Utah's elementary teachers, outlines objectives for teaching visual thinking through art concepts. The second part in the series entitled "Art Is Elementary" (ED 158 872) provides teaching strategies and lesson plans for each objective. The subject areas in which the program is intended to be…

The two chapters of this monograph deal with the issue of the existence of a perceptual grammar that influences reading proficiency, particularly initial reading proficiency. The first chapter indicates the importance of studying reading and writing in terms of readers' and writers' knowledge of visuo-spatial processing rules. It discusses…