Discusses the importance of parents' helping children to read from birth and notes the most crucial and enjoyable way is reading aloud to children. Presents six basic skills that parents can help new readers to use: getting help from pictures; remembering; sounding out the letters; expecting what comes next; writing; and making sense of content.…

Sample sizes (n=15, 25, 50, 100) were examined (1,000 times each) with replacement from each of 5 data files from teacher subject test areas to compare statistical bias and standard error. Trivial levels of equating bias were present with small samples, and substantial increases in standard errors were found as the sample size decreased. (MAK)

Summarizes the benefits of computerized assessment and provides a review of some practical issues concerning measurement, item and examinee characteristics, hardware, and software. Adequate measures of reliability and validity have been established for many computer-based tests, and the benefits of computer testing have been realized in applied…

Describes a three-year German-language program taught in five elementary schools beginning in grade three. The program develops language proficiency, heightens cultural sensitivity, and integrates language study with core curriculum content. Technological features include German-language video presentations, telephone connections with a…

Describes a teacher research project, designed to motivate 8th-grade Spanish students, that involved creating a unit based on a Zapotec story. Only Spanish was spoken in the classroom. The researcher investigated students' reactions to having Spanish-only lessons focusing on the story. Interviews indicated that students found the class more…

Describes how 7th graders learning Spanish at one New York school corresponded with students in Latin America via the Internet to personalize their language-learning experience. Students researched the chosen countries and exchanged electronic mail in Spanish with Latin American students. Guidelines are presented for replicating such a project.…

The U.S. is participating in an international comparative survey of language education with over 30 other countries. Phase one will examine the teaching of Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and English-as-a-Second-Language, noting the social, political, and educational context of language education. Phase two will test students and collect data…

Presents information on early language learning in Germany, describing reasons why German students need to start learning other languages early in their education, noting appropriate conditions for early language programs, and presenting goals for early foreign-language learning generated by Germany's Children Learn European Languages Association.…

Draws on a survey of 83 community college faculty leaders, such as presidents of academic senates, to identify characteristics of existing campus leaders, and the skills and talents particularly suited to participating in decision-making processes that affect both college operations and policies. (Contains 13 references.) (PGS)

Describes and compares two counseling approaches, Responsive Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. Although they have similarities, Responsive Therapy claims to allow integration of active interventions from a variety of theory bases, while Motivational Interviewing has a cognitive-behavioral base. States that both serve as viable alternatives to…

Recommends that inner city students (and essentially all high school students) be required to take physics. Lists some problems with teaching physics in inner city schools. (WRM)

Argues that educators must ask not only how gender (and race and ethnicity) affects the study abroad experience, including attitudes toward the host country, but also what study abroad programs can do to turn potentially negative experiences for female students into critical learning experiences. (Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of, and suggests the reasons behind, the developments in internationalization of higher education in Europe. The ERASMUS program is examined closely through a discussion of its impact on inter-European exchange. Presents a future trend toward a more coherent plan for European international education.(Author/VWL)

Looks at the federal government's two major forays into education abroad--Fulbright's amendment to the Surplus Property Act in 1946, and the National Security Education Act of 1991. Outlines the historical precedents for federal involvement, and provides an overview of the so-called Fulbright and Boren Acts. (Author/VWL)

Examines the personal distress that interventionists must face when their work requires immersion in a foreign culture. Addresses the issue of burnout and recommends that program development be holistic to meet the needs of the intervention team members.(Author/VWL)