Amidst the poverty of the Algarve region, an area being depopulated, Project Radial focuses on child development, parent education, the establishment of children's centers and craftwork centers, and the building and empowerment of communities. (SK)

The early 1970s approach to curriculum reform in Hungary under Communism resulted in textbook uniformity (i.e., censorship). Since the mid-1980s, the drive toward a national core curriculum is being opposed by those who are against compulsory subjects, those who want an examination system, and those who want a more conservative approach. (SK)

The model of performance indicators for educational assessment in Portugal includes context; physical, human, technological, and financial resources; functions; and results. Indicators need to partake of the information systems in schools whereby teachers and administrators gain a better understanding of their own processes and planning…

Educational assessment in France is characterized by three current themes: (1) national standards and testing of student achievement; (2) mechanisms for promoting institutional quality control; and (3) development of curriculum-integrated approaches to assessment. (SK)

Although educational reform in Britain in the past decade emphasized market forces and self-interest, its success may depend upon school governors being altruistic and educational administrators committed to the value of community participation in schools. (SK)

Free but compulsory state education systems may be untenable. Contradictions appear between education in newly democratized eastern Europe and in Britain, where the government advocates free market but centralizes control of curriculum and instruction. Other contradictions lie between state education as social control and consumer choice. (SK)

Uses international examples of the ways in which political learning takes place--indoctrination, political socialization, and political education--to suggest that open and democratic political education is not common, even in democracies. (SK)

Evaluation of reading performance is influenced by perceptions of what constitutes reading. Both product (testing of discrete thinking skills) and process (metacomprehension) information is needed to understand and improve reading comprehension. (SK)

Interviews with 160 experienced and less-experienced teachers in northern England at a time of upheaval in the British school system documented (1) the destruction of experienced teachers' career timetables, their disillusionment, and motivational crises; and (2) the highly motivated career building of beginning teachers. (SK)

Time allocated for instruction and time in which students are engaged in academic tasks can vary. Research findings show that teachers' management of time markedly affects student learning, particularly in regard to what is produced during engaged time. (SK)

Interviews with 6 junior high school teachers in Israel (3 novices and 3 who had 4-19 years of experience) yielded the following contexts for professional dilemmas: transition from student to teacher for novices; classroom concerns such as autonomy, curriculum planning, and ethical issues for both groups; and gaps between ideology and reality in…

Two sets of secondary students (n=26) were interviewed about attitudes toward writing after using laptop word processors. Handwriting remained popular and quicker for most writing tasks; neither planning nor constructive reflection on language were enhanced; typing speeds remained very slow; and the connotations of "writing" were beginning to…

Research shows that young children are able to draw simple maps of their neighborhoods and to recognize features on aerial photographs. Among younger children there is little difference between the mapping ability of boys and girls, but as they grow older, boys consistently perform better in map drawing and map reading. (Author/SK)

Interprets the development toward greater and less regulation in U.S. educational reform movements in the context of state power. Reviews core and ancillary reform strategies and reflects on reform as the decline of an organizational consensus. (SK)

Explains the evolving transformation of school systems into engines of economic development, summarizes the conventional orientation of educational evaluation, assesses the impact of the human capital imperative on expectations for evaluation, and proposes a new model for national educational appraisal. (SK)