Expanding upon ideas presented in the report, "Start Early, Finish Strong: How to Help Every Child Become a Reader," this collection highlights projects, proposals, and programs that help all children become good readers. Chapter 1 describes 18 federal initiatives and programs; and chapter 2 presents excerpts from 16 State of the State addresses…

Discusses the networking of educational services for schools, homes, and communities. Highlights include equal access; the development of digital technologies; visions for electronic information services; the public sector; the private sector; creating learning communities; and future possibilities, including funding strategies. (LRW)

Alternative educational goals that have been at the root of educational conflict in the United States are explored: (1) democratic equality; (2) social efficiency; and (3) social mobility. Conflict over these goals, especially the domination of the social mobility goal, has resulted in a contradictory structure that impairs educational efficiency.…

This article describes the cooperation between the Marriott International Worldwide Reservations Center in Santa Ana, California, the Braille Institute of America, and the California State Department of Rehabilitation that has resulted in at least 37 adults with visual impairments being hired as reservations sales associates. (CR)

Chronicles public opinion, politics, and law and policy on privacy and confidentiality and their consequences for access by the social research community to government administrative and statistical records. Discusses the political environment, the decennial census long form, media coverage, and fears about the accumulation of personal information…

Reviews recent trends in scholarly micropublishing and preservation microfilming and discusses prospects for the rest of the twentieth century. Areas discussed include the impact of economics and government policies, recent changes in the scholarly micropublishing industry, recent developments in bibliographic control, the national preservation…

Examines behavioral differences between for-profit (FP) and not-for-profit (NFP) nursing homes. Uses a simultaneous equation model to control for potential endogeneity among system variables, with model parameters estimated using 3SLS. Provides evidence that NFPs provide significantly higher quality care to Medicaid beneficiaries and to self-pay…

Outsourcing has been proposed as a method for improving effectiveness and productivity in Australian public library service. Developments, drawbacks, and potentials are discussed, and differences between contracting out whole services as opposed to selected activities are examined. (AEF)

School leaders cannot afford to be bystanders in the campaign to rewrite telecommunications laws and regulations for building the National Information Superhighway. Proposes a coalition representing all public schools to demand recognition in the development of telecommunications policy. (MLF)

Discusses findings of PUBLAW2, a European Commission follow-up study on the impact of its "Guidelines for Improving the Synergy between the Public and Private Sectors in the Information Market." Highlights include the study context; the impact of the guidelines; and issues of privacy and data protection, copyright and ownership,…

Discusses principles developed at the 1994 NIT (International Conference on New Information Technology) in Alexandria (Virginia) that focused on the global information infrastructure. Topics include educating and training users, responsibilities and education of information professionals, the role of national agencies, public and private sector…

Discusses three major consumer online services--America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy. Topics include: Internet and Web browsers, alliances with cable and telephone companies, competition from Microsoft and other companies, and CD-ROM technology. A sidebar includes an interview with CompuServe's Barry F. Berkov. (JKP)

A survey of 4,259 Baruch College alumni received 1,995 responses indicating that significantly more African-American business majors worked in the public sector. Best predictor of employment sector for whites was college major. African Americans who rated curricular guidance favorably and had no job offer at graduation were more likely to work in…

Discusses the role of information technology in libraries and suggests that more questions need to be asked about its proper role. Topics discussed include the relationship of technological advances to social progress; private versus public sector control; changing values of librarianship; social and political implications; and access to…

Rejecting the voucher concept for promoting unequal education, this article endorses the "public/private partnership" model of reinvented school governance. Under this system, teachers and administrators remain public employees but are managed by a private company. Jay P. Goldman's sidebar criticizes privatization schemes as unworkable…