Offers a brief overview of illiteracy in Europe. Argues that the fact that there is no common European strategy, let alone a policy to combat illiteracy, is the biggest problem with literacy in Europe. (SR)

Discusses the dramatic demographic changes which have profoundly altered the reading programs in many New Zealand schools. Notes that more than a thousand schools and preschools teach bilingually or run immersion programs in a language other than English (such as Maori or Samoan). Suggests that reading is best taught in the language spoken at home…

Notes recipients of the second International Reading Association Literacy Awards (with the first prize going to the Ethiopian Coordinating Committee for the National Literacy Campaign) and presents the comments about the value of literacy work made at the ceremony by UNESCO Director-General Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow. (MKM)

Discusses the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's reading literacy study in Finland. Shows that, although language-minority students are often expected to have lower achievement in school, students from Swedish-speaking homes in Finland scored almost as well as their Finnish-speaking counterparts on extensive…

Provides an overview of literacy and literacy education in Morocco. Sketches the historical context, and then discusses literacy in formal school settings, adult programs, and needed improvements. (SR)

Suggests that books set in Nigeria and written in English provide a means of introducing children in other English-speaking countries to Nigerian cultures. (FL)

Describes the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany, a resource on children's literature from all over the world which makes available to teachers and researchers books, texts, magazines, journals, essays, newsclippings, and special collections as well as a children's lending library of books in 12 languages. (SR)

Discusses methods of reading instruction in Ethiopia where only ten percent of school age children are ever enrolled in schools. (MKM)

In a 1981 interview, a Cuban education advisor talks about the critical role of schools in Cuba's social and economic development. (AEA)

Compares and comments on two recent national surveys of adult literacy standards in the United States and Canada, which move away from reporting the number of literates/illiterates and use levels of literacy proficiency. Notes that different concepts for literacy levels, different types of sampling, and different ways of measuring literacy and…

A series of Danish studies suggests that a great deal of prequestioning before students read may adversely affect students' reading processes. (DD)

Argues that school improvement efforts have not been examined carefully, comprehensibly, sensibly, and sensitively enough. Describes Canada's reform attempts which abandon isolated inservice education efforts, recognize that problems in implementing school reforms need to be addressed, and recognize that the school must be the focal point of…

Offers a view of literacy within the Australian context and traces the progress of two language and curriculum development projects. (AEA)

Identifies the positive uses of cross-national comparative reading (literacy) research. Describes the common problems associated with the interpretation of comparative reading data. (SR)

Documents the differences in language acquisition and school achievement between Finnish- and Swedish-speaking students in Finland's comprehensive school systems. Discusses the need for language maintenance and enrichment measures in both out-of-school and in-school environments. (SR)