Early literacy and home visiting during the reception year: supporting ‘difficult to reach’ families

Intervening early when young children experience difficulties with literacy has been highlighted strongly in recent international research, particularly for children from families who live in areas marked by poverty. This study, based in two schools, was designed to support four children judged to be most at risk of struggling with literacy through the provision of weekly home visits (and some extra support in class) during their first year at school. The evidence that the children benefited from this form of intervention is discussed, and it is suggested that the home visiting intervention framework adopted in this study is useful for helping ‘difficult to reach’ families.     

THE MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF THE MIDDLESEX POLYTECHNIC DIP H.E. PROGRAMME

Monitoring and evaluation of a complex course is based on data acquired formally from normal administrative records; from research, sometimes in the form of students' projects; from staff and student questionnaires. Informally, regular tutor‐group meetings and a receptive attiude on the part of staff to student opinion are crucial. Once appropriate questions have been asked, it is then possible to ensure a flow of Information which can affect not only the day‐to‐day operation of the course but also its strategic planning.     

Human Resource Development in East Asia: A Comparative Analysis

Eight examples of East Asian economics/societies/educational systems are examined so that common assumptions about links between investment in human resource development and rapid economic growth may be questioned, and so that the role of formal education in enabling, causing, or shaping economic development may be clarified. The role of education is considered at its interface with events and attitudes in the economic, social, and political domains, during the post-World War II period. Particular attention is paid to the three basic levels of education, to the status of technical/vocational education, and to the nature of the curriculum, in each of these societies.

Basing their thinking on key indicators, not only of economic growth, but also of structural changes and development, as well as on data from country-specific chapters in a recent research publication, the authors cite evidence to cast doubt on the idea of a single East Asian model. They conclude that the differences between and within the eight societies are at least as significant as the commonalities, that their data and findings have more implications for economic than for educational policy, and that it would be dangerous to assume that economic growth and development are likely to be constants.