Ensuring Content‐Area Learning by Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities

Three factors tied with secondary student success in content‐area reading are demonstrated: (a) validated teacher‐focused and student‐focused interventions, (b) integrated and comprehensive service delivery systems, and (c) well‐designed, data‐based professional developmental programs. Difficult challenges face secondary students with LD and their teachers with regard to these students’ participation and success in required general education classes. Recently, instructional methods and materials have been developed and validated for promoting these students’ success. Some of them focus on how general education teachers plan and teach their content‐area courses; others focus on giving students the strategies they need to respond independently to the demands of their courses. This article describes these instructional methods, a service‐delivery model for implementing these interventions in secondary schools, and professional‐development mechanisms and administrative support that must be in place for the model to be maintained effectively.     

Reprographic rights in Singapore: the story of CLASS

The Copyright Licensing and Administration Society of Singapore was established in 1999. It is now profitable and commercially significant, perhaps uniquely so in Asia. Critical factors in its growth have included a statutory (non‐voluntary) photocopying licence provision for educational institutions in the Copyright Act; and widespread support from the local and international communities of rightsholders. Tentative consensus has been established with educators over a fair level of remuneration for copying. Further work needs to be done to extend or amend the current model for electronic copying, for the private sector and for other countries in the region.     

Icelandic: A Lesser-Used Language in the Global Community

A small nation in the middle of the North Atlantic, Iceland currently has a population of 265,000 (1996). The Iceland language has changed very little since the island was settled some 11 centuries ago. Despite the relatively small number of people who speak the language and irrespective of the globalisation efforts by the international community, which includes the ever-increasing influence of English worldwide, the Icelandic language and culture are stronger than ever. The current volume and variety of publications of Icelandic works in all areas have never been as great. Icelandic is a living and growing language. Growth in vocabulary, in response to recent phenomena like the introduction of new technology, has primarily come about with the development of new words from the language's roots. The near absence of Latin, Greek and, more recently, English or Danish words in Icelandic, is striking. Iceland's language policy is not only a governmental policy. It is a policy that comes from the grassroots with the government and official institutions viewing their job as one of service to the people of Iceland. Icelanders are very proud of their language and are extremely determined to continually develop and preserve it for future generations.     

OPINION RESEARCH, LIBERALISM AND THE FRENCH RIGHT

During the rewriting of its program in the early 1980s, theRassemblement pour la République (RPR) carried out anumber of opinion surveys. The person in charge of this wasnot a member of the inner leadership circle; he warned the partyleader, Jacques Chirac, that themes forming a coherent ‘liberal’program for the transformation of the relationship between citizens,state, and the economy, were not popular with public opinion,which remained attached to progressive taxation and a comprehensivesocial welfare system. The party leadership ignored these warnings.Rather than attempting to align their policies with voter aspirations,their principal use of political communications techniques aimedat improving their leader's image. The person in charge of thiswork was a stranger to politics whose understanding of the waycultural or political attitudes are changed led him to interpretvery fatalistically the chances of influencing election outcomesby communications techniques. His methods were treated withfrank skepticism by party communications colleagues, his client'spersonality was particularly unamenable to his efforts, andhis one successful initiative—the rejuvenation of theexecutive committee—was operated at the cost of a rowin the party. In the case of the RPR, opinion research seemsto have played no role at all in an important party policy review,the causes of which should be sought elsewhere.