My Life in Libraries

The article is a memoir of the author's career, which she spent primarily at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. As Slavic Bibliographer there, she organized the Slavic Reading Room in the Slavic and East European Library and was the first head of the Slavic Reference Service. She reinvigorated the American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES). She was a founding member and/or was very active in virtually all of the national and international Slavic librarians' organizations. In addition, she served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS). Beyond just Slavic librarianship she established the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois and served as its founding director. She was also a member of George Soros's Network Library Program Board, part of his Open Society initiative.     

Report on Travel to Former Yugoslavia,April 17–May 7, 2008

The author traveled primarily to Sarajevo, Bosnia‐Herzegovina and Skopje, Macedonia. She attended the 4th International Convention of Slavicist Librarians in Sarajevo and visited the Sarajevo Book Fair. In both capitals she met with book vendors and visited bookstores and libraries. She also learned that travel between the successor states is more complicated now than before the breakup of close Yugoslavia.     

Predictors of Global Quality in Family Child Care Homes: Structural and Belief Characteristics

Research Findings: With a substantial number of young children receiving care in family child care settings, an examination of the characteristics, both structural and attitudinal, that predict program quality is warranted. The current study examines gaps in the research by examining both structural characteristics and provider beliefs that influence observed global quality in family child care homes. Results of this study suggest that belief characteristics can predict the quality of family child care homes above and beyond structural characteristics alone. Practice or Policy: Providing support to help all providers understand appropriate developmental expectations for children and how to effectively guide children is critical for quality improvement efforts. In addition, providing support to decrease job stress and improve professional motivation is highlighted.     

Field-Based Evaluation of Two-Tiered Instruction for Enhancing Kindergarten Phonological Awareness

Research Findings: This study reports on the outcomes of a multisite, two-tiered, response-to-intervention instructional model for delivering phonological awareness instruction and intervention to kindergartners. Fifty-seven kindergartners from 3 classrooms participated in a supplemental phonological awareness program, and 56 kindergartners from 3 classrooms received the prevailing school-adopted literacy curriculum. All children in the supplemental condition received supplemental classroom-based phonological awareness instruction in addition to the adopted literacy curriculum. At mid-year, 6 low literacy achievers were identified in each supplemental classroom (n = 18) to participate in an additional 12-week small-group intervention. The classroom-based supplemental curriculum did not produce statistically significant gains for typically achieving children on measures of letter–sound knowledge, word recognition, or developmental spelling. However, an add-on tier of supplemental instruction exerted a substantial advantage for low-achieving children on a measure of developmental spelling. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that a 2-tiered intervention model provides an effective means for improving the literacy outcomes of low-achieving kindergarten children.     

Capacity-Related Innovations Resulting From the Implementation of a Community Collaboration Model for School Improvement

A new genus of district and school improvement models entails partnerships with other organizations and new working relationships with families, community leaders, and youths. The Ohio Community Collaboration Model for School Improvement (OCCMSI) is one such model. It enables partners to leverage family and community resources for learning, healthy development, and overall success in school. This study presents qualitative research findings about the key capacities developed by 6 schools and 6 districts piloting the OCCMSI. Process and product innovations, as well as facilitators and barriers, were tracked as these sites progressed with their implementation efforts. Implications are drawn in relation to how these new and expanded capacities might be prioritized by district and school leaders, consultants, and other professionals involved in partnership-centered models of school improvement.