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According to federal survey data, there are 4.5 million English-language learners (ELLs) enrolled in U.S. public schools (preK?12), nearly one-third more than in 1997?98. Given this fast-growing number of linguistically and culturally diverse children, principals are dealt an increasingly urgent responsibility: to lead their schools in helping all students succeed academically. The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires educators to raise not just the overall achievement of their students, but that of all major student subgroups. Are the nation?s school principals ready to rise to this challenge? What must administrators do to improve the academic achievement of young language-minority students and fulfill the requirements of NCLB?

This teaching guide accompanies 10 half-hour television programs designed to improve the self-esteem of Franco-American children, 9-13 years of age. Each episode explores a specific area of contemporary Franco-American life in a northeastern mill town. The characters discover that their ethnic heritage and identity are often in conflict with life in America of the 1970s and 1980s. By working to resolve these conflicts, the characters discover the richness and validity of their Franco-American culture. The ambiance is bilingual and bicultural. The following materials are included for each program: (1) the learning objectives; (2) a summary; (3) notes on cultural or historical background; (4) questions for classroom discussion; (5) suggested follow-up activities; and (6) a list of teacher resource materials. Brief descriptions of the seven main characters are also included. (FMW)

The goal of Vegetable Soup, a television series for children, is to help counter the negative, destructive effects of racial prejudice and racial isolation and to reinforce and dramatize the positive, life enhancing value of human diversity in entertaining and affective presentations that children can understand and relate to. This teaching guide provides teachers with a description of the contents of various segments of the show and indicates the relationship of these segments to the overall theme of the show. Each segment is composed of three parts. The purpose of each segment is given to state the intent as perceived by the series designers and television writers, the synopsis is a brief overview of each segment containing details of the major events of each episode within the segment and the names of the main characters, and the ideas for discussion following each segment contains questions designed with the hope of promoting classroom discussion and thinking. Among the segments presented are the following: outerscope, real people, make a new friend, people's jobs, heroes, the superlative horse, story telling time, children's poetry and art, holidays, children's questions and activities. Vegetable Soup uses an interdisciplinary approach to entertain and educate elementary age children in the value of human diversity. The show offers teachers a unique opportunity to further develop children's skills in the areas of language arts, social studies, and career education. (Author/AM)

This manual focuses on the start-up and operation of low-cost transportation in rural areas. A principal focus is the use of volunteers and/or the consolidation of rides through a brokerage program. Chapter One provides an overview of what financial and operating decisions must be made to design a volunteer system. Chapter Two describes easy methods for determining need for service and discusses needs assessment and demand estimation relative to the issues of passenger willingness to pay. Chapter Three addresses the service levels to be offered by a program and offers suggestions on formulas for estimating cash and other resource costs of service level choice. Chapter Four considers choices about organization and reviews the costs of starting a low-cost system based upon surveys completed by Syracuse University (New York). Chapter Five outlines budgeting for day-to-day operations. Chapter Six examines the sources of volunteers and financial support to sustain low-cost systems. Chapter Seven reviews the five most frequently asked questions about financing and sustaining volunteer systems. An appendix profiles 20 case study programs in 12 states, describing service areas, numbers of vehicles and volunteers, budgets, type of service, and sources of cash. An annotated bibliography cites 58 references. (NEC)

Intended for teachers and teacher-librarians in primary and secondary schools in South Australia, this booklet offers guidelines for organizing a literature festival. The booklet presents information in response to such questions as, What is a literature festival? How big does it have to be? What time is involved? Why have a literature festival? Who will communicate decisions? and When will the festival be held? The booklet concludes with a section showing how to resolve questions already raised, a random list of things that might happen, and a list of additional resources. (EL)