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Kunskapsskolan is a chain of independent secondary schools which functions as a comprehensive platform for personalised education, known as the Kunskapsskolan programme (KED). What is special about this programme is that students set their own objectives, work independently and are assessed against their personal academic goals. Kunskapsskolan is a unique programme in that every step and element of learning is defined--from teachers' roles to IT and architecture--in order to facilitate personalised learning. This programme is operated in Kunskapsskolan's 33 secondary and upper secondary schools in Sweden and in 2 secondary schools in United Kingdom. The first US school will open this year in New York. KED schools personalise students' education through a combination of goal setting, weekly coaching, personalised scheduling and timing and a unique curriculum maintained on the web-based Learning Portal. Students study according to different lesson formats, ranging from lectures and workshops to seminars and laboratories, depending on tasks and needs. Parents, students and teachers/coaches meet at the start of every term to decide on each student's individual educational plan and long-term goal. Students then have weekly meetings with their coach to discuss their goals, schedule, and whether they have met the goals set in previous meetings. Over time, students develop personal responsibility for, and ownership of, what they learn.

In recent studies from Sweden and the United States, a high vitamin A intake has been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and increased fracture risk. In Sweden and the United States, food items such as milk and breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin A, whereas in Denmark there is no mandatory fortification with vitamin A. In the present study, we investigated relations between vitamin A intake and BMD and fracture risk in a Danish population consuming mostly unfortified food items. Within a population-based cohort study in 2,016 perimenopausal women, associations between BMD and vitamin A intake were assessed at baseline and after 5-year follow-up. Moreover, associations between baseline vitamin A intake and 5-year changes in BMD were studied. Finally, fracture risk was assessed in relation to vitamin A intake. In our cohort, dietary retinol intake (0.53 mg/day) was lower than the intake reported in recent studies form Sweden (0.78 mg/day) and the United States (1.66 mg/day). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses showed no associations between intake of vitamin A and BMD of the femoral neck or lumbar spine. Neither did BMD differ between those 5% who had the highest, and those 5% who had the lowest, vitamin A intake. During the 5-year study period, 163 subjects sustained a fracture (cases). Compared to 978 controls, logistic regression analyses revealed no difference in vitamin A intake. Thus, in a Danish population, average vitamin A intake is lower than in Sweden and the United States and not associated with detrimental effects on bone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]