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Despite emerging evidence of the contributors to high-quality family day care, a comprehensive comparison of international family day care systems has not been undertaken. The aim of this paper is to compare regulated family day care (FDC) in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, and the USA, using standard information about FDC usage and each country's structural characteristics, regulatory approach, quality assurance indicators, supervision and support, and sector challenges. A template was developed by representatives of the International Family Day Care Organisation, including academics, FDC providers, and FDC educators and management staff. The paper demonstrates that, although the existing body of published research is sufficient to provide clear guidance for developing and maintaining quality FDC, this knowledge is not always being applied in current practices. Three practices, each pertaining to several countries, are of concern: (a) minimal requirements for being a regulated FDC provider, (b) minimal quality assurance guidelines, and (c) minimal provider supports. There is great potential to learn from countries that have a high level of success in providing high-quality FDC and strong support for providers and families. (Contains 6 tables.)

This paper examines the complex constellation of conditions that turn many young people into "exiles" from schooling. From the vantage point of young people, the paper traces out a profile of the conditions that need to be brought into existence for these young people to find a way back into learning. The paper argues that current educational policies are deeply hostile to young people in the ways they position them as "silent witnesses" and exclude them from having a voice in the important decisions about what they learn, how, with whom, and with what effects. In contrast, the paper explores six alternative programmes in Australia, warehoused from within the same systems that "damaged" these young people. Paradoxically these programmes are seen as providing these damaged young people with the spaces in which they can become powerful "active agents" in re-forming an educational identity for themselves. Where these alternatives depart from the damaging policy regime is in the highly context-sensitive way they enable young learners and local policy advocates who work with them, to effectively contest exclusionary and undemocratic neoliberal policies.

A common theme in the literature on care-giving is the issue of "hidden" carers, that is, people who undertake caring roles and responsibilities, yet do not identify themselves as carers. One reason people do not recognise themselves as carers relates to the nature of the caring relationship. When providing care for a family member, intra-familial bonds of love and reciprocity do not encourage parties to view the relationship as anything other than a "normal" familial relationship. The lack of self-identification amongst young carers is complicated further by societal norms surrounding care-giving. Whereas adults are expected to provide care to other adults and children, young people are not expected to be care-givers but rather care recipients. As a result, many young carers remain "hidden" and beyond the reach of services and supports designed to help them in their caring role. This paper draws on qualitative research with young carers and service providers to explore the issue of self-identification amongst young carers. The paper concludes with recommendations for identifying and supporting hidden young carers. (Contains 6 notes.)

Sometimes an educational idea is inexplicably adopted around the world with remarkable speed and consistency and in the absence of a proper evidence base or with little regard or respect for teachers, students or learning. This paper examines what has arguably been the most contentious and virulent educational reform of the past half-century. Variously labelled, in what amounts to the self-managing school, what this reform has done is virtually dismantle public education and privatise it without public debate or proper scrutiny. This paper considers the alleged claims by the enthusiastic proponents and examines what has subsequently transpired, particularly in respect of the most disadvantaged students and the broader mission of improved learning. (Contains 1 figure and 95 footnotes.)

Collaboration and the appreciation for multiple perspectives have become increasingly important. The current political and economic condition in the United States and globally has exemplified the urgency for people of many different backgrounds and ideologies to work together to find solutions to world problems such as climate change and economic recession. The English language arts classroom lends itself to teaching collaborative skills through fostering meaningful discussion and encouraging group authorship, group inquiry, and cooperative problem solving. Today's students need not only to be able to understand and interpret what they read, but they also need to be able to create and negotiate meaning and realize that different backgrounds, cultures, orientations, and experiences shape their interpretations. Literature can be used as a springboard to help students develop all these collaborative and interpretive skills. In this article, the authors suggest a variety of creative group activities to engage students in literature that explores several geographic areas of the United States. Advice for managing the group activities and lists of short stories are provided. (Contains 3 figures.)

As public schools in countries like the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand continue to suffer from the damaging effects of poorly conceptualized educational reforms, educators struggle to come up with alternatives with which to reclaim schools. While acknowledging the situational, contextual and temporal differences between these countries, this paper presents a rationale for reinserting the relational work of schools at the centre of a teacher development-led form of recovery. The central claim advanced herein is that teacher development in schools must have a central and demonstrable concern with the primacy of relationships in teaching and learning. Schools and teachers have the collective capacity to reclaim the ground that has been severely eroded by managerialist and marketizing agenda that have been allowed to intrude on schools and subjugate the importance of relational forms of knowing. Placing students at the centre is crucial to creating the direction necessary for re-establishing the relational complexity of schools. (Contains 1 figure and 2 notes.)

Discussions of socioeconomic liability and compensation must necessarily start from an understanding of the socioeconomic, legal, and scientific basis for identifying, assessing, managing, and apportioning blame for hazards related to innovations. Public discussions about the nature of the liability challenge related to genetically modified (GM) crops and other modified organisms have focused less on direct, traditional health, public safety, technical, or environmental failures (e.g., innovations that generate hazards directly for users or indirectly to bystanders) and more on socioeconomic concerns, such as comingled product that offends product quality standards. This article examines the theoretical and legal underpinnings of the current risk analysis framework used in most Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and uses it to assess two areas of significant controversy--the release of herbicide-tolerant canola and flax varieties in Western Canada. The article offers lessons for the management of liabilities arising from the introduction of GM crops. (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 6 notes.)

The article discusses the U.S. government's efforts to counter terrorism in the international arena that started with the military campaign against al-Qaeda following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Citizen scientists have the potential to play a crucial role in the study of rapidly changing lady beetle (Coccinellidae) populations. We used data derived from three coccinellid-focused citizen-science programs to examine the costs and benefits of data collection from direct citizen-science (data used without verification) and verified citizen-science (observations verified by trained experts) programs. Data collated through direct citizen science overestimated species richness and diversity values in comparison to verified data, thereby influencing interpretation. The use of citizen scientists to collect data also influenced research costs; our analysis shows that verified citizen science was more cost effective than traditional science (in terms of data gathered per dollar). The ability to collect a greater number of samples through direct citizen science may compensate for reduced accuracy, depending on the type of data collected and the type(s) and extent of errors committed by volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with incarcerated parents are among the most at-risk populations in the United States. The recent trend toward mass incarceration in the United States, especially of women, has harmful implications for children because often their primary caregiver becomes incarcerated. Research indicates that children with incarcerated mothers are at heightened risk for attachment disturbance, leading to depression, anxiety, and other traumarelated stress. Such children are often subject to frequent changing of caregivers within the foster care system, which exacerbates these problems. Child welfare legislation is becoming more sensitive to the needs of children of incarcerated parents, but less reliance on prisons and more alternatives to incarceration are needed in order to mitigate the harmful impact of maternal incarceration on children. This review will focus on the following: (1) a history of the mass incarceration of women; (2) emotional, psychological, and social risk factors for the children of incarcerated women; (3) the intended and unintended repercussions of child welfare legislation; and (4) a case study of an alternative to incarceration program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the legal aspects of the border search doctrine in the U.S. It discusses the decisions of the District Court and the Ninth Circuit in a lap top border search case cited within the journal. It explores the legal ramifications of the Ninth Circuit's decision in light of the principles articulated in the recent cases dealing with sense-enhancing technologies.

In this article we describe how the Bush administration has used deceptive techniques and subterfuge to force its ideology upon the American people. We provide examples of similar techniques used to manipulate public opinion and national policy in three broad areas: national defense, science, and education. Our example from national defense policy, as one might guess, relates to the centerpiece of the Bush Administration, the Iraq War, and in particular the gathering and presenting of "evidence" on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in order to gather public support for the war. The build up to the war provides examples of fabricated evidence, dire warnings, and manipulation of U. S. intelligence agencies, all orchestrated by the White House. The breadth of deception and manipulation of science by the Bush Administration is quite amazing, cutting across policy on endangered species, climate change, reproductive health, stem cell research, dietary science, and environmental pollution. This is a story of suppressing and tampering with scientific findings, intimidating scientists, manipulating the membership of scientific committees, and allowing representatives of industry and social conservative groups to write Administration policies or legislative proposals. We go on to show how many of the same techniques used by the Bush Administration in the build up to the Iraq War and in science have been adapted to control education in the U. S. under the guise of "evidence-based educational reform." We document Administration efforts to "scrub" educational documents to delete content that does not agree with the Administration's ideology, promote private management and private schools at the expense of public schools, and force schools to adopt commercial curricula favored by the Administration. Bush's attempts to control public education are explained by his allegiance to two major constituencies, social conservatives and the corporate sector, and his commitment to what we refer to as neoconservative federalism. We show how these three factors merge as the underlying basis of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and an array of other Administration efforts to control education. In a discussion focused on addressing the abuse of education by the Bush Administration, we suggest questions to critique the Administration's "evidence-based" initiatives. We argue that the evidence-based approach is a gross oversimplification and misrepresentation of educational research and authentic educational reform. Finally, we agree with Lather (2003) that the evidence-based approach and other deceptive practices of the Bush administration are part of an effort to take control of public education, and we argue for theory-based research as a vehicle for challenging the evidence-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the importance of prison research on health related conditions of prison inmates in the United States. Its purpose is to offer a pragmatic overview of investigator, regulatory, and ethical considerations to facilitate critically needed research with vulnerable prison populations. Since high rates of neurological, psychiatric, and other health-related issues exist, prison research is critical to identify the most effective interventions for rehabilitation, health promotion, and crime prevention.

Discusses the impact on groundwater by manure storage in deep ground pits. Groundwater quality at two hog finishing facilities in Illinois that use deep-pit systems for manure storage; Detection of fecal streptococcus bacteria in groundwater from all monitoring wells at both sites; Threat to human health if the ground water is used for drinking.