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This article shares the views of the members of the World Forum community regarding early childhood education trends around the world. It summarizes trends from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Nepal, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, New Zealand, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya, South Africa, Bolivia, Peru, Mexico, Haiti, and Canada.

This study examined risk factors associated with alcohol use in the past 3 months among young men aged 15-24 in Haiti using data from the 2000 Enquete Mortalite, Morbidite et Utilization des Services. Findings indicate that life-time smoking, multiple sexual partnerships, witnessing inter-parental conflict in childhood, disruption of parental monitoring, and residing in communities with high levels of youth drinking differentiated experimenters from abstainers. Youth out-of-school employment and co-residence with adults who had a history of drunkenness were among risk factors associated with regular alcohol use. The greater was the number of risk factors to which a young man was exposed, the higher were the probabilities of alcohol experimentation and regular use. The findings call for prevention strategies at the family and community levels and for initiatives that focus on sexual and non-sexual individual behaviour change.

We contend that generalizability (G) theory allows the design of psychometric approaches to testing English-language learners (ELLs) that are consistent with current thinking in linguistics. We used G theory to estimate the amount of measurement error due to code (language or dialect). Fourth- and fifth-grade ELLs, native speakers of Haitian-Creole from two speech communities, were given the same set of mathematics items in the standard English and standard Haitian-Creole dialects (Sample 1) or in the standard and local dialects of Haitian-Creole (Samples 2 and 3). The largest measurement error observed was produced by the interaction of student, item, and code. Our results indicate that the reliability and dependability of ELL achievement measures is affected by two facts that operate in combination: Each test item poses a unique set of linguistic challenges and each student has a unique set of linguistic strengths and weaknesses. This sensitivity to language appears to take place at the level of dialect. Also, students from different speech communities within the same broad linguistic group may differ considerably in the number of items needed to obtain dependable measures of their academic achievement. Whether students are tested in English or in their first language, dialect variation needs to be considered if language as a source of measurement error is to be effectively addressed.

This article illustrates how global corporate education initiatives, though profit-motivated, sometimes function both as an instrument of foreign policy and as a manifestation of a broader imperial project. According to neoconservative scholars, as well as their critics, the events of September 11, 2001, allowed the implementation of pre-made plans to radically reshape the United States National Security Strategy to pursue more aggressively and openly global military and economic dominance, and to force any and all nations to submit to a singular set of American values. With the declaration of military response, the United States invaded Afghanistan (in 2001) and then Iraq (in 2003), in part, on the justification that these were fronts in the so-called "War on Terror." Following both invasions, the United States, through the Agency for International Development (USAID), contracted with a private for-profit corporation, Creative Associates International Incorporated (CAII), to lead the rebuilding of education. The role of CAII in remaking education in Central Asia, the Middle East, and around the world on behalf of the United States concerns a number of broader issues about the international involvement of corporations in public education. In one sense CAII represents just one kind of international corporate involvement in schooling: educational development. Yet, the array of for-profit projects that CAII is involved with in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the globe makes it exemplary of a range of global corporate schooling initiatives, including textbook production, curriculum design, remediation services, teacher education programs, and privatization schemes. In this article, the author recounts the history of CAII and discusses its "democracy promotion" projects in Nicaragua, Haiti, and Iraq. (Contains 90 notes.)

This study examined HIV/AIDS knowledge and beliefs in Haitian adolescents in an HIV epicenter, Miami-Dade Florida. This study examined survey data from 300 Haitian adolescents, aged 13 through 18, from both low- and middle-income neighborhoods. A sub-sample of 80 adolescents was selected for in-depth interviews and continuous observations with their families and networks of friends, which added rich descriptions to the quantitative data. Overall knowledge about HIV/AIDS was high with the majority of adolescents identifying unprotected sex and sharing injection drug needles as HIV transmission routes. Moreover, approximately 75% of the adolescents reported condom use as an effective preventive strategy. However, misconceptions that could reduce adolescents' adoption of HIV preventive strategies were also identified. The adolescents' sources for information about HIV/AIDS as well as implications for prevention interventions are discussed. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examined the predictive power of knowledge, attitudes, support for AIDS education, teaching comfort, perceived behavioral control, religious (Vodoun and Christian) beliefs, and subjective norms on Haitian educators' teaching of HIV/AIDS to their students. Two hundred and fourteen teachers from Jeremie and surrounding areas in Haiti completed an anonymous questionnaire that included demographic questions, open-ended questions and eight scales. Four variables (subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, religious beliefs, and participant gender) were found to be significant predictors of HIV/AIDS teaching behavior. A binary logistic regression model was developed and correctly categorized 73% of those who did and did not teach about HIV to their students. Responses to open-ended questions supported and extended findings from the quantitative analyses. (Contains 3 tables.)

In the midst of the violence of the 21st century, many children fear that they or someone they know will lose a relative or friend through terrorism. Professionals in dance movement therapy, dance education, and physical education can help children to overcome their fears in order to feel safe and to build self-esteem. This article examines how several nations use dance education and therapy to help children manage the trauma of violence and loss. Unfortunately, dance programs alone cannot guarantee the end of conflict, but they can act as a catalyst for better understanding for future generations. Much can be learned from dance educators and movement therapists who have, by their own sense of humanity and extensive training, bravely explored the concept of healing for children traumatized by war. Dance movement therapists must fulfill the requirements of higher educational institutions and the standards of the American Dance Therapy Association in order to handle challenges that lie ahead. Well-trained dance and physical educators will continue to play a major role in providing an outlet for expression.

This article sets out to examine the question: how do social science textbooks used in the Dominican public schools portray national identity and ethnicity to its students? This article examines how the popular contemporary Dominican perspective on "blackness" plays a fundamental role in the current Dominican social science public school curriculum. The article begins with an historical overview of race and ethnicity in the Dominican Republic and insight into how the relationship between the Dominican Republic and Haiti has shaped both countries' concept of race, culture and ethnic identity in very different ways. The theoretical paradigm of the project is guided by constructivism and by and critical race theory. The methodological process of data collection and analysis is also outlined. Data sources include: interviews, participant observation, personal experience field notes and document collection. Various illustrations and activities from social science textbooks used in Grades 2, 3 and 5 are the basis for the results section. The results of this investigation are presented in three themes regarding the Domincian perspective of "blackness" and how it is portrayed as a part of national identity and ethnicity. These themes are: (1) blackness represents less desirable social status; (2) blackness can be prevented through generational "blancamiento" (whitening); and (3) blackness is represented by negative and exaggerated stereotypes.

This investigation compared the attitudes of teachers toward integration of students with disabilities in Haiti and the United States. A sample of 152 high school teachers in Haiti and 216 high school teachers in the United States was asked to complete a background questionnaire and the Opinions Relative to the Integration of Students with Disabilities scale (Antonak & Larrivee, 1995). Results showed that teachers in both countries had similar attitudes toward the integration of students with disabilities. Years of experience was individually correlated with attitudes, but it was not a significant predictor when other variables were included in a multiple regression. Three variables predicted attitudes toward integration of students with disabilities. Teachers' attitudes explained the largest variance, followed by advanced degree, and range of effective accommodation of different categories of disabilities.

In 2001, a 3-month course in human rights based on critical inquiry was offered to 8th graders in a slum area of Santo Domingo. The students' attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of human rights principles were measured before and after the course. The curriculum focused on international principles and entrenched local problems such as discrimination against Haitian migrants, police brutality, violence against women and exploitation of child labor in free trade zones. This paper will discuss the field of human rights education, the study's findings about the nature of student response to the course and its impact on student identity, solidarity with victims of human rights abuses and self-confidence as a result of human rights education. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 9 notes.)

The primary focus of this article is a community-based project initiated under the auspices of the Palm Beach County School District's Office of Multicultural Affairs. The students in this district represent 150 countries and 104 language groups. The nation with the highest representation among this population is Haiti. Project CASAS (Community and Schools Accelerating Students) was designed to create a community-based supportive network whose primary focus was to facilitate the adaptation and, ultimately, the academic achievement of recent immigrant students. This article examines the activities of this project over its five year duration, and its impact on the immigrant students. It also addresses as a secondary focus the specific needs and experiences of Haitian students as they emerged within the project work. It highlights the role of the community in the context of immigration and the manner in which the host community can (and should) respond to immigrants. (Contains 2 tables.)

Critiques exceptionalist trends in Creole studies, with frequent references to native Haitian Creole. (Author/VWL)

A survey of 110 Haitians found that most had low literacy levels and limited access to education and political information. Most believed their quality of life was no better since democratic government was instituted and felt that the promise of democracy had not been fulfilled. (Contains 43 references.) (SK)

Reviews the current situations and the potential for bilingual programs in Haiti and Trinidad, bringing out major differences between the language situation in the two. Suggests ways by which bilingual programs may be implemented in Haiti and the ensuing benefits. Shows why bilingual programs are not likely to be implemented in Trinidad, what is being done to alleviate the problems, and how the situation is likely to evolve. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the events of the Haitian Revolution, including the slave rebellion which began on August 22, 1791. Focuses on the efforts of Napoleon to overtake Haiti and the effects of the the slave revolt on the Louisiana Purchase and the U.S. Civil War. Includes an annotated bibliography. (CMK)

Provides an overview of the Haitian educational system. Assesses whether private education is playing an appropriate role in Haiti in terms of providing and promoting quality education. Reviews strategies that could allow the government to use its limited financial resources in a more cost-effective and equitable manner. (CMK)

Discusses the Step by Step Program, funded by the Open Society Institute (OSI) and operated in Eastern and Central Europe, former Soviet states, Haiti, and South Africa. Discusses OSI's belief that educating the youngest members of society in a way that encourages individualism, choice, initiative, and appreciation of differences can lead to a new generation of democratic citizens. (LBT)

Asserts that the Haitian Revolution should be included in the history classroom because it is considered the first successful slave revolt in modern times. Provides information on the Haitian Revolution and addresses its impact on the Western hemisphere and globally. Includes suggestions for classroom discussion. (CMK)

Highlights Auburn University's (Alabama) human-resource and economic-development programs in other countries, including an exchange of agricultural leaders with Germany and Hungary, a faculty exchange program with Haiti, student and faculty agricultural and aquacultural exchanges with China, and a number of programs in other countries. (MSE)

Examines the issue of meaningful education for Creole-speaking students, particularly Haitians, in the context of U.S. bilingual programs. The discussion focuses on the home language, Creole, as it is used in the school system and what the value is attached to it in an attempt to provide these students with effective instruction. (41 references) (Author/CK)