Foreword | By Request...December 2002 |

This booklet is one in a series of "hot topics" reports produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These reports briefly address current educational concerns and issues as indicated by requests for information that come to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond. Each booklet contains a discussion of research and literature pertinent to the issue, a sampling of how Northwest schools and programs are addressing the issue, selected resources, and contact information. One objective of the series is to foster a sense of community and connection among educators. Another is to increase awareness of current education-related themes and concerns. Each booklet gives practitioners a glimpse of how fellow educators from around the Northwest are addressing issues, overcoming obstacles, and attaining success. The goal of the series is to give educators current, reliable, and useful information on topics that are important to them. Information for this booklet was collected from the Educational Resource and Information Center (ERIC) databases, the Educational Research Service (ERS), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and peer-reviewed educational research journals, as well as from Northwest educators themselves. Every effort has been made to cite the most recent, relevant, and reliable sources on the issue at hand.