Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

The number of overweight and obese children and adolescents has reached epidemic proportions, and recent federal surveys show that most school meals do not meet federal nutrition guidelines. Accordingly, there is growing interest in the nutritional quality of foods available in U.S. schools--and in the role of the government in helping to make…

A project was conducted to assist chief state school officers by assessing the effectiveness of government programs involving the dissemination of new knowledge in the field of education. Project results showed that dissemination programs developed by the National Institute of Education (NIE) and other federal departments substantially increased…

Accuracy in the scoring of writing is critical if standardized tasks are to be used in a national assessment scheme. Three approaches to establishing accuracy (i.e., consensus, consistency, and measurement) exist and commonly large-scale assessment programs of primary school writing demonstrate adjacent agreement consensus rates of between 80% and…

To support a comprehensive look at the problem of increasing minority student achievement in the Montgomery County Schools (Maryland), this report reviews the literature to identify factors affecting minority achievement and to learn from 20 years of programs aimed at low achievers. Section I describes three types of intervention programs: (1)…

The documents enclosed in this report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale. There is a logic to the studies that were done and to the reports that are included in this notebook. The following are the…

Although young people across the United States have suffered disproportionately in the recent recession, the economic and social effects of high levels of youth unemployment have received only scant media and political attention and few state or federal dollars. Analyses of successful youth and young adult programs identified seven core principles…

This volume is the first in a new series of comparative studies carried out by EURYDICE (Education Information Network in the European Community) and is intended to provide in-depth analyses of specific issues of major interest for political decisionmakers and educational cooperation at the European level. The volume is organized into three…

This Congressional report contains the remarks made at a special meeting of the United States Committee on Aging to celebrate senior citizen's service to their community and examine policies regarding federally funded senior service programs. The following are among the programs, agencies, and organizations represented: Senior Companion Program;…

Parents' Fair Share (PFS) was a national demonstration program to help low-income noncustodial parents find more stable and better-paying jobs, pay child support consistently, and become more involved parents. PFS provided the following services: employment and training services; peer support groups; voluntary mediation between parents; and…

The value of the output and services produced by students while enrolled in the Job Corps was estimated by analyzing data from a sample of 2 projects from each of 23 Job Corps centers. The projects were subjected to in-depth analysis based on independent-estimate and relative-productivity approaches. The following were among the key findings: (1)…

The National Job Corps Study was undertaken to obtain the information needed to assess the Job Corps' success in providing employment assistance to disadvantaged youths aged 16 to 24 years. The study's findings related to outreach and admissions (OA) and center characteristics and practices that appear to promote positive programmatic experiences…

This document contains the first two volumes of a three-volume annual national report on Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system. Volume 1, which constitutes approximately 30% of the document, details progress in achieving the following national priorities: (1) a quality national training system that provides value for money…