This guide offers educators, program managers, administrators, and researchers a resource for building capacity for monitoring program outcomes. It provides concise definitions of program monitoring components and a framework for assessing program progress. Examples demonstrate the relationships among program components: outcomes, indicators,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of curricular-based interventions housed within first-year success courses on alcohol expectancies and high-risk drinking behaviors. Specifically, we longitudinally assessed 173 students enrolled in one of ten first-year success courses, including five that received the alcohol intervention and…

Describes one school district's approach to improving student achievement on standardized tests. Increased scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test have not been the only positive result of this systemwide effort. Students and parents, for example, have become more conscientious about their course seletions. (CJH)

A study was conducted to determine whether participation in a test-taking strategy seminar significantly decreased test anxiety in first-year nursing students. The study also sought to compare nursing test scores of first-year nursing students who participated in the seminar with those who did not. The sample consisted of 30 first-year nursing…

A study assessed the effectiveness of medical resident training programs during 1983-88 by evaluating students' certification scores and comparing them to the program's evaluation of students' clinical competence. Results are reported and analyzed for top-rated, university-affiliated, and non-university-affiliated programs, focusing on trends over…

Reviews several currently available test preparation options and discusses some recent studies on the effects of these methods of preparing for the Scholastic Aptitude Test. While special test preparation may not dramatically affect scores, some methods can improve students' confidence and familiarity with procedures. (JAC)

This report describes two studies, one comparing Florida students' performance to national norms on the General Educational Development (GED) tests, the other comparing performance on the GED tests and the Florida State Student Assessment Test, Part II (SSAT-II). In the first study, a representative sample of 1,200 high school seniors completed…

This report examines the impact of the Chapter 1 Extended-School-Day On-Campus and Off-Campus programs on the academic achievement of students served during the 1988-89 school year in Houston (Texas). Both programs provided supplemental instruction in reading/language arts, mathematics, and English as a Second Language after the regular school…

The evaluation of the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools' Summer Program focused on academic achievement of its students, grades K-8, who participated in 1985. Courses included arts and crafts as well as basic and remedial instruction in reading, mathematics, and language. The achievement gains of summer school students were compared to the whole…

STRIVE was a special instructional program which provided a nurturing, caring, intensive instructional milieu for over-aged, low-performing ninth graders, who were perceived to be at risk of dropping out of school, at Barbara Jordan High School for Careers in Houston (Texas) during the 1988-89 school year. This report evaluates the effectiveness…

Sophisticated database management systems (DBMS) for microcomputers are becoming increasingly easy to use, allowing small school districts to develop their own autonomous databases for tracking enrollment and student progress in special education. DBMS applications can be designed for maintenance by district personnel with little technical…

Evaluation of a French and Spanish second language program in grades four through seven of a rural school system has begun with a formative evaluation for the first three years and will conclude with a one-year summative evaluation. The research questions focus on four concerns: (1) school personnel and parent perceptions of the program during its…

The REACH-6 program was a concerted effort by the Houston (Texas) school district to revamp the instructional quality in six of its elementary schools, with the primary purpose of improving the schools' student academic performance. This report describes the academic performance of the students in the REACH-6 program on the TEAMS and MAT-6 tests…

The annual review and evaluation of the Arizona Migrant Child Education Program (1982-83) includes an overview of Arizona's migrant student population; program needs, objectives, and scope; evaluation of migrant student progress; responses to earlier recommendations; and recommendations for the coming year. During the year, the Program served…

Implementation of the High Schools That Work (HSTW) key practices improved achievement for career-bound students in these four ways: (1) HSTW sites showed significant improvement in average reading and math scores; (2) the percentage of career- bound students meeting HSTW performance goals in 1994 and 1996 increased from 33% to 43% in reading and…