This book offers a roadmap for developing, growing, and sustaining living-learning communities (LLCs) that promote student success and enhance the undergraduate experience. Drawing on the Best Practices Model presented in "Living-Learning Communities That Work," as well as updated research and rich, real-life examples from LLC…

Some practitioners wonder why all the right program components can be in place and yet still not meet program goals. A program evaluation is a critical tool for assessing whether a program is working or not and why. This is the third in a series of six practitioner training modules developed as part of the Career & Technical Education (CTE)…

In education, practitioners are increasingly looking for strategies to bring data and evidence into decisionmaking and to roll out programs in intentional ways that allow for ongoing improvement. This toolkit acts as a guide to improvement strategies for teams of practitioners at colleges, providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to…

Students learn best when they are in environments in which they feel safe, supported, challenged, and accepted. In addition, environments that have strong school climates foster the social, emotional, and academic well-being of all students. Research shows that when schools and districts effectively focus on improving school climate, students are…

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines key action steps that instructional staff--including teachers, paraprofessionals, and others in the classroom who provide instruction or assistance--can take to support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided…

Improving school climate takes time and commitment from a variety of people in a variety of roles. This document outlines how family members--including guardians of students--can support school climate improvements. Key action steps are provided for the following strategies: (1) Participate in planning for school climate improvements; (2) Engage…

It is the purpose of this manual to present suggested steps and procedures for use by individual onsite evaluators or by the Utah State Office of Education or any other similar agency charged with responsibility for arranging or conducting onsite evaluations. Although many of the examples used in this manual are drawn from materials developed in…

Four kinds of measures of excellence are currently used in evaluating vocational education: components and process, occupational impact, equity, and individual student development. None of them displays the kind of precision that characterizes measures in the physical sciences. Furthermore, the nature of the enterprise to which these measures must…

Evaluation, defined as "the systematic collection and analysis of information to aid in decision-making and program planning," must include special considerations when applied to computer-oriented programs. Presents a three-tier classification system for computer programs based on their stage of development and evaluation issues crucial to each…

School-based planning for instructional improvement has been a major national education reform focus for over 2 decades. However, many efforts proposed to put schools in charge of their own instructional operations delivered only increased discretion rather than real autonomy over internal operations, such as budgeting. In 1997, New York City…

This book addresses the domain of Measurement and Evaluation, 1 of 21 domains of knowledge and skill deemed necessary for the principalship by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. The purpose of this book is to help principals and others who assume leadership roles in schools to understand the importance of measurement and…

Assessment can assist key steps in the development of effective school improvement planning (SIP) programs. The article refers to an SIP Action Guide, highlighting four occasions during use of the Action Guide when assessment processes are key (assessment within action plans and assessment to identify strengths, concerns, and possible causes). (SM)

By giving grants to creative teachers, establishing teacher networks, and helping teachers to help their peers, IMPACT II simultaneously nurtures innovation and teachers' professional commitment. (Author)

One mandate of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 is that students develop a writing portfolio. The Kentucky Department of Education and AEL, Inc., collaborated to help schools discern areas for improvement in their writing programs, then developed a needs assessment process instrument, the School Study of Writing Instruction (SSWI). This…

Designed to inform and guide the work of the Professional Support Committee at Reading Area Community College (RACC) in Pennsylvania as it attempts to refine current instructional support procedures and create new growth initiatives, this evaluative report focuses on the activities and accomplishments of RACC during the third year of its…