The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe how first-year college students describe the academic benefits and effectiveness of participating in a developmental education program in preparing them for academic success. The theoretical frameworks supporting this study were Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and Tinto's theory…

Early childhood is a crucial stage in a child's life, and aspects of the environment in the physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and health and safety domains all play important roles in shaping children's development during these early years. Having a valid and reliable measure of the quality of these aspects of children's care settings is…

The National Academy of Education (NAEd) undertook this consensus report on the evaluation and improvement of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Specifically, this consensus report aims to (1) identify and disseminate best practices for evaluating and improving TPPs to promote teacher effectiveness and student achievement; (2) provide…

The "Integrated Approaches to Supporting Child Development and Improving Family Economic Security" project was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research and Northwestern University for the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human…

Schools are learning organisations. They continuously strive to do better for the children and young people in their charge. In doing so, they try new things, seek to learn from those experiences, and work to adopt and embed the practices that work best. Implementation is a key aspect of what schools do to improve, and yet it is a domain of school…

The REDSIL model for ongoing evaluation of gifted education programs involves interviewing stakeholders, isolating and categorizing critical study issues, designing a data collection plan that uses several forms of qualitative methods, implementing the plan, analyzing data, searching literature relative to each issue, analyzing data again, and…

A survey of directors of 61 Texas early intervention programs found that directors felt that program improvement should be the main reason for program evaluation efforts, that evaluating program goals and child progress are the most feasible strategies, and that evaluating program quality and family progress are the most difficult strategies. (DB)

Examines why an elementary school, set up as a model school promoting learning effectiveness, was not working as predicted. Concentrates on staff assessments of principal's role. (JW)

Reports on observations of the guidance and counseling services offered in nine schools in the San Francisco Unified School District, California. Provides a history of the development of these programs, discusses the role of the counselor, sets forth the expected tasks of the counselor while comparing these with the actual work being performed,…

States, school districts, and schools across the country are increasingly implementing multi-tier systems of support (MTSS) to improve outcomes for all students. Kansas is no exception. The Kansas MTSS is designed to improve outcomes for all students by instituting system-level change across the classroom, school, district, and state. Such…

This study was conducted in Wisconsin to determine the current status of personnel within the vocational, technical and adult education (VTAE) districts responsible for research, planning, and development (RPD) activities, what activities were being performed by the districts, and the nature of involvement in the performance of these RPD…

Research studies have found a number of teacher-related variables that are associated with student achievement. Professional development activities designed to improve the knowledge and skill of teachers can help students improve academically. In investigating the motivation for professional development, the findings of several researchers support…

A study of program review at 156 community colleges shows that it is widely used for accountability and program improvement; that substantial use is made of results; and that key leadership support, organizational communication, a clear understanding of purposes, and frequent action on program review recommendations at all organizational levels…

This is a checklist for use by science coordinators, school principals, science supervisors, and teachers in identifying strengths and weaknesses of science programs in grades five through eight. It can also be used by science coordinators during school visits. This guide contains space for recording information concerning: school name and…

This review is intended to assist guidance counselors, vocational and special education teachers, administrators, researchers, and vocational education evaluators in making decisions about implementing or improving vocational assessment programs. In the introduction, the legislative mandate for and history of vocational assessment of special…